Hanoi prices in 2026: what a trip and a month of living really cost

Hanoi is one of those cities where the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive version of the same day is enormous. You can eat brilliantly for $6 a day and sleep for $8 a night, or you can spend $400 on a Metropole suite and a tasting menu. Both are genuinely available within a fifteen-minute walk of each other.

Below is the full breakdown as of June 2026 — dong first, dollars alongside. If you are still choosing a base, compare with Da Nang and read the wider Vietnam price guide. For everything else about the city, start with the Hanoi guide.

Reference rate: 1 USD ≈ 25,500 VND. Quick maths: drop three zeros from the dong figure and divide by 25 to get dollars.

Prices current as of June 2026. Rates and conditions change — check official sources before you travel.

Currency and exchange

The Vietnamese dong (VND) is the only legal currency. Notes run from 1,000 to 500,000 VND and there are no coins. The zeros stop being confusing after a couple of days. Watch out for the 20,000 and 500,000 notes — both are blue polymer and easy to mix up in a dim eatery.

The rate in 2026

The rate drifts 1–2% a month. Check the current one on xe.com or in your banking app before you land.

Where to change money — decree 340/2025

For years the best rates came from the gold shops on Hà Trung street in Hoan Kiem. That changed in February 2026.

Where it is safe to change:

• Vietcombank, BIDV, VietinBank, Techcombank — every branch in Hanoi handles USD and EUR
• Sasco Exchange — the official counters at Noi Bai airport (rate is 2–3% worse)
• Licensed points — on Hà Trung, look for the "Authorized FX Agent" sign

US dollars get the best rate and are accepted everywhere; notes of $50 and above earn 1–2% more than small bills. Euro is accepted at a stable rate. Most other currencies are handled only by large bank branches and at a noticeably worse rate — bring dollars if you can.

Cards and cashless payment

Visa and Mastercard work in hotels, larger restaurants, malls and chain supermarkets. Local eateries, markets and almost all street vendors are cash only. Withdraw once, withdraw big: ATMs charge 22,000–55,000 VND ($0.90–2.20) per transaction with a limit of 3,000,000–5,000,000 VND. Vietcombank and BIDV have the lowest fees; Agribank, BIDV and ICB accept UnionPay.

VietQR, the domestic QR payment rail, is tied to Vietnamese bank accounts. Useless on a tourist visa, essential once you have a local account and start paying for coffee by scanning a sticker.

Food prices in Hanoi

Lunch in a local Hanoi eatery costs $3–6. Dinner for two in a mid-range restaurant runs $16–32. A bowl of pho at Michelin-listed Phở Gia Truyền on Bat Dan street is $2 — the same as the unnamed stall two doors down.

Street food and local eateries

Bún chả is the dish worth flying to Hanoi for: charcoal-grilled pork in a sweet-sour broth, a plate of cold rice vermicelli, a basket of herbs. You will not find its equal in Saigon — it is the clearest line between northern and southern cooking. The full story is in our bun cha guide.

Bia hơi is locally brewed draught beer, delivered daily and drunk the same day. Twenty cents a glass on a plastic stool at the Ta Hien crossroads — not a promotion, just the price. Read about the bia hoi culture before you sit down.

Restaurants and mid-range cafés

Western food clusters in Tay Ho: Italian pizzerias, Korean barbecue, Japanese ramen. Three times the price of street food, though one plate usually fills you more than three street dishes combined.

Michelin Bib Gourmand in Hanoi

The Michelin Guide arrived in Vietnam in 2023. By 2026 Hanoi has five Bib Gourmand venues (good food, modest prices) and one starred restaurant, Gia. Bib Gourmand pricing is essentially identical to the unlisted pho shop next door — which tells you something about the general standard.

Groceries and supermarkets

Cooking at home makes sense if you stay a month or more. Prices at WinMart, Lotte and Aeon are broadly the same; morning markets are cheaper still. Expect $3.20–4.80 for a kilo of chicken, $10–16 for beef, $0.80–1.20 for a kilo of rice and $0.30–0.50 for a 1.5-litre bottle of water. Imported cheese, wine and cereal carry a 2–3× markup — that is where most newcomers' grocery budgets quietly explode.

Circle K and GS25 run around the clock and charge 10–15% over supermarket prices. If you would rather learn the street than the aisles, start with our Vietnamese street food guide and the Hanoi food guide.

Accommodation costs

A hostel bed in the Old Quarter starts at $5. A 4★ boutique hotel starts at $40. A suite at the Sofitel Legend Metropole, open since 1901, starts at $200. A monthly studio rental in Cau Giay starts at $200. Housing in Hanoi runs 15–20% below Ho Chi Minh City.

Hotels — hostel to Metropole

The 4★ boutique tier is where Hanoi is genuinely unbeatable. La Siesta, Silk Path and Apricot are independent 30–50-key hotels with designed rooms, free breakfast and a roof terrace over the Old Quarter — for the price of a budget chain room in most European capitals. Full shortlist in the Hanoi hotels guide.

