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World taxi prices: What a 3-kilometer ride costs in 72 big cities
The cost of a short taxi ride can be incredibly cheap in some places and amazingly expensive in others. Check out our global list to see how things compare.
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The 11 best-value cities in Europe for budget travelers
Some European cities are very cheap, but still not really worth going to. Here are 11 you should definitely visit.
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12 best-value cities in Asia for budget travelers
Here's our list of the best of Asia's cheapest cities.
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107 World cities by latitude: Things line up in surprising ways
Compare all the popular cities around the world from north to south to see which ones line up.
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List of free walking tours around the world
Free walking tours are now found in cities all over the world. Here's a list of all of them.
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17 Cheap destinations with great weather in April
April is the perfect month for cheap vacations in much of the world because most people prefer tropical holidays in the months ending in March, so you can still find perfect weather combined with lower hotel prices in many fantastic destinations.
Much of Latin America has ideal weather this month, while April is (weirdly) the single hottest month in most of Southeast Asia, so that budget-traveler hot spot is really better avoided until autumn.
Those looking for a cheap beach vacation will have many really good options because even places with scorching weather can be quite bearable if all you are doing is sitting under an oversized umbrella sipping cocktails all day long, with breezes always rolling in.
18 Cheap destinations with great weather in March
The month of March is one of the better ones on the calendar for budget travelers since it’s well before the summer season in the Northern Hemisphere and the winter crowds in the tropical areas are starting to thin out at the same time. Through much of Latin America and Asia you can find perfect weather with off-peak hotel prices and reasonable crowds.
For those starting in North America or Europe you’ll find that most of these places will require a fairly long flight to reach, but that’s the price you pay for warm weather this time of year, and those staying for at least two weeks can easily justify the airfare by the cheap prices they pay once they have arrived.
116 World cities by price: Backpacker Index for 2012
Being able to compare cities by price within a region can be helpful for those who are figuring out where to visit on an upcoming trip, but for people in the earliest stages of planning it might be even more interesting to see the whole world on the same list. Having been completely updated for 2012, the World Backpacker Index now includes 116 cities and destinations, ranked below from cheapest to most expensive.
Through most of the world prices went up only modestly during 2011, though currency shifts did scramble the order from last year in some cases as well. Unsurprisingly, the world’s cheapest destinations tend to be in Asia and Latin America, but some fantastic bargains can be found in the former-East zone in Europe as well.
9 Africa and Middle East cities by price: Backpacker Index for 2012
Ignored by the vast majority of travelers, the Middle East and Africa itself is known more for problems than for quality tourism, but adventurous souls continue to explore everywhere possible. We’ve updated our modest set of cities for the region in 2012, and the rankings are mostly the same.
Fortunately, most of the developed cities in the Middle East and Africa are relatively cheap, excluding Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Many budget travelers are shocked to find the prices in sub-Saharan Africa are quite high, at least for international-standard hotels and such. A good and recent guidebook can be a big help in this area, even while they become less necessary elsewhere.
17 Cheap destinations with great weather in January
January really begins prime time when it comes to people looking for a cheap getaway to a warm place. Fortunately the weather is pretty much perfect in almost all of the cheapest places on earth this month as well. Latin America and Southeast Asia are mostly warm and dry this time of year.
The two tricky parts are that flights to those areas won’t be cheap in most cases, so it’s less than ideal if you only have 5 to 7 days for your trip. However, if you can get away for 10 days or more then the cost of the flight and the hassle to go to one of these regions will be more than made up by the super cheap prices once you arrive. If you are mostly interested in beaches, scuba diving, and other water sports you should start with our list of the cheapest Caribbean islands to see which ones are in your price range.
It’s worth nothing that even though they don’t celebrate Christmas in most of Asia, it’s still peak season there because they see the highest demand of the year during that week. If you can go the second week of January or after then it’ll be cheaper and easier to find hotel deals.
18 Cheap destinations with great weather in December
The final month of the year marks the time when people in northern climates start looking around for an escape to the sun. Fortunately, there are big parts of the world that have their best weather of the year at this time, and are very cheap as well, once you get there.
Most of the destinations below are in Latin America and Southeast Asia, so depending on where you are starting from it might be a rather long flight to get there. Many of us can take two weeks or even more around this time of year, but that fact means that all of these places do get crowded and raise hotel prices for the weeks around Christmas and New Year’s.
It’s best to book as far in advance as possible for both your flights and hotels, since so many people have the same idea and prices generally just keep going up as it gets closer.
14 Cheap destinations with great weather in November
If you have a flexible schedule, or if you just happen to have some time off in November, you are in luck. This is honestly the best month of the year for finding cheap destinations that also have fantastic weather. Since most people don’t start their winter travel until mid or late December, it means crowds are small and hotel prices are low through huge sections of the travel world.
Of course in November you can pretty much forget about Europe if you want warm weather and little chance of rain. Fortunately you can go almost anywhere in Latin America and through many parts of Southeast Asia on a cheap flight, and you’ll be in the sun with shockingly low prices, easily making the flight duration and cost worthwhile.
16 Cheap destinations with great weather in October
It shouldn’t be too surprising that October is quite a transitionary month in much of the world for weather, with some cities changing quite a bit as the month goes on. There are many fine choices in all regions of the world in October though, so it’s just a matter of zeroing in on the places that should be nice for the whole month.
The south of Europe has ideal conditions for anyone with some time off, and there are still several places with beach weather for resort types. Asia is a bit spotty, however, since October is very rainy through most of the popular and cheap cities in Southeast Asia.
19 Cheap destinations with great weather in September
Having wrapped up the articles for cheap cities with great July weather and cheap cities with great August weather, it’s nice to arrive in a month where better bargains are available in places with manageable crowds. The savvy budget traveler skips the summer months to take advantage of better weather and lower prices in September.
Europe in particular really opens up with some great deals in cities that actually have their best weather of the year at the end of summer. Airfares get lower and hotels and hostels get cheaper and easier to find, so this is really perfect if you’ve got the time off.
The world’s 14 best-value destinations
Let’s face it, there are plenty of cheap destinations in the world, and some of them deserve to be cheap. But there are also gems out there which are lovely and interesting as well as very easy on the budget. These ‘best-value’ places are ones where you have an excellent time and you’re continually shocked at how cheap things are there too.
Not long ago we published lists of our picks for the best-value cities in Europe, and the best-value cities in Asia. For both of those we ranked destinations for people traveling just to a specific region, but it’s time to open it up and collect our best-value recommendations from the entire world.