Ten affordable countries where a bed, three meals and local transport still come in under £45 a day, with a full receipt from fourteen days in Vietnam.
Cheap travel is not about suffering. It is about picking a country where the normal price of things is low, so you eat what locals eat, sleep where locals sleep, and still spend less than a weekend in Paris costs.
Every country below was picked on four numbers: the price of a dorm bed, the price of a sit down meal, the price of a two hour intercity journey, and what the average traveller day adds up to. Prices are in pounds, checked in 2026, and they assume you are travelling outside peak season and booking transport a few days ahead rather than months.
If you have not booked a first trip yet, read how to plan an international trip first, then come back and pick a country from this list.
How the daily budget is built
Every figure below is one person, travelling alone, on this pattern: a dorm bed or the cheapest private room, breakfast from a bakery or market, one street meal, one sit down meal, local transport, and one paid entry every second day. No tours, no taxis to the airport, no drinking every night.
| Cost line | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Bed | Dorm, or cheapest private room where dorms are rare |
| Food | Three meals, coffee, water |
| Transport | Buses, metro, one intercity leg every four days |
| Entries | Museums, ruins, parks, castles |
1. Vietnam, £34 a day
The cheapest full country on this list for what you get. A dorm in Hanoi Old Quarter is £6. A bowl of pho on a plastic stool is 45,000 dong, about £1.40. A sleeper bus the length of the country costs £18. Banh mi from a cart is under a pound.
The catch is distance. Vietnam is 1,000 miles top to bottom, so two weeks means picking either the north or the south, not both.
2. Georgia, £36 a day
Ninety day visa free entry for UK passports, guesthouses at £14 a night with breakfast, and a marshrutka minibus to almost anywhere for under £5. Wine is cheaper than bottled water in Kakheti. Tbilisi has fast internet and a metro ride costs 30p.
Full write up here: three weeks in Georgia on £30 a day.
3. Albania, £38 a day
The last genuinely cheap coastline in Europe. A room in Sarande in June is £22. A grilled fish dinner with salad and beer is £9. Buses run everywhere and cost £2 to £6. Flights from London to Tirana sit around £70 return in shoulder season.
4. Indonesia, £33 a day
Java and Sumatra are half the price of Bali. A homestay in Yogyakarta is £9, nasi goreng is 90p, and the train to Malang in economy class is £3.50. Budget £5 to £8 a day extra if you rent a scooter.
5. Bolivia, £30 a day
The cheapest country in South America. Hostels in Sucre run £6, a two course almuerzo lunch is £2, and overnight buses between cities cost £8. Altitude is the real cost, so give yourself three days in La Paz before doing anything strenuous. Read the health on the road notes before you book anything above 3,500 metres.
6. Turkey, £37 a day
Currency movement has kept Turkey cheap for anyone earning in pounds. A pension room in Selcuk is £16, a full breakfast is £4, and long distance coaches include snacks and a seat you can sleep in. Istanbul alone justifies a week.
7. Nepal, £29 a day
Kathmandu guesthouses are £8, dal bhat is £2 and comes with refills, and a local bus to Pokhara is £6. Trekking changes the maths: permits, a guide and teahouses push a two week Annapurna route to about £55 a day.
8. Mexico, £42 a day
More expensive than the rest of this list but still cheap for what arrives on the table. Hostels in Oaxaca are £11, tacos are 60p each, and second class buses cost £3 an hour of travel. See Oaxaca for mezcal, not Instagram.
9. Romania, £40 a day
Cluj and Brasov both come in under £45 a day including a private room. Trains are slow and cheap, the Carpathians are free to walk, and a plate of sarmale with polenta is £5.
10. Morocco, £35 a day
Ferry or budget flight from Europe, riad rooms from £18, tagine dinners at £5, and a first class train from Tangier to Fes for £13. Fixed price petit taxis exist, but insist on the meter.
What actually breaks a cheap trip
Three things, in order of damage.
- Flights booked late. A £70 return becomes £240 inside three weeks of departure. Book the flight first and the rest later.
- Airport transfers. A taxi at 1am in Hanoi is £16. The bus at 6am is 90p. Land in daylight where you can.
- Day tours. A £45 group tour usually copies a public bus route you can ride for £3. Buy tours for permits and access, not for convenience.
The receipt in the sidebar is a real fourteen day trip through northern Vietnam: Hanoi, Ninh Binh, Ha Giang and back. Flights from London are the single biggest line, which is true of almost every cheap country. Once you land, the ground cost is £27 a day.
Cheapest month to go
| Country | Cheapest window | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Vietnam | March, September | Tet, late January |
| Georgia | May, October | August in Tbilisi |
| Albania | May, September | July and August |
| Bolivia | April, November | June to August |
| Morocco | March, November | Ramadan for food hours |
FAQs
What is the cheapest country to travel in right now? Vietnam, Nepal and Bolivia all sit under £35 a day for a solo traveller in a dorm. Nepal is the cheapest on the ground; Vietnam is cheapest once flight prices are included from the UK.
How much money do I need for a month of budget travel? Between £900 and £1,300 on the ground for the countries listed here, plus flights. Add 15 percent for anything unbooked.
Is it cheaper to book accommodation in advance or on arrival? Book the first two nights before you fly, then book two or three days ahead as you go. Walk in rates are rarely cheaper now and you lose a morning searching.
Do I need travel insurance for cheap countries? Yes. A basic annual policy is around £40. A hospital transfer from a rural region costs thousands.
Can I travel these countries without speaking the language? Yes. Learn the numbers one to ten, hello, thank you and the word for bill. Offline translation covers the rest.
How do I keep food costs down without eating badly? Eat your main meal at lunch, when set menus are half the price of dinner, and buy fruit from markets rather than shops.
Next: browse the full dispatch index, see everywhere covered on the travel map, or get one field note a month through the newsletter. Questions about a specific country go through the contact page, and there is more about how these numbers are recorded on the about page.