I attempted to spend a day on this planet’s most cost-effective metropolis for lower than £24 – this is how I bought on

Hanoi is for my money (pun intended) the world’s cheapest capital city. Granted it’s far-flung, but with direct flights starting at £600 return, clean and comfortable rooms from £8 a night, £1 beers and meals for £3, it makes a brilliant budget break.

And I have set myself a mission: to spend 24 hours in the city for less than £24.

I do not intend to slum it. My £24 is to cover one night’s accommodation, three meals with a drink – Hanoi has arguably the best, safest and most ­varied street food anywhere – and, of course, a Vietnamese egg coffee. That’s the city’s signature beverage, born out of a milk shortage during the 1940s.

Here’s how it went.

The first thing you will notice about Hanoi, and most of Vietnam, is the mopeds. There are thousands clogging the narrow streets of the Old Quarter, and at first the roads might seem impassable.

In this part of town, the streets are lined with the national flag and the hammer-and-sickle ­symbol representing the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam.

Locals sit on tiny plastic stools at humble roadside restaurants eating pho (noodle soup), banh mi (meat baguettes), bun cha (small pork patties with rice ­noodles and a dipping sauce).

There are plenty of meat-free options too, such as summer rolls, banh xeo (savoury egg pancakes), and cha ca (grilled fish with onions and dill).

Hanoi is for my money (pun intended) the world’s cheapest capital city. Granted it’s far-flung, but with direct flights starting at £600 return, clean and comfortable rooms from £8 a night, £1 beers and meals for £3, it makes a brilliant budget break

My £24 is to cover one night’s accommodation, three meals with a drink – Hanoi has arguably the best, safest and most varied street food anywhere – and, of course, a Vietnamese egg coffee (pictured)

There are plenty of meat-free options too, such as summer rolls, banh xeo (savoury egg pancakes, pictured), and cha ca (grilled fish with onions and dill)

Everything here starts at around £1 a portion. I have set my meal budget at £3.50 including a beer/soft drink. It’s going to be easy.

The Old Quarter is a great place to stay for first-timers It is close to all the major attractions – the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the Temple of Literature, Train Street (where trains whoosh through a cafe-lined alley), and the bustling Dong Xuan Market.

My partner Abigail and I have booked an Airbnb for £19 for the night – so £9.50 each. It has two double beds, a bath, and a ­balcony in a prime location.

We could have gone cheaper. The lowest-priced Airbnb I can find is £7.80 for a private room with a double bed. The most expensive is £111, with five bedrooms and seven beds. 

So after a good night’s sleep, coffee is first on the agenda. We go to Ca Bop, where you can get an egg coffee for around £1.50 (if you want the original, head to Cafe Dinh, also in the Old Quarter). 

The cheapest coffees are 50p for a bac xiu (white coffee). For breakfast, options include pho (around £2), banh mi (the cheapest at 70p to 90p), bun ca rieu (crab vermicelli soup), rice porridge (£1) and sticky rice with mung bean, fried shallots and crispy eggs (£1).

The latter is my favourite, a hearty start to the day and the most familiar to the western palette. If you want to push the boat out, you can add various meats (pork shoulder, pork belly or chicken). Our day’s expenditure has reached about £13 each.

We go for a wander around West Lake, where locals are doing tai chi, and stop by the grand Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.

The Old Quarter is a great place to stay for first-timers It is close to all the major attractions – the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the Temple of Literature, Train Street (where trains whoosh through a cafe-lined alley), and the bustling Dong Xuan Market

The cheapest coffees are 50p for a bac xiu (white coffee). For breakfast, options include pho, pictured, (around £2), banh mi (the cheapest at 70p to 90p), bun ca rieu (crab vermicelli soup), rice porridge (£1) and sticky rice with mung bean, fried shallots and crispy eggs (£1)

Nearby there’s the Temple of Literature, built in 1070AD.

Meanwhile crowds have ­gathered on Train Street, where there are more tempting cafes offering egg coffee and coconut coffee for a couple of pounds.

We stop for some tasty bahn mi and pho for lunch (£2.70).

Thoughts soon turn to dinner. You could eat rice noodle salad with herbs and peanuts, or fried fish with dill at Cha Ca. ­Alternatively, there’s Obama Bun Cha, where Barack Obama dined on his visit in 2016.

Both cost around £3.50 each.

We follow up with some che (£1), a dessert full of fruit, beans, tapioca, coconut shavings, peanuts, pandan leaf, coconut milk – one of my favourite dishes of the trip. We finish the evening with bia hoi, a light beer costing 40p.

Total day’s spending in this welcoming, wonderful city? £19.60… well within budget.