Vietnam has the most affordable travel destinations in Southeast Asia for any budget-conscious backpackers. You will have an entirely new experience of holidaying. The bemusing experience of interacting with unique culture, visiting attractive places, tasting the delicacies, engaging in various leisure activities, visiting historically important locations, etc., are some of the events make you busy during your Vietnam budget tour.  It is an ideal travel destination for people who are into low budget holidaying without limiting the scope of fun and enjoyment.

How can you plan a cheap tour to Vietnam?
For a cheap Vietnam tour, you need to plan your trip meticulously from applying visa to hotel accommodation, air ticket, etc.  When you plan your trip intelligently by checking every possible flaw, your trip to Vietnam would be one of best memorable tour experience in your life.  

For a better travel planning and arranging the visa on arrival, you can find many reputed travel agents offering their services with tour packages. If you are not interested in a stereotype tour packages, you can go for a tailor made tour packages.  Similarly, you can opt for a private tour with a bilingual tour guide. You can find many options for planning your leisure trip to Vietnam.

It would always be good to arrange your travel plan in advance with the assistance of a local Vietnam tour operator, rather than hunting for a tour operator after landing in Vietnam. Never jump into sedative travel offers, as there might be chances to meet scammers to give you a tough time.

We shall discuss here the various steps you should take to make your cheap Vietnam tour a delightful experience from the point of hiring a local tour operator and back to your home with lots of vivid memories by eliminating unwanted expenses.

1.    Travel during the off-season:
The cost of flight ticket, accommodation, etc., always consume a big part of your travel expenses. To beat these expense, it would be better if you can plan your trip during offseason.  You can find a lot of off-season discounts for flight ticket and hotel accommodations.  Similarly, you can also have many other tourism-related services for an economical price.

Visiting off-season never reduce the glam of the locations where you want to visit in Vietnam.  So, it would be a wise decision if you can tap the offseason offers and save a few dollars. Visiting off-season shall also offer more advantage, as the tour location will be less crowded and you will have enough time to enjoy every moment of your stay in Vietnam.  

The ideal season to plan a cheap Vietnam tour is from November to April. During this season the climate stays pleasant and holds less humidity. If you are planning to travel during the summer season, then you need to think twice. Most of the tourist location will be crowded with students and locals. Still, if you wish to visit during the peak season, you need to book your flight tickets and hotel accommodation in advance. Your Vietnam tour operator can help you to book the tickets and accommodation in advance.

2.    Choosing a budget-friendly accommodation:
Another critical aspect to consider during cheap Vietnam holiday is finding budget accommodation. During the off-season, it would be easy to find out budget friendly accommodation. You can directly walk-in and check in a budget-friendly accommodation.  

Let you be smart and never let the service providers rip you because you are a foreigner. Therefore, make sure to deal with the hotel/accommodation management. You can also find options to book room in advance by online while planning your trip to Vietnam. Offseason offers are frequent in the tourism industry, and therefore make use of the offseason offer discounts and book your accommodation in advance.

Choose a hotel or hostel that offers complimentary breakfast. To find out the cheapest, yet, a friendly place to stay, you need to search outskirts of tourism centers or city centers. Staying within the city will always be expensive.

Many tourists prefer to stay within the city limit to avoid falling into the trap of scammers.  But tourists won’t know transportation in Vietnam is inexpensive and hence finding accommodation in the outskirts of the city limit will support the idea of budget travel.

3.    Eat and drink like the locals
The best way to explore Vietnam is by eating like a local. During your cheap tour to Vietnam, you can try the rich, authentic Vietnam foods. Vietnam local food offers generous portions of greens and other freshly cooked herbs, served with noodles, rice, beef, poultry, and even seafood.

During your visit, you can find many fine-dining venues in and around the cities like Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi, but the most authentic Vietnam dishes can find only around the roadside eateries. Remember to take a walk among the street food vendors and other food street markets to let your taste bud experience the food culture of Vietnam.

From the local eatery outlets, you can have traditional Vietnam foods like pho noodles, banh mi, banh xeo, and spring rolls for less than $2. Comparing to standard hotels these roadside kiosks are much cheaper and will be an excellent experience to match the affordable Vietnam tour program.

If beer is your favorite drink, then you are about to hear good news. Beer is very cheap in Vietnam, costing about $0.73 per can, priced less than the cost of a bottle of drinking water. The quality of the beer is excellent.

Refreshments like fresh tender coconut water will cost about $0.43. Another surprising refreshment is the unique aroma rich local Vietnamese coffee selling for $0.64 per cup. The distinct flavor is exceptionally delicious, and you should not miss to taste it. Eating and drinking like a local is the best method to save more money and make it an inevitable option part of the cheap Vietnam tour in addition to experiencing the Vietnamese culture for real.

4.    Visit places less or no fee:
Vietnam is famous for its natural landscapes and beauty that lies within it. Not all these locations allow free entry to tourists; some places do charge an entry fee.  If the entry fee is affordable and comes within the budget of a cheap Vietnam tour, then you can go for it, else visit places like beaches, mountains and other public location which allow unrestricted movements.

Some tour operators do offer package tour adding the entry fees at a considerably low rate. If you are traveling to Vietnam through a tour operator, then it will be a good option to book entry tickets as part of the package tour, which does not have any impact on your tour budget.

