Old Quarter ReviewCash first, small notes always, prices agreed before
Money questions are where first time visitors lose the most to confusion rather than to anyone's bad intent. This page covers the mechanics: what to carry, which notes cause trouble, where cards work, how tipping is seen here, and what a day honestly costs, with every figure labelled by whose data it is.
Cash is the default, cards are the exception
Street stalls, small eateries, market shopping and most cafes in the Old Quarter are cash businesses. Cards work in hotels, larger restaurants, malls and chain stores. Carry the day's money in Vietnamese dong, keep a card and a phone payment option as backup, and treat any street purchase as cash only until proved otherwise.
The note confusion that catches everyone
The 20,000 and 500,000 dong notes are both blue green polymer and are mixed up in low light, by visitors and occasionally in the change you are handed. Organise your wallet by denomination, read every note once in daylight before it leaves your hand, and build small notes deliberately: spend a large note at a hotel, supermarket or chain cafe and keep the change for the street.
ATMs and the conversion trap
ATMs are plentiful in the Quarter. Two rules protect you: withdraw in dong, and if the machine or a card terminal offers to charge you in your home currency, decline and choose dong: the conversion rate offered at the machine is consistently worse than your bank's. Tell your bank you are travelling before you fly, and keep a second card somewhere separate from the first.
Tipping: not expected, genuinely appreciated
Tipping is not built into life here the way it is in the United States, and nobody will chase you for it. Where travellers do tip, the norms published across traveller guides are modest: small notes of 20,000 to 50,000 dong for porters and housekeeping, rounding up or 50,000 to 100,000 dong for a driver who waited or helped, and around 100,000 to 200,000 dong per day for a private guide who made the day. These are norms, not rules, and a thank you delivered warmly counts here more than the amount.
What a day costs, honestly labelled
Visitors ask for one number, and published sources disagree, so here are the two most cited, labelled as theirs rather than ours. BudgetYourTrip's traveller data averages about US$58 per person per day in Hanoi. Guide bands commonly published run about US$35 to 50 per day travelling lean and US$45 to 95 at mid range. Our own price index opens when it holds ten receipt backed prices checked by Suzy on the street; until then, we would rather show you other people's labelled numbers than invent one of our own.
Questions visitors ask
How much cash should I carry per day?
Enough for the day's food, rides and small shopping in mixed small notes, with the reserve on a card. Most street spending is in tens of thousands of dong at a time, which is why the small note supply matters more than the total.
Can I pay by card at street stalls?
Assume no. Some modern cafes and shops take cards and QR payments, but the stall with the best pho on the street is a cash business. Ask before you order if cash is a problem.
Sources and checks: BudgetYourTrip traveller averages and published guide bands as cited in our demand research of 1 November 2026; tipping norms as published across traveller guides and forums. Prices Suzy checks herself publish only on the fair prices page once it opens. See also the scam field guide.