Monthly rentals

Tay Ho rents rose 15–20% across 2024–2026 as Korean and Japanese expats concentrated there. Cau Giay and Ha Dong moved far less. Standard leases run 6–12 months with a one-to-two-month deposit, and landlords expect the whole term paid quarterly.

Utilities: electricity 15,000–25,000 VND per kWh, water 15,000 VND per m³, internet 200,000–300,000 VND a month. Air conditioning adds 30–40% to the bill in the hot months — see when those are in the Hanoi weather guide.

Districts — where your money goes furthest

The Old Quarter works for a three-to-five-day visit: loud, dense, everything within walking distance. Tay Ho is the choice for a month or longer — quieter, lakeside cafés, international schools, actual cycle lanes. Cau Giay is the cheapest but sits 25–30 minutes from the centre by Grab. Detail in the Hanoi districts guide.

Transport prices

A Grab Bike ride across town starts at $0.60. A Grab Car starts at $1.60. The metro is $0.30. Noi Bai airport to the centre (30 km) runs from $0.60 on bus 17 to $16 in an official taxi. A monthly motorbike rental starts at $60.

From Noi Bai airport to the centre

Bus 86 runs 5:00–23:00 every 30 minutes and terminates at the railway station via Hoan Kiem lake — the practical choice for the Old Quarter. Bus 17 is cheaper but slower and has no luggage racks, so only take it with a small backpack. Terminals and schedules are in the Noi Bai airport guide.

Around town — Grab, Be, Xanh SM

Be is the Vietnamese competitor to Grab and often runs 10–15% cheaper. Xanh SM launched in 2023 with an all-electric fleet: same fares, but no surge at rush hour, which makes it 15–20% cheaper than Grab on any ride over half an hour. Both apps accept international cards — set that up before you arrive, as covered in our Grab in Vietnam guide.

The metro — the cheapest way across town

Hanoi's metro was the first in Vietnam. Line 2A (Cát Linh – Hà Đông, 12.5 km, 12 stations) opened in November 2021; the first section of line 3 (Nhổn – Ga Hà Nội, 8.5 km, 8 stations) followed in August 2024. Clean, air-conditioned, never crowded. Coverage is still limited, but if you live in Cau Giay or Ha Dong it saves you from both the traffic and the air.

Renting a motorbike

Leaving Hanoi

Getting around Hanoi · Noi Bai airport · Transport across Vietnam

Attractions and ticket prices

Every major museum and temple in Hanoi adds up to roughly 900,000 VND (~$36) per person. The priciest single ticket is the water puppet theatre at 200,000 VND (~$8). The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the two most famous pagodas are free.

Main sights with prices

The mausoleum enforces a dress code — covered shoulders, no bags, no photographs inside — and the queue runs to an hour in high season. It closes for two to three months a year for embalming maintenance, usually September to November. Check before you go. Routes and combinations are in the Hanoi attractions guide.

What costs nothing

• Hoan Kiem Lake — the heart of the Old Quarter, best at 6 am when half the neighbourhood is doing tai chi around it
• Trấn Quốc Pagoda — the oldest in Hanoi, 6th century, on a West Lake islet
• One Pillar Pagoda— the city's emblem, built in 1049
• St Joseph's Cathedral — neo-Gothic, 1886, Sunday mass open to visitors
• Night market (Hàng Đào) — Fri–Sun, 18:00–23:00
• Train Street — where the train passes a metre from the tables, when the street is not closed
• Ba Dinh Square — where independence was declared in 1945

Day trips from Hanoi

A one-day Ha Long trip is a trap: three hours out, three hours back, four hours on the water including lunch. Take the overnight junk instead — you get sunrise over the karsts and Sửng Sốt cave without the crowd. How to pick a boat is in the Ha Long cruise guide.

Sapa is at its best in autumn (September–November) when the terraces turn gold. In winter it drops to 5 °C with heavy fog — go only if you are prepared to be cold. See the Sapa guide, or the closer and cheaper Ninh Binh.

Massage and spa prices

An hour of foot massage in an Old Quarter salon costs $8–14. A 60-minute Thai massage is $12–20. A two-hour spa programme in a 4★ hotel runs $48–100. Consistently cheaper than Bangkok and a fraction of European pricing.

Reliable chains: Omamori Spa, La Siesta Spa, SF Spa, Mido Spa. Prices are comparable; Omamori leans Japanese-minimal, La Siesta colonial. What the treatments actually involve is in our Vietnamese massage guide and spa guide.

Shopping — what things cost

A silk scarf from the Vạn Phúc weaving village starts at $4. A handmade Bát Tràng cup starts at $2. A pack of Trung Nguyen coffee starts at $3.20. A mid-size lacquerware box starts at $8. A full round of souvenirs comes to about $55 if you haggle at Đồng Xuân market.

