Vietnam is a little cheaper than Sri Lanka in 2026, but not where most people expect. Everyday spending is close. On Numbeo's crowd-sourced comparison, updated on 28 and 30 October 2026, costs excluding rent were 22% higher in Colombo than in Hanoi, but Kandy came out 17% below Da Nang. Sri Lanka's buses and trains are cheaper than Vietnam's. What tips the balance is sightseeing: the main cultural triangle tickets cost about $110 a person, while one ticket to all of Hue's monuments costs about $23.
Two changes since 2025 shape the choice. Since 25 May 2026, Sri Lanka's 30-day tourist ETA has been free for 40 nationalities, including British, American, Canadian and Australian passports. And Cyclone Ditwah, which struck in late November 2025, wrecked stretches of the hill-country railway, so the famous Kandy to Ella train still did not run end to end in late 2026. This page compares prices, most of them collected in October 2026, then beaches, transport, visas and the monsoons. For where both sit among other Asian countries, see the Southeast Asia cost comparison, which did not cover Sri Lanka.
The short answer
- Pick Vietnam if you want the lowest total for a sightseeing trip, more than 30 days in the country, big-city food and nightlife, or a long overland route from north to south.
- Pick Sri Lanka if you want beaches, tea country, ancient cities and a wildlife safari on one compact island, you are happy to pay for entrance tickets, and your passport is on the free-ETA list.
If the decision is close, let the month settle it: from December to March, Sri Lanka's south coast and Vietnam's Phu Quoc are both in season; in the middle of the year, Sri Lanka's east coast and Vietnam's central coast are.
What things cost: Vietnam vs Sri Lanka, October 2026
The table pairs the site's own Vietnam price guides with Sri Lankan fee lists, rail fares and crowd-sourced data. Where Numbeo is the source, I use it for both countries so the basket is the same.
| Item | Vietnam | Sri Lanka | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple restaurant meal | 52,500 VND ($2.02), Hanoi | LKR 1,267 ($3.82), Colombo; LKR 900 ($2.71), Kandy | Numbeo, Oct 2026 |
| Mid-range dinner for two | 600,000 VND ($23.08), Hanoi | LKR 8,250 ($24.85), Colombo | Numbeo, Oct 2026 |
| Cappuccino | 48,900 VND ($1.88), Hanoi | LKR 832 ($2.51), Colombo | Numbeo, Oct 2026 |
| City bus ticket | 10,000 VND ($0.38), Hanoi | LKR 52.50 ($0.16), Colombo | Numbeo, Oct 2026 |
| Taxi, per km | 15,000 VND ($0.58), Hanoi | LKR 120 ($0.36), Colombo | Numbeo, Oct 2026 |
| Short train trip | Hanoi to Ninh Binh, 80,000-247,000 VND ($3.08-9.50), about 2 hours 15 minutes | Colombo to Galle, LKR 240-1,100 ($0.72-3.31), about 2-3.5 hours | Train fares guide; Seat61 |
| Top heritage ticket | Hue Imperial City, 200,000 VND ($7.69) | Sigiriya, $35 | 2-day Hue guide; fee list checked against the CCF |
| Cheapest dorm bed, median | About $7, Hanoi; about $8, Hoi An | About $10, Colombo; about $9, Ella; about $12, Galle | Hostelworld listings, 31 Oct 2026 |
| Tourist visa, UK passport | Free, 45 days | Free ETA, 30 days | Official sites |
| Tourist visa, US or Australian passport | E-visa, $25 | Free ETA, 30 days | Official sites |
Dollar figures use 26,000 VND and LKR 332 to the US dollar, close to Vietcombank's selling rate on 30 October 2026 and the US Federal Reserve's rupee rate on 23 October 2026. The Vietnam rows come from the train fares guide, the 2-day Hue itinerary and the visa atlas. Sri Lankan rail fares come from Seat61's Sri Lanka page, updated on 10 June 2026. The dorm row is the median "dorms from" price across hostels listed on Hostelworld's city pages on 31 October 2026, converted from euros. Kandy's Numbeo figures rest on only seven contributors, so treat them as a hint.
Where the money really goes
Food costs more in Colombo, not everywhere. Colombo's restaurant prices run about 40% above Hanoi's and Ho Chi Minh City's on Numbeo, and a simple meal costs nearly twice as much. In Kandy, a simple meal at LKR 900 is close to Da Nang's 60,000 VND. Sri Lankan food prices also move with fuel: on 6 April 2026, the All-Island Canteen and Restaurant Owners' Association raised rice and curry packets, fried rice and kottu by LKR 20 after a rise in cooking-gas prices, as The Morning reported.
