1. Vietnam
WHY GO: Buzzing street life, great food, gripping war museums, rice terraces, Ha Long Bay, traditional villages
Vietnam has that perfect combination of being fantastically cheap as well as having lots of fascinating sights. If you’re a backpacker on a shoestring budget, you can certainly survive on very little here. For example, a dorm bed might cost you as little as $7 a night. If you have just a bit more money to spend then Vietnam also gives you great value, as you can easily find wonderful modern hotel rooms for under $30 a night.
Dig into the delicious Vietnamese pho noodle dishes (about $2 for a meal) or drink the bia hoi (locally brewed beer at $0.50 or less a glass), and you can manage to spend very little indeed. Activities and tours, such as those to Ha Long Bay or the Mekong Delta, are all reasonably priced, especially if booked locally.In my view, the beaches in Vietnam aren’t quite as nice as those in neighbouring countries (with Phu Quoc excepted), and tourist sites like Ha Long Bay can get somewhat overcrowded (look into the less-visited Bai Tu Long Bay nearby). But Vietnam is also one of the region’s most dynamic countries where you can truly feel like you’re in a different world.
2. Northern Thailand
WHY GO: Buddhist temples, hill tribes, and food markets. Beautiful nature allows for trekking, caving, rafting, and more. Party scenes in Pai and Chiang Mai.
Huh, Thailand? Isn’t Thailand supposed to be an expensive resort destination these days? That may be true to some extent if you only go to the beaches in the south, but not if you turn your focus to the inland regions in the north.Take an overnight train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai (cost: $12) and you will quickly realize just how affordable Thailand can be. For example, here you can still find backpacker dorm beds starting at $4 and basic private rooms starting at about $8. Need something more midrange? Chiang Mai is one of the best places to find great independent hotels for very little money. Food throughout Thailand is delicious and inexpensive, especially if you eat local—hit up local restaurant and you can get a fantastic stir fry for about 100 Baht ($2.50). Stick to local transportation (like the ubiquitous tuk-tuks) and you might struggle to spend more than about $25–$30 a day as a backpacker.Thanks to convenient transportation, lots of activities, and low cost, Thailand is also an easy travel destination… but watch your budget when going to the popular island or beaches (such as the now overrated Koh Phi Phi), as prices can easily double here.
3. Morocco
WHY GO: Sahara, ancient medinas, Atlas Mountains trekking, laidback surfer towns on the Atlantic coast
Stick only to places like Djeema El Fna square in Marrakech—Morocco’s most touristy location—and you might think the country is really not so cheap. Order a simple shish kebab with some salad at one of the street stalls here and you might be charged a highly unreasonable $12. But… turn a few corners and you can find that same meal at an authentic Moroccan eatery for just $2.50.If you are easily seduced by smooth sales pitches, know that the salesmen in Morocco work from finely crafted scripts. But keep a stiff upper lip at the markets and you’ll find that it’s easy to travel in this country for under $30/day, especially if staying in backpacker hostels or budget guesthouses. On a midrange budget of around $50/day you can stay in some of the famous riads—courtyard mini-palaces offering wonderful relief from the sun and buzzing city streets.If you are European or travelling in Europe, Morocco is easily reached by budget airline from the continent, or via a short ferry from Spain. As the most stable and secure country in the region, Morocco will give you a great taste of northern Africa.
4. Albania
WHY GO: ancient castles, white sand beaches, mountain trekking, remnants of communist past
Okay, first a little confession: I haven’t yet been to Albania! But for my next big trip I have my eyes firmly on the Balkans, and the buzz on the European backpacker trail is all about Albania. Since this list previously neglected to mention Europe at all, I’ve chosen Albania to represent here for now.Yes, you can travel cheaply in Europe. You only need to look towards the east and south-east of Europe, including the Baltics, Central Europe and the Balkans. Some have even taken to calling the Balkans the ‘Southeast Asia of Europe’, which is a weird way to put it but it kind of makes sense. While Croatia is the most touristy in the region and getting more expensive, you can travel very cheaply in Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Macedonia, with the cheapest country in the region easily being Albania.Right on the Adriatic coast just above Greece, Albania offers beautiful white sand beaches, while inland you’ll find huge mountain ranges as well as the buzzing capital of Tirana. The country doesn’t have as many direct flight connections as some others, so it can be easier or cheaper to fly to nearby Corfu in Greece or start a trip in Dubrovnik in Croatia.
5. Nicaragua
WHY GO: Epic volcanoes, Carribean islands, mountain coffee regions, surfin, volcano boarding (!), and only half the cost of Costa Rica
Nicaragua had long been off the radar due to years of political and civil unrest, but today the country is stable and open for tourism—and becoming increasingly popular. Currently it may well be the cheapest destination in Central America (though Guatemala is close).In 2013 I was easily able to find a good dorm bed in the colonial city of Grenada just a block from the main square for just $5 a night. Basic privates (with a shared bathroom) can be found for around $10 a night even in the touristy seaside town of San Juan Del Sur.Whereas neighbouring Costa Rica has clearly capitalized on the influx of North American tourists, Nicaragua is still a burgeoning tourist destination and so a lot of the activities and tours are very attractively priced. Costa Rica’s cloud forests in Monteverde and many other popular Costa Rican destinations are just half a day of travel from Nicaragua, so the two countries can also be easily combined into one itinerary.