Markets and haggling

The rule at Hanoi markets: open at 40–50% of the asking price. If the seller will not move, walk away slowly — nine times out of ten you get called back.

Useful phrases at the market

What to take home

Tailoring is the sleeper deal: two to three days at Vạn Phúc or with a Hang Gai tailor gets you a suit, shirt or dress in real silk for $60–160. Bring a photo of what you want and allow one fitting. More on what is worth carrying home in our Vietnam shopping guide and Vietnamese coffee guide.

SIM cards and internet

A 30-day SIM with 6 GB costs $8–10. Viettel's tourist bundle with 30 GB is $12. An unlimited eSIM runs $1.70–5 a day. Home fibre at 100 Mbit/s is $8–12 a month.

Buying a SIM at the airport costs 20–30% more than in town. Official Viettel and Mobifone stores are cheaper, and by law you must show your passport for registration. An eSIM avoids the queue entirely if your phone supports one: buy online before you fly, scan a QR on landing. Step-by-step in the Vietnam SIM and internet guide.

Healthcare and dentistry

A consultation at a state clinic starts at $4. At a private international clinic it starts at $24. A dental cleaning is $12–28. A titanium implant, all in, runs $700–1,200 — roughly a third of European pricing, which is why Hanoi has a steady stream of dental tourists.

Clinics that handle foreigners routinely: Vinmec International Hospital, Hanoi French Hospital (French management since 1997), Family Medical Practice (the expat default), Hong Ngoc Hospital and RHM Smile Dental for implants and veneers. Background on the system is in our hospitals and pharmacies guide and dental care in Vietnam.

The ambulance number in Vietnam is 115. Pharmacies are on every street and many drugs — including antibiotics — are sold without prescription, but brand names differ from home. Photograph the packaging of anything you take regularly before you travel.

Trip budgets — what to actually set aside

All figures below exclude international flights, since those depend entirely on where you fly from. A backpacker gets through two weeks on about $310. A mid-range trip runs roughly $950. Comfort — 4–5★ hotels, restaurants, private tours — starts at $2,500. A couple living in Tay Ho spends about $1,380 a month.

Two weeks, backpacker (1 person)

Two weeks, mid-range (1 person)

Two weeks, comfort (1 person)

A month of living (couple, long stay)

A solo minimum in Cau Giay is $700–800 a month. A couple in a Tay Ho villa with a cleaner runs $2,500–3,500. Domestic inflation of 3–4% a year plus exchange-rate drift can move any of these by 5–10%.

Hanoi versus Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Nha Trang

Hanoi is 15–20% cheaper than Ho Chi Minh City on housing and food, but 10–15% dearer than Da Nang. Nha Trang sits between the two. On the overall index: Da Nang < Nha Trang < Hanoi < Ho Chi Minh City.

Choose Hanoi ifyou want the north — Ha Long, Sapa and Ninh Binh all sit within 320 km; if you are here for history and food rather than beaches; if you can take a cold, damp winter in exchange for the golden October–November stretch; and if you need a capital's infrastructure, from embassies to international hospitals.

Da Nang wins on beaches and cost, Ho Chi Minh City on business and nightlife, Nha Trang on warm sea year-round.

Da Nang prices · Ho Chi Minh City prices · Nha Trang prices · Hanoi compared

How to spend less in Hanoi

The same dish costs three to five times more in a tourist restaurant than on the street. The same is true of taxis, tours and souvenirs. A handful of habits cuts a Hanoi budget roughly in half without touching the quality of the trip.

• Eat where the plastic stools are. A bowl of pho at Phở Gia Truyền is $2; the hotel version is $10 and worse
• Bia hơi on the corner instead of beer in a bar. $0.20 a glass against $1.20 a can
• Buy fruit at morning markets. Prices drop 30–50% by evening, especially on mango and lychee
• Metro plus Grab Bike instead of taxis. Across the city for $0.80–1.60 rather than $4–6
• Compare Be against Grab. Often 10–15% cheaper for an identical ride
• Avoid the high season. October–November and March–April push hotels up 20–30%. June–August (hot and wet) and January–February (cold) are far cheaper
• Avoid Tet. Late January to early February: much of the city closes for five to seven days and prices spike. See our guide to Tet
• Haggle at markets, never in malls. Open at 40–50% of the asking price; fixed price tags mean exactly that
• Tipping is not expected. Not in eateries, not in taxis. In 4–5★ restaurants 5–10% is optional and often already on the bill

FAQ

Prices current as of June 2026. Exchange rates and prices for food and housing are revised every three to six months. Verify anything critical — visas, healthcare, currency rules — with official sources before you travel.

Read next: Hanoi guide · Hanoi food · Getting around Hanoi · Vietnam prices