Vietnam for nomads

Vietnam is one of the best-value nomad bases on earth, and one of the most underrated. It has some of the fastest internet in Southeast Asia, a cost of living that comfortably undercuts Thailand and Bali, a coastline of beach towns and a food culture so good and so cheap that cooking at home stops making sense.

I know it well: I found a coworking space here back in 2016 and ended up living in the rice fields outside Hoi An for years. So this guide is written from the inside, not from a listicle.

The one thing to get right before you come is the visa, because Vietnam does not have a digital nomad visa, whatever some sites imply. What it has is a 90-day e-visa that does the job perfectly well once you understand how it works. That, the best places to base yourself, what it really costs, and how to settle in, is what this guide covers for 2026.

🌱 Travel health insurance for Vietnam

🎯 Vietnam at a glance

🇻🇳 Entry requirements for Vietnam

• e-Visa: the main route for nomads. A 90-day visa, single or multiple entry, open to citizens of every country, applied for entirely online. No embassy visit, no approval-letter agents.
• Visa-free entry: citizens of some countries get 15 to 45 days visa-free (for example many EU nationals get 45 days), but for a longer stay the e-visa is simpler.
• Passport validity: at least six months, with two blank pages.
• Onward ticket: increasingly asked for at check-in and on arrival.

💻 Does Vietnam have a digital nomad visa?

No, and it is worth being precise about this, because the internet is full of confident, wrong answers.

As of 2026 Vietnam has no dedicated digital nomad visa. What remote workers actually use is the 90-day e-visa:

• Cost: about $25 single entry, $50 multiple entry.
• Duration: valid up to 90 days.
• Apply: online at evisa.gov.vn, approved in around three business days.
• The catch: it cannot be extended from inside Vietnam. When it runs out, you leave and apply for a fresh one. Most long-stay nomads run this as a quarterly cycle, using a cheap flight or a land border to a neighbor as a "visa run" that doubles as a weekend away.

Three other terms get thrown around online. None of them is a nomad visa:

• The "Golden Visa": a proposed 5-to-10-year residency program, floated in 2025 and much discussed, but still a proposal with no application portal. Do not plan around it.
• The UĐ1 / UĐ2 tech-talent visas: real, effective from 1 July 2026, but for high-quality digital technology personnel with a Vietnamese sponsor, so you cannot apply on your own behalf.
• The Temporary Residence Card (TRC): one to five years, but it requires sponsorship from a Vietnamese company, so it suits people with a local employer or business, not freelancers.

Tax: spend fewer than 183 days in a calendar year and you are not a Vietnamese tax resident. Foreign-sourced remote-work income is generally not taxed. Cross 183 days and take proper advice.

✈️ How to get to Vietnam

• Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) and Hanoi (HAN) are the main international gateways, with wide connections across Asia and some long-haul routes.
• Da Nang (DAD) is the gateway to central Vietnam and Hoi An, with growing regional connections.
• Airport transfer: Grab (car or bike) is cheapest and easiest from any airport; a metered taxi costs a little more. Da Nang airport to Hoi An is about 45 minutes.

🗺 Where to base yourself

Hoi An and central Vietnam is where I lived, and my pick for a first long stay. Hoi An itself is a lantern-lit UNESCO old town ringed by rice fields and beaches: you can base yourself in the town, at An Bang beach, among the rice fields of An My, or by the river in Tra Que. It is calm, beautiful and cheap, reached via Da Nang airport. Da Nang, 25km north, is the bigger-city option if Hoi An feels too quiet: beaches, the An Thuong nomad district full of cafes and bars, and easy access to the Hai Van pass and Son Tra peninsula. Hue, the last imperial capital, and Da Lat, a cool-climate mountain town of pine forests, lakes and coffee farms, round out the center.

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) is the economic engine and the biggest nomad scene, hot and fast and endlessly energetic. District 1 is the walkable heart: finance, sightseeing, alley cafes, coworking and nightlife. District 2 (Thao Dien) is the leafy expat and nomad enclave across the river, full of specialty cafes, international restaurants and coworking. District 3 is calmer and greener, with good cafes and better value.