6. Indonesia
WHY GO: From white sand beaches to jungles and savannahs, from blue flame spewing volcanoes to remote rainforests where you can meet Uran Utangs in the wild… it’s a country almost too big to summarize.
When I first visited Indonesia, I predictably came to Bali. It wasn’t love at first sight. Bali’s south is roughly split between Kuta, a cynical playground for vomiting spring-breakers from Australia, and Seminyak, a beachside town attracting high-spenders with luxury hotels and rose-petalled infinity pools. Neither is really my scene.But then I discovered the other Indonesia. Go even just a little inland on popular Bali and you’ll find that prices drop and places begin to feel a bit more authentic. Even Ubud (made famous by Eat Pray Love, or at least so I’m told…) manages to be just pleasantly touristy with all its Hindu temples and wonderful arts and crafts, while the rural north and west coasts of Bali are nearly a mirror image of the over-commercialised south.
More treasures can be found away from Bali: in Java, Lombok and Sumatra, or in the quiet backwaters of Flores or Sulawesi which are still blessed with local prices. Go a little off the typical tourist trail and you can unlock some awesome adventures. For instance I loved exploring Flores, where I went on a road trip on a scooter and once slept in a convent. Everywhere I was enthusiastically greeted and high-fived by friendly villagers.Want a slightly less adventurous Indonesia trip? Then the Gili islands off Lombok near Bali are a perfect place to just party or relax. While the islands are slowly going more upmarket, you can still easily stay on a budget here.
7. Bolivia
WHY GO: Salt flats of Uyuni, visiting La Paz (the world’s highest capital), climbing Huayna Potosi, mountain biking the former world’s most dangerous road, Amazon jungle tours, and relaxing in the colonial town of Sucre
Bolivia is by far the ultimate cheap place to travel in South America. One caveat is that you need to be willing to rough it a bit sometimes: it is very much an undeveloped backpacker destination and the ‘flashpacker’ may feel that increased comforts are hard to find.That said, you can find basic dorm beds in the $5 – 6 range, though the better hostels typically cost around $10 for a dorm bed (usually with breakfast included). If you’re not too fussed, you can get wonderfully filling Bolivian set meals for about 20-25 Bolivianos (or $3), or international style meals for about double that.Much of Bolivia is quite rugged as it’s mostly high up in the Andes, so you may have to be a little adventurous to enjoy it to its fullest. Fortunately it also has some of South America’s most amazing sights: from the world’s highest lake Titicaca to the seemingly infinite salt flats of Salar de Uyuni, where sky and ground seem to merge at the horizon.The country is easily combined with Peru, which is also a little easier to fly into internationally.
8. Cambodia
WHY GO: Temples of Angkor, war museums in Phnom Penh, beaches and islands
Come for the ancient temple complex of Angkor Wat, but stay for everything else—ranging from jungle waterfalls and gripping war museums to a host of impossibly pretty islands. Angkor Wat while stunning, does easily overshadow the rest of this intriguing country. Many organised tours offer Cambodia simply as an Angkor Wat add-on to a Vietnam or Thailand itinerary, but travel to Cambodia independently and you can spend your time discovering the country properly. Want to simply relax on a beautiful beach? Consider going to Sihanouksville, or to the nearby island of Koh Rong where you can still (for now) have a stunning tropical beach all to yourself.Cambodia is one of the cheapest places to travel in Southeast Asia, though it sometimes requires a little patience as the infrastructure is not always the best. You will probably shrug this off quickly though, as you can still find respectable dorm beds in the $3 to $5 range, and basic private rooms for around $10.
9. Nepal
Nepal is renowned as one of the best places in the world for safe and affordable mountain trekking. Following the earthquake in 2015, Nepal has been slowly recovering and is open for business once again.Home to eight of the world’s 10 highest peaks, Nepal is a great choice for those looking for an active trip amongst epic landscapes, though equally you can choose to just chill out in Kathmandu. Despite their remoteness, many routes through the Himalayas have tea houses and lodges along the way where you can eat, sleep, and recover. On a backpacker budget, you can easily survive on about $25 a day in Nepal.
Where else?
Are there only 9 of these? Of course not, but it’s a nice number for a list. Here are some other bargain destinations:
- Laos is like the quiet backwater of Southeast Asia, though very worthwhile to visit and in a similar price range as Vietnam and Cambodia (maybe only slightly higher).
- Peru
is a little more expensive on average than Bolivia, but it’s still amongst the cheaper countries in South America. You can easily end up doing many typical tourist activities (Machu Picchu, trekking Colca Canyon, etc.) in a relatively small circuit though, which can quickly push up the average spend on a shorter trip.
- The Balkans in Southeastern Europe are just a stone’s throw away from Greece and Italy, yet prices are closer to somewhere like Southeast Asia (with the only exception of Croatia, where prices have gone up in recent years).
- Central Europe remains quite affordable as well. If you want to spend less, go to Prague in the Czech Republic or Krakow in Poland instead of, say, Paris, London, or Oslo.
- Turkey offers excellent value for money particularly outside Istanbul and touristy coastal resort areas.
- It would be odd not to mention India, which has for so long been a Mecca for budget travellers. Quality is a factor here though, and it’s easy to get into ‘you get what you pay for’ situations—be sure to read up on where to get the best value.