Vietnam among top 20 best places to travel on a budget

According to Traveller, 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. Visitors 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, Traveller 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 visitors go to 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.