Many places in and around Ho Chi Minh City do not charge any entrance fees, Ben Thanh market, Saigon Central post office, Nguyen Hue Pedestrian Walking and Notre Dame Cathedral are few among them.

5.    Bargain like never before:
Going shopping during your Vietnam visit shall let you experience more of the local culture and the way people craft things. Acheap Vietnam holiday is nothing but cutting the cost of your tour expenses including window purchases or purchasing some inexpensive memorabilia.

Shoppers will charge you extra than the regular rates, especially while dealing with a tourist. They will charge you anything about seventy-five percent above the regular price. It is a common practice that can find all over the world.

A tourist must be aware of the exploitation nature of traders and should know how to tackle the price issue while shopping. If you find the vendor is overcharging then instead of entering into an argument, it would be better to decline to accept the rate and walk away politely.

6.    Explore using your foot:
Instead of engaging expensive taxis to reach your targeted tourist destinations, you can try walking towards the location, by properly planning the schedule.  Many tourist attractive places around cities like Hoi An and Hanoi are within a short walking distance from the city.

Collect a copy of free maps from the hotel that you are staying, take bottled water, wear comfortable clothes and shoes to explore more on your foot, during your cheap tour to Vietnam.

7.    Choosing the right transportation
If you have not pre-planned to reach your destination by walking and if it is much far than for a walk, then barge into a local transport bus or even a bike to travel in and around Vietnam.

By motorbike:You will surprise to see different types of motorcycles in Vietnam. Vietnam offers lots of bike rental stores starting from $7 to $15 per day, which makes easy for you to hire a bike as part of your cheap Vietnam tour. The roads in Vietnam are well-maintained, which makes it possible to ride through any place with the help of street maps or by asking routes from the local people. To rent a motorbike in Vietnam, you need to hold an International Driving License.  Your tour operator can rent or arrange a bike for you.

By bus: If you are not a person who loves to explore on a motorbike, but still looking forward to reaching your tourist destinations, then the next best option on a budget Vietnam holiday is alighting on local buses. Unlike the expensive taxi services, the public transport bus services are very economical and are available in every part of the city. Traveling along with the local people are a great experience, as you can observe more of their culture, by interacting with them during your local bus journey. Such real-time experience add color to your Vietnam experience.

8.    Get yourself a local SIM card:
If you plan the cheap Vietnam tour for an extended period, then we do recommend you to get a local SIM card that can save a lot from paying huge roaming mobile phone charges.  You can purchase a local SIM card directly at the airport or in other convenience stores in the country.

Purchasing a local SIM card from the airport shall be the most convenient and time efficient way to start your Vietnam tour. Vinaphone, Viettel and MobiFone are the popular cellular connectivity providers in Vietnam, and they do provide affordable ranges of internet and call based packages.

9.    Find a public Wi-Fi:
If you are not in need to make cell phone calls, then you can opt to use Wi-Fi hubs installed in various public places in Vietnam. The Wi-Fi services are free, and it will add as a bonus to your cheap Vietnam tour and even let you stay connected with your social networking friends, by uploading your travel pictures instantly. Although the speed of such Wi-Fi connectivity shall not be as fast as the ones that you have at your home, it does helps you a lot, to get you connected with the rest of the world.

10.    Visiting on a package tour:
Cheap Vietnam holiday tour packages are the trump card of many tour operators. All you need to do is to find the best among them, by efficiently filtering out the options and services offering and cost of the packages. With much competition happening around, many tour operators have started to provide local transportation tickets, along with entry fees to their customers. These types of services are affordable and much needed to save your precious time and get indulged with the activities to do in Vietnam.

11.    Get your visa online:
Get your visa online is the cheapest way of getting a visa on arrival. The on arrival visa has two parts; one is the service fee which you have to pay at the time of application and second is stamping fee which you have to pay at the arrival point.   

Upon payment of the visa service, your visa on arrival intimation will be delivered to you by email and to the Vietnam International Airports, in Vietnam.

For a single entry, the service fee will be US$ 12 and $14 for multiple entries. The visa stamping fee will cost you $25 for 1 month & 3 months and $50 for multiple entry visa for 1 to 3 months.

The total cost of the visa will be as follows:
- Single entry for 1 month stay = US$ 12+25. Total US$ 37
- Multiple entries for 1 month stay = US$ 12+50. Total US$ 62
- Single entry for 3 months stay = US$ 19+25. Total US$44
- Multiple entry for 3 months stay = US$38+50. Total US88

Many tour operators are offering online visa service, and it would be easy for you to make your visa arrangement with any reputed tour operator with whom also you can select your package tour or tailor-made tour options to make your budget Vietnam travel a memorable experience.

Conclusion:
With much being discussed on Vietnam budget tour, we can conclude by saying that Vietnam is more conscious about the tourism activities in the country, and the local government has been making possible ways to bring tourism expenses to an affordable level. Before packing up your bags to visit Vietnam, read the above points and plan your trip accordingly. A meticulously charted out tour plan will let you enjoy a soul touching tour experience by eliminating any unwanted expenses.

Read more:

How to Save on a Vietnam Tour