One Month in Da Nang | September 2024 Travel Budget Breakdown

This past fall I stayed 3 months in Da Nang, Vietnam as a digital nomad/full-time traveler. Everyone always wants to know budgets and how much people spent on things, so I thought I’d pull out one month’s spending and share it with anyone who’s interested.

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Where I Stayed

I booked 6 weeks at Hsuites Riverside Hotel and Apartment through AirBNB, after watching this video tour by QueenofDC.

It’s located up near the river, not the beach, so it’s much quieter and more “local” (yay) but also further out from most activities (which ARE at the beach). Still, I was able to get Grab bikes to go all around the city, and it didn’t take too much extra time getting somewhere.

My apartment was a studio on the 2nd floor, and it was super comfortable! The only downside was that I got a lot of street noise, including one fellow who would come by on a tuktuk blasting music at 6:00am.

I have a longer review of Hsuites coming, but in short: I very much enjoyed my stay at this apartment and I’d love to come back and stay again whenever I return to Da Nang. The staff were super and it was a great deal for a nice, newly renovated apartment with NO bugs or pests. I’d definitely say to stay on an upper floor though if you’re sensitive to street noise (including karaoke at 10pm).

One Month’s Spending in Da Nang

Accommodation: $547 or $18.23/day

This also includes the electricity and water fees for the apartment, which are charged separately from the rent. I ran my air con 24/7 (though not very high) and it was less than $100 for the whole month. My apartment charged just over the government price for electricity, which is much better than some other places I’d heard of that charge way more.

While it’s always possible to find cheaper places in Da Nang ($300/month or so), I was happy with my apartment and the location (and staff) and didn’t mind paying a slight upcharge to use AirBNB. When I extended my stay later, I did book directly with the staff and it was maybe $50 cheaper to do that, so not even that bad of a difference.

Food (Eating Out): $96

Grab Food delivery is my guilty pleasure in Southeast Asia, and I literally have to budget myself or I’ll be ordering ALL my meals delivered. I think I did pretty well this month!

Some of my favorite deliveries came from:

• Bikini Bottom for their cheeseburgers and fries
• Gordon’s New York Pizza
• Banh Mi Ba Dao for delicious sandwiches
• Mesala Health Salad
• Hang’s Kitchen for Mexican food (yes!)

I also went out to lunch a few times with some nomad friends, which was fun!

Read more: Traveling Solo? Here’s How to Make Friends On the Road

Groceries: $146

I did most of my grocery shopping at Winmart+ as there was one right below my apartment, it’s not overly expensive and I was able to find almost everything I wanted.

If I needed something they didn’t have (usually something imported), I’d order grocery delivery from Lotte Mart or go to a nearby JolyMart. Overall I found the grocery prices to be reasonable, but the local fresh food prices were just as good and it’s easier to get take-out if you’re not a big cook. I actually do prefer to make most of my own meals, though, so I tended to order a lot of ingredients.

Here’s a post with some grocery prices in Da Nang, if you’re curious.

Shopping: $11

I think the only thing I bought was for the apartment, a standing fan which I ordered from Lazada and came delivered to my apartment. One of the nice things about traveling light is I don’t feel compelled to buy a lot of souvenirs– because I either have to take it with me (and my suitcase is already packed full) or I have to mail it to my parents for storage, which is a hassle. If I do tend to buy things, it’s usually clothes to replaces something in my wardrobe, interesting local snacks, or perhaps a postcard.

Tourism: $10

I took a soap-making class with a friend! We made two bars of melt and pour soap, and got to pick the scents and toppings and such. I still need to do my write-up of the class, but it was very fun. I’d never made soap before but melt and pour is the easiest way to do it, as the “soap” part is already made and you just need to design the color/scents and so on.

Honestly, this was the only thing “tourist” thing I did this month. I basically staying in my apartment writing the whole time, so all my other tourist activities were just walking around the neighborhood and sweating.

Transit: $8

This was all Grab rides to various places around town. The typical price for a Grab bike ride within Da Nang City is under $3, and a car is still under $5. I actually really enjoy riding Grab Bikes, since it’s all the fun of being on a motorcycle without having to worry about driving it myself.

Medical: $45

This was my monthly premium for my SafetyWing insurance, which I’ve never had to use so can’t say whether it’s good or not. I’ve since switched to a plan through IMG which is actually a little cheaper.

Other: $18

This includes my Vietnam visa fee, which I split up over the 3 months for tracking purposes, and my SIM card.

Unfortunately the card I got turned out out to be one of those scam SIM cards which is registered under someone else’s name. After the plan ended I couldn’t reload any data onto it, so I just gave up and got an eSIM from Klook.

Total: $879.84 USD or $29.33/day

Final Thoughts

I’m really happy with my spending this month. I came well under budget, and besides that I had a great time staying in Da Nang. Yes, I didn’t do a lot of tourist activities, and perhaps I spent too much time stuck indoors working, but it was a necessary evil if I plan to keep traveling full-time as I need to support myself somehow.

The longer I travel as a digital nomad specifically, the more I find myself enjoying just living somewhere new, not necessarily seeing as much as I can crammed into a few days’ time. It’s much less stressful than trying to plan a new day trip out somewhere while also fitting in work. On the other hand, I do sometimes regret NOT going out more…but I figure I can always come back and see whatever I’ve missed the first time.

I would definitely like to come back to Da Nang for another long stay in the future. I enjoyed meeting other travelers and expats, and I loved my little apartment and the locals I met were so nice. If you’re considering staying in Da Nang as a digital nomad especially, I highly recommend it.

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