Vietnam among top 20 best places to travel on a budget

According to Traveler, Vietnam remains one of the cheapest travel destinations in Asia, with direct budget flights from Australia. Vietnamese food alone plays a key role in attracting tourists to visit. Travelers can expect to pay less than $2 for a beer or coffee, or a bowl of pho, and $50 for a decent hotel and $170 for an upmarket one.

Vietnam has a lot of reasons to be worth a visit besides food, Traveler said, listing “the transformations and heady vibes of an emerging economy, incense-laden temples, lakeside old towns, lush highlands and mushrooming beach resorts.”

The newspaper suggests travelers visit places such as the tropical island of Phu Quoc for honeymoons or the up-and-coming new resort destination of Quy Nhon in central Vietnam. Other places the newspaper said were worth visiting are the former colonial hill town of Dalat and the eco-destination of Dien Bien Phu.

The Mekong River is a travel highway most easily navigated on a luxury river cruise, which also takes in Cambodia; you’ll pay around $400 a person a day.

The best-value destinations list also includes Albania, Argentina, Bulgaria, Cuba, Egypt, Fiji, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, Romania, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand and Turkey.