🇨🇷 Costa Rica or 🇻🇳 Vietnam
Which one, honestly
Vietnam leads on value for money, food and cities.
A normal day costs about $130 in Costa Rica and $70 in Vietnam.
Side by side
- 🇨🇷 Costa Rica🇻🇳 Vietnam
- Jan, Feb, Mar, DecBest monthsMar, Apr, Oct, Nov
- $130A normal day$70
- 2h 55m from Mexico CityClosest hub3h 15m from Singapore
- Very goodBeaches and seaVery good
- Not the drawCities and cultureVery good
- GoodFoodExceptional
- ExceptionalNature and hikingExceptional
- Not the drawValue for moneyExceptional
- GoodEasy to get aroundGood
- A hire car with clearance, the distances are short but the roads are slowGetting aroundCheap domestic flights and sleeper trains, because the country is long
- September and October on the Caribbean side, the wettest weeks of the yearWhen to avoidThe north in January, cold and grey, and the centre during the autumn typhoons
Pick by what you want
🇨🇷 Choose Costa Rica if
you want wildlife above everything else, cloud forest and two oceans in one small country, and you accept it costs more than its neighbours.
🇻🇳 Choose Vietnam if
you want the best street food in Asia on the smallest budget, and you do not mind a long thin country that takes time to cross.
Full Costa Rica guide →Full Vietnam guide →
And what the world thinks
Dead even. The next vote breaks the tie.
Compare something else
Written and checked by hand. Nothing here about visas or entry rules: those change often and depend on your passport, so check an official source.