In a cruise control method and a cruise control apparatus for a manual transmission vehicle, upon receiving a signal from an input device to start a cruise mode, a cruise control controller calculates an optimal gear stage for satisfying a target cruise traveling speed according to a traveling state of a vehicle, and a display device displays the calculated optimal gear stage to the driver to induce the driver to shift to the optimal gear stage. In addition, whether the gear stage by the driver's operation has matched the optimal gear stage may be determined within a predetermined time to determine whether a cruise control continues according to the determination result, thereby eliminating the driver's inconvenience due to frequent cancellation of the cruise mode.