Hanoi is the capital and the cultural counterweight to Saigon: older, more atmospheric, and colder in winter, since it sits in the north. The Old Quarter around Hoan Kiem Lake is dense, historic and full of cafes on every corner. West Lake (Tay Ho) is the expat area, calmer and greener with international schools and lake-side restaurants. Come September to November or March to May; December to February gets genuinely cold and homes have no central heating.

💶 How much does it cost?

Vietnam is one of the cheapest good nomad bases anywhere, comfortably under €1,500 a month even in Saigon. Street food is the reason cooking at home barely makes sense: a bowl of pho or a plate of com tam is €1.50 to €2.50, and it is faster and better than anything you would make. A one-bedroom studio should not cost more than about €500 a month; if an agent quotes far above that, keep looking or ask in the local Facebook groups. Long leases and paying like a local rather than a tourist both cut costs sharply.

🧑🏻‍💻 Where to work from

Hoi An and Da Nang

Coworking:

• Hub Hoi An: the established nomad coworking, now in a rice-field location in An My village under owner Florian, within cycling distance of both the beach and the old town. Strong community, reliable fiber, and one of the friendliest spaces in the country.

Cafes:

• Hoi An: The Espresso Station, Buttercup by Rosie's, Rosie's Cafe, and La Solana Coffee Brunch Eatery are reliable work spots.
• Da Nang: Six on Six, Wolf and Bread n Salt, all in the An Thuong area.

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

Coworking: District 1 and Thao Dien have the widest choice, from international chains to independent spaces; ask in the Saigon nomad Facebook groups for the current favorites, since the scene turns over fast.

Cafes:

• Little Hanoi Egg Coffee near Ben Thanh: great egg coffee, sandwiches, and a quiet upstairs floor built for working.
• Kafka Cafe: comfortable seating, good cake, and enough plugs to survive a rainy afternoon.

Hanoi

Coworking:

• Toong: a well-run space near Hoan Kiem Lake, walkable from the Old Quarter.

Cafes:

• Hanoi Social Club: a sophisticated cafe with vegan options and good coffee, a short Grab-bike ride from the center.
• The Note Cafe and Hidden Alley in the Old Quarter, both atmospheric, though The Note gets crowded in high season.

Da Lat and Hue

Smaller scenes, café-based. In Da Lat try La Viet Coffee, An Coffee or Anna's House Coffee; in Hue, The Coffee House, Phin Holic or Ca Phe Muoi. Choose accommodation with good wifi and you will be fine.

👥 Finding the community

Vietnam's nomad community is real and growing, concentrated in Saigon, Da Nang, Hoi An and Hanoi, and it runs largely on Facebook rather than the apps you might use elsewhere.

Facebook is genuinely central to daily life here, for rentals, events, private drivers, buying and selling, and meeting people. Search for the expat and nomad groups in each city (for example the Da Nang and Hoi An expat groups, and the Saigon nomad groups) and you will find events, meetups and a steady stream of newcomers. The coworking spaces are the other way in: Hub Hoi An in particular builds a proper community around it, and the Saigon and Da Nang spaces run regular socials.

One piece of local advice that goes a long way: Vietnamese people can seem a little reserved at first compared to, say, Thailand or Bali, partly a legacy of a hard recent history. Smile first, and it comes back tenfold. Once you have made a genuine connection with a Vietnamese friend, it tends to last for life. For more on the general how-to, see our guide to making friends as a nomad.

🛜 Internet and SIM cards

Here is the myth worth killing: people skip Vietnam because they heard the internet is weak. The opposite is true. Vietnam has excellent, cheap fiber, the kind that makes visitors from Europe jealous, and it is one of the real reasons the scene took hold. The only genuinely weak spots are remote places like the Cham Islands off Hoi An and parts of the central highlands national parks.

Viettel is the best provider by a distance, with coverage that reaches the far north, the Lao border and the islands. Buy your SIM at an official Viettel store rather than a street kiosk, and make sure you get a data package you can extend monthly. Check your balance by texting *101#. eSIMs are also widely supported.

🌤 When to come

☀️ best · ⛅ mixed · 🌧 wet · 🥶 cold

Vietnam is long, so it never has one single season. The rule of thumb: the sweet spot for the whole country is February to May, after Tet (Vietnamese New Year, which locals call the start of spring) and before the summer rains. Central Vietnam, including Hoi An and Da Nang, gets heavy rain and sometimes flooding from October to December, so avoid the center then. The north gets genuinely cold in December and January with no home heating. If you come in winter, do what I do: start in the warm south (Saigon, Phu Quoc) and work your way up as it warms.

