Backpacking cost guides
What should you budget, and what actually changes how much you spend? This is the plain explanation behind every figure in Travel Budget Buddy. For the numbers in one particular country, open its destination guide further down the page.
Costs last reviewed September 2026, shown in pounds sterling.
What Buddy's standard estimate represents
Every destination figure describes one ordinary day for an independent traveller: sleeping in budget places, eating mostly local food, using local transport and doing a few paid activities each week. It is deliberately a comfortable rather than a bare-minimum day, and it is a starting point — every number is editable in the planner.
The five day-to-day categories
Accommodation
Your bed for the night: hostel dorms, private rooms, guesthouses and the occasional splurge.
Food & drink
Everything you eat and drink in a normal day, from markets and street food to a restaurant meal now and then.
Local transport
Routine local travel while you're staying somewhere: metros, local buses, tuk-tuks and short taxi rides.
Excursions & fun
Paid activities and excursions — entry tickets, tours, dives, treks and the occasional big day out.
Other (sim, laundry…)
The everyday extras: SIM cards and data, laundry, toiletries, small gifts and unexpected bits and pieces.
Added together, those five make the daily destination figure, and the daily figure multiplied by your nights makes the day-to-day spending for that stop.
What sits outside the daily figure
These are planned separately so nothing is counted twice:
- Outbound and return travel between home and your trip
- Significant journeys between stops, whether they cross a border or not
- Travel insurance
- Visas and entry authorisations, where they apply
- Vaccinations and health preparation
- Equipment and gear bought before you go
- Your Safety Buffer, which stays protected rather than spendable
What changes how much you spend
How you sleep
Dorms, private rooms and the odd hotel are the single biggest lever on a long trip. Moving one level down for half your nights often frees up hundreds.
How you eat
Local food, markets and self-catering sit far below tourist restaurants. Most travellers mix all three.
How fast you move
Every move costs money and a day. Slower trips with longer stays almost always cost less per day than hopping every third night.
When and where you go
High season, islands, capital cities and festival weeks all push prices up. Shoulder season and smaller towns bring them down.
Nothing here is fixed. Every daily figure, one-off cost and buffer in the planner can be changed to match the trip you actually want. How Buddy estimates travel costs → explains the assumptions, sources and limits in full.
Compare spending levels
A dorm bed in Thailand and a dorm bed in Australia are very different numbers. Choose the countries you're thinking about and every level below updates for them — accommodation, food, local transport, excursions and everyday extras.
Where are you thinking of going?
Pick as many as you like — the levels below show prices for each one.
Thailand cost guide → · Vietnam cost guide → · Australia cost guide →
Where you sleep is usually the biggest slice of a long trip. Moving one tier down for half your nights often frees up hundreds.
Thailand
- Hostel dorm
- £7–11 / night
- Budget private / guesthouse
- £13–21 / night
- 2–3 star hotel
- £27–42 / night
- 4 star & boutique
- £50–79 / night
- Luxury
- £101–158 / night
Vietnam
- Hostel dorm
- £6–9 / night
- Budget private / guesthouse
- £12–18 / night
- 2–3 star hotel
- £23–36 / night
- 4 star & boutique
- £43–68 / night
- Luxury
- £86–135 / night
Australia
- Hostel dorm
- £20–32 / night
- Budget private / guesthouse
- £40–63 / night
- 2–3 star hotel
- £81–126 / night
- 4 star & boutique
- £151–236 / night
- Luxury
- £302–473 / night
Friendly estimates in GBP to plan with — not quoted prices.
What each level means
- Hostel dorm: 6–12 bed dorms in South-East Asia, Eastern Europe and Central America. Often includes breakfast and a kitchen.
- Budget private / guesthouse: Private room, fan or basic air-con, shared or simple en-suite. Great value split between two people.
- 2–3 star hotel: Reliable air-con, daily cleaning, breakfast buffet. A good reset every couple of weeks.
- 4 star & boutique: Pool, gym, central location. Worth budgeting for a handful of special nights.
- Luxury: Resorts and design hotels. Usually a treat night, not a trip-long plan.
Save money on accommodation
- Weekly and monthly rates can cut 20–40% off nightly prices — ask directly.
- Sunday to Thursday nights are cheaper in most cities.
- Free breakfast and a kitchen quietly reduce your food budget too.
Ask Buddy
Destination cost guides
Detailed daily costs for one country at a time.
South-East Asia
- Bali backpacking costs£39 / day
- Cambodia backpacking costs£34 / day
- Indonesia backpacking costs£41 / day
- Laos backpacking costs£33 / day
- Malaysia backpacking costs£45 / day
- Philippines backpacking costs£45 / day
- Thailand backpacking costs£43 / day
- Vietnam backpacking costs£39 / day
East Asia
- China backpacking costs£44 / day
- Hong Kong backpacking costs£99 / day
- Japan backpacking costs£85 / day
South Asia
- India backpacking costs£34 / day
- Sri Lanka backpacking costs£34 / day
Oceania
- Australia backpacking costs£104 / day
- New Zealand backpacking costs£113 / day
Latin America
- Colombia backpacking costs£43 / day
- Costa Rica backpacking costs£58 / day
- Mexico backpacking costs£59 / day
- Peru backpacking costs£52 / day
Europe
- Georgia backpacking costs£41 / day
- Greece backpacking costs£73 / day
- Portugal backpacking costs£66 / day
- Spain backpacking costs£72 / day
Africa
- Morocco backpacking costs£52 / day