Latin America’s Cheapest Countries for Travel
Some travel destinations offer much better bang-for-the buck than others. Have you ever wondered which countries offer the best travel bargains?
Here is a wrap up of baseline daily travel budgets for 16 Latin American nations.
Equador and Venezuela tie for cheapest country, and Uruguay tops out the list for most expensive Latin American nation.
Can I really take these figures literally?
Not really. The figures are meant mainly as a comparison between countries and as a very rough lowball estimate. See below.
What does Baseline Budget mean?
Baseline travel cost is per person, assumes you are sharing a double room with a travel buddy, and covers two no-frills restaurant meals a day. So the figure is an absolute minimum — it does not include transport costs, entrance fees, alcohol, or that luxurious third restaurant meal. The prices are based on the average low-end accommodations and meal prices available on the Lonely Planet website.
Current prices are probably higher because of the sliding dollar and inflation.
It should also be mentioned that costs vary wildly within each country as well. Big cities tend to be more expensive than rural areas, and top travel destinations are always pricier too. For example, the Galapagos Islands (which belong to Equador) are going to be much more expensive than some random town in the Equadorian mainland.
For those of you who have visited some of these destinations recently, how have your budgets compared to these figures?
Also in this series: Cheapest Countries in Western Europe and Cheapest Countries in Asia.
Guy Courchesne
As you noted, there is great variance within countries. I’m in Mexico so will use that as a reference.
I think the amount given for Mexico reflects small towns in the interior. The larger cities offer a mix of cheap or expensive, so the number is doable. For coastal resort areas, the number should probably be quadrupled, if not more.
Feb 19th, 2008 at 6:47 am
Stephany
Actually Venezuela is far more expensive than Colombia (I’ve been in both countries). Restaurants in Caracas, Venezuela are even more expensive than those in the US. If you are speaking of little towns you might be correct but Venezuela as a whole is more expensive that most South American countries, putting gas aside of course.
Feb 2nd, 2009 at 12:41 pm
Dave
Thanks for the info Stephany! It sounds like Caracas, at least, is no place for the budget-hunting traveler.
I wonder if Venezuela has gotten much more expensive in the last few years do to rising oil prices. It also appears that Venezuela is suffering from high inflation.
Feb 2nd, 2009 at 3:11 pm