🚌 Getting around

• Grab: the ride-hailing app, for both cars and motorbike taxis, and the default way around every city. Cheap, easy, cashless.
• Scooter: the way most nomads get around day to day. Rentals run about €40 to €60 a month. An international driving permit is legally required, helmets are mandatory, and the traffic takes real confidence, so only ride if you are sure.
• Domestic flights: VietJet and Vietnam Airlines connect the length of the country cheaply. For Hanoi to Saigon, or reaching Da Lat or Phu Quoc, flying beats the alternatives easily. I have taken the budget carriers countless times with only minor delays.
• Buses: good for shorter hops, for example between Hue, Da Nang and Hoi An, or Saigon and Da Lat. Book a 6-seater "VIP" sleeper bus for comfort.
• Trains: scenic and nostalgic, but slow and, honestly, not very clean on the long overnight routes. Fine for the short, beautiful Da Nang-to-Hue stretch over the Hai Van pass; less fun for Saigon to Hanoi.

🚧 Safety and health

• General safety: Vietnam is a safe country for travelers, with low violent crime. The realistic risks are opportunistic bag-snatching (especially phone-grabbing from motorbikes in Saigon) and traffic.
• Traffic is the genuine hazard. The roads are chaotic and motorbike accidents are common, so ride carefully, wear a helmet, and many nomads simply use Grab.
• Tourist pricing and bargaining: negotiating is normal, and foreigners are often quoted two to three times the local price. Learn the rough local prices and pay them; overpaying "because it is cheap anyway" just entrenches the practice.
• Tap water: not for drinking. Use filtered or bottled, which is cheap and everywhere.
• Mosquito-borne illness: dengue is present, particularly in the wet season, and the mosquito bites by day. Repellent matters. Malaria risk is low and limited to remote rural areas.
• ATMs and cash: Vietnam is largely cash-based. Withdraw larger amounts less often, since foreign-card fees add up.
• Healthcare: good international hospitals in Saigon, Hanoi and Da Nang (Family Medical Practice and Vinmec are the go-tos); basic elsewhere. Serious cases may mean evacuation to Bangkok or Singapore, so keep insurance that covers it.
• Emergency numbers: 113 police, 115 ambulance.

Staying active

• Running and cycling: the Hoan Kiem and West Lake loops in Hanoi, the An Bang beachfront in Hoi An, and the rice-field lanes anywhere in the center.
• Beaches and water sports: An Bang and My Khe on the central coast, and Phu Quoc's beaches in the south.
• Hiking: Sapa's terraced mountains in the far north, Mount Fansipan (the highest in the country), and the pine hills around Da Lat.
• Gyms and yoga: plentiful and cheap in every city, especially Thao Dien in Saigon and An Thuong in Da Nang.

🎖 Must see

• Ha Long Bay: the karst-studded bay north of Hanoi, best on an overnight boat booked in advance. The iconic image of Vietnam for good reason.
• Sapa: terraced rice mountains near the Chinese border, hill-tribe villages, and trekking up Fansipan.
• Hoi An: the lantern-lit old town at night, the tailors, and the surrounding rice fields and beaches.
• Hue: the imperial citadel and royal tombs along the Perfume River, reached via the spectacular Hai Van pass from Da Nang.
• The Mekong Delta: floating markets, river life and cycling between the islands, an easy trip south from Saigon.
• Phong Nha: the world's largest caves, in the central national parks, for the more adventurous.

❓ Frequently asked questions

🎯 Conclusion

Vietnam is one of the best nomad bases in the world and, thanks to a reputation that has not caught up with reality, still one of the most underrated. The internet is fast, the food is extraordinary, the cost of living is genuinely low, and the country rewards anyone who slows down enough to get past the first impression.

Get the visa right, which means the 90-day e-visa and a quarterly visa run, not a Golden Visa that does not exist yet. Start in the center if it is your first time, come after Tet if you can, learn to pay local prices, and smile first. Do that and Vietnam will get under your skin the way it did mine.