Getting around costs less in Sri Lanka. A Colombo bus ticket is less than half Hanoi's fare, a taxi kilometre costs about a third less, and a reserved first-class seat on the coast line to Galle costs less than a Vietnamese soft seat to Ninh Binh. Speed, and the state of the hill-country railway, are another matter, covered under getting around.
Beds are close. At hostel level, a dorm bed costs about two dollars more in Sri Lanka, and more in Galle. I found no audited source for Sri Lankan hotel prices by tier, so I have not compared mid-range rooms.
Tickets are the real gap. Entrance fees are where Sri Lanka costs far more, and the next section prices them.
What that means per day. The Vietnam budget guide puts a backpacker day at $30-50 and a mid-range day at $80-150. On Numbeo's figures, everyday spending in Colombo runs about a fifth higher, roughly $37-61 a day for a backpacker, and outside the capital it is close to Vietnam's. Then add the entrance tickets. That is my estimate from the data above, not a measured budget.
Entrance fees: Sri Lanka's biggest extra
Sri Lanka prices its main sites for foreign visitors in US dollars, paid in rupees at the gate, with lower rates for visitors from South Asia. The fees below come from a fee list published by a Sri Lankan rental company, which says it checked them against the Central Cultural Fund's own list on 30 March 2026.
| Sight | Country | Foreign adult ticket | About |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sigiriya | Sri Lanka | $35 | $35 |
| Polonnaruwa ancient city | Sri Lanka | $30 | $30 |
| Anuradhapura sacred area | Sri Lanka | $30 | $30 |
| Dambulla cave temple | Sri Lanka | LKR 3,000 | $9 |
| Temple of the Tooth, Kandy | Sri Lanka | LKR 2,000 | $6 |
| Yala National Park | Sri Lanka | $25 entry; about $45 each with charges and VAT for two sharing; jeep LKR 7,000-8,000 for a half day | $45 plus jeep |
| Hue Imperial City | Vietnam | 200,000 VND | $7.69 |
| All Hue monuments, five days | Vietnam | 600,000 VND | $23 |
| Ha Long Bay, one night on a budget cruise | Vietnam | $105-160 per person | $105-160 |
A classic cultural triangle loop of Sigiriya, Polonnaruwa, Anuradhapura, Dambulla and the Temple of the Tooth comes to about $110 a person in tickets alone. In Vietnam, Hue's single five-day ticket covers the Imperial City and the royal tombs for about $23. Vietnam has its own big-ticket item, though: a night on Ha Long Bay costs $105-160 per person even on a budget boat, according to the Ha Long cruise cost guide. For a fair comparison, set Sri Lanka's cultural triangle against Ha Long, not against Hue.
Beaches: two coasts, two seasons, in both countries
Both countries solve the monsoon problem the same way: one coast is dry while the other is wet. In Sri Lanka, the Department of Meteorology divides the year into a first inter-monsoon in March and April, the south-west monsoon from May to September, a second inter-monsoon in October and November, and the north-east monsoon from December to February. During the south-west monsoon, it says, the weather is confined mainly to the south-west quarter and the hill country, while the east and north take their rain in the north-east monsoon. So the south coast, from Galle and Unawatuna to Mirissa, suits December to March, and the east coast, around Trincomalee and Arugam Bay, suits the middle of the year.
Vietnam works the same way along a longer coast. Phu Quoc is dry from December to March, Nha Trang from January to August, and Da Nang and Hoi An from February to August, with their wettest months from September to December. The beach water quality atlas covers water clarity, jellyfish and erosion beach by beach. On beach quality alone I would call it even; the choice is about which coast is dry in your month.
Getting around
Sri Lanka is a small island of 65,610 square kilometres, and its trains and buses are very cheap. The coast line from Colombo to Galle takes about 2 to 3.5 hours for LKR 240-1,100, according to Seat61. The famous hill-country line is another story. Cyclone Ditwah damaged it in late November 2025; by 4 December the Disaster Management Centre had confirmed 481 deaths and 1.8 million people affected across the island, as Newsfirst reported. The section from Nanu Oya to Badulla, through Ella, reopened on 20 June 2026, as the Sunday Times reported. On 30 August 2026 the paper reported that the rest of the line was still being rebuilt, with full service targeted for the end of 2026. Until then, you can still ride the Ella section, but you reach Nanu Oya by road.
If you would rather hire a car and driver for the loop, I could not find an official tariff in Sri Lanka, so get a written quote that says what is included. In Vietnam, a full day with a car and driver typically runs about $50-90, according to the private driver guide.
Vietnam is long rather than big, so most trips mix overnight trains, sleeper buses and one or two short flights, which run about $25-60 one way on main routes when booked a week or two ahead. It takes more hours on the road than Sri Lanka, but most legs give you a choice of train, bus or plane. English is not the deciding factor: on the 2025 EF English Proficiency Index, Vietnam ranked 64th with a score of 500 and Sri Lanka 73rd with 486.
Visas and entry in 2026
| Passport | Vietnam | Sri Lanka |
|---|---|---|
| UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland | 45 days visa-free | Free ETA, 30 days, apply online before travel |
| US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand | E-visa, $25 single or $50 multiple entry, up to 90 days | Free ETA, 30 days, apply online before travel |
| Ireland, Portugal | E-visa, $25 or $50 | ETA $50 online, $60 on arrival |
Sri Lanka's rules come from the official ETA fee page: from 25 May 2026, nationals of 40 listed countries get a free tourist ETA for 30 days, with double entry, and children under 12 of any nationality are also free. The ETA is still compulsory, so apply on the official site and ignore lookalike sites that charge for it. Parliament approved the regulations on 7 May 2026, and the government expected to give up about $75 million in fees in return for an estimated 247,000 extra visitors, as the Daily Mirror reported. The official page gives no end date, and news reports have described the scheme as running for six months or for a year, so check it before you book. To stay longer than 30 days, you extend online after arrival.
Vietnam's 45-day list and e-visa fees are in the visa and immigration atlas, and the UK government confirms the 45 days for British passports. Vietnam's e-visa allows up to 90 days, three times Sri Lanka's free stay, which matters for long trips.
When to go
| Months | Vietnam at its best | Sri Lanka |
|---|---|---|
| December to March | The south, including Phu Quoc; the north is cool and often grey | North-east monsoon from December to February, so the south and west coasts are the side to visit |
| April to May | The centre, with the sea warming | First inter-monsoon in March and April; the south-west monsoon begins in May |
| June to August | Central beaches, Da Nang to Nha Trang | South-west monsoon: the south-west and hill country take the weather, the east coast is the side to visit |
| September to November | The north, best in October and November; the centre is at its wettest | South-west monsoon ends in September; second inter-monsoon in October and November |
The Vietnam column follows the best time to visit Vietnam verdict table; the Sri Lanka column follows the Department of Meteorology's four seasons. October and November are the weakest beach months in both countries, but a strong time for northern Vietnam. Around Tet, which falls on 6 February 2027, Vietnam gets busier and pricier.
Crowds
Sri Lanka recorded about 2,362,000 tourist arrivals in 2025, a record, worth about $3.2 billion in revenue, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Vietnam recorded 21.2 million international arrivals the same year, as the 2025 arrivals summary explains, roughly nine times as many. That is a measure of scale, not of how crowded any single site feels.
Who should pick which
| If you... | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Want the lowest total for a sightseeing trip | Vietnam | Similar daily costs, far cheaper entrance tickets |
| Want beaches, ancient cities and a safari in two weeks | Sri Lanka | Everything sits on one small island |
| Plan to stay longer than 30 days | Vietnam | The e-visa runs to 90 days |
| Hold a US, Canadian or Australian passport and stay under 30 days | Sri Lanka, on visa cost | The free ETA saves the $25 Vietnamese e-visa |
| Want the Kandy to Ella train | Sri Lanka, but check | Only the Ella section was running in late 2026 |
| Have beach weeks in December to March | Either | Sri Lanka's south coast or Phu Quoc |
| Have beach weeks in June to August | Either | Sri Lanka's east coast or Vietnam's central coast |
Limitations
Numbeo's prices are crowd-sourced, from 91 contributors in Hanoi, 94 in Colombo and only seven in Kandy over the past year, so use them for the size of the gap, not exact prices. I could not open the Central Cultural Fund's own price list, so the heritage fees rest on a third-party list that says it checked them in March 2026. The free ETA has no published end date, and the hill-country railway's status changes as repairs progress. I found no official tariff for a car and driver in Sri Lanka and no audited hotel prices by tier for either country, and the dorm figures are a one-day snapshot of advertised prices. The rupee and the dong both move against the dollar.
Workaround: confirm the visa on the official ETA site and the train with Sri Lanka Railways before you book, check site fees at the ticket counter or on the Central Cultural Fund's site, and ask for written quotes for drivers and safaris.