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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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Comparing European itineraries: Choose wisely and save big
As summer approaches and airfares are at or near record levels for crossing the Atlantic, I thought it would be an interesting time to compare some classic European itineraries to see just how much further you can stretch your funds by choosing one region over another. There are probably many people who’ve given up on the notion of a European trip this year, and those people might actually still be in the game if they head to the best cities of Eastern Europe instead of to the west or south.
The data below is all based on our European Backpacker Index, which compares the same common expenses in 47 different cities, as well as our 3-Star European Index that covers the same 47 cities from the perspective of a couple/pair who prefer 3-star hotels and a bit more luxury.
Currency shifts have created some new bargains for summer 2012
As the summer travel season is approaching I thought it would be interesting to look at the currency situation for travelers. The most interesting and perhaps unusual thing is that almost all major currencies have been quite stable against the US dollar (and against each other) for the past year. This contrasts to a couple years ago when the US dollar was tanking against almost everything.
These exchange rate charts can be a bit misleading because there are often notable swings within a few months, and a visitor can get either lucky or unlucky depending on which way it went.
Still, I think it’s useful and interesting to see where things have gone in the past 6 months and past year to see which countries are at least better bargains than they were exactly a year ago.
What makes a good digital-nomad destination?
I hope this site – Price of Travel – is a useful resource for long-term travelers as well as those looking for value on shorter trips. We’ve included typical costs for over 110 major destinations around the world, in addition to monthly weather information, which should quickly give you ideas of where to go and when. See the World Backpacker Index for 2012 to see all countries ranked from cheapest to most expensive.
But there’s a different kind of traveler out there in increasing numbers, including yours truly. The so-called “digital nomad” earns a living while traveling, or at least never having a permanent home. I’d love to get feedback and ideas from anyone out there on this subject because it seems clear that this lifestyle will only get more popular as time goes on.
Europe 3-Star Traveler Index for 2012: 47 cities by price
In our quest to help travelers sort out which global cities are the bargains and which are unusually expensive, we are happy to reveal the fully-updated Europe 3-star Traveler Index for 2011 below. We’ve added 7 new (mostly cheap) cities this year, just as we’ve done for the European Backpackers Index for 2012, which is aimed at budget travelers.
Staying in hostel dorm beds is great for some people, but obviously the majority of us prefer to stay in a private hotel room. Interestingly, some cities that are quite cheap for backpackers are farther down the list for 3-star travelers, and others are quite a bit higher, so it’s worth looking at the list that fits your travel style more.
World’s cheapest and most expensive skiing & snowboarding destinations
For most of us, skiing and snowboarding holidays tend to be very expensive. Unlike, say, going to a beach on an island in Thailand where you can stay in a bungalow for US$15 per night and just sit in the sun during the day, a ski trip means equipment, lift tickets, and typically expensive hotel rooms in small mountain towns.
According to the fine folks at pricerunner.co.uk (a price comparison website), there are actually some bargains out there, many of which are not terribly well known, at least outside of their region. They compared (only) 33 ski resort areas around the world to rank them by price including transportation, accommodation, lift tickets, and equipment hire, and they’ve sent me the Top 10 cheapest and most expensive for skiing and snowboarding.
Best European hostels honored in Hostelbookers Awards for Excellence 2012
With Awards Season winding down and summer travel planning already in full swing, Hostelbookers have just announced their 2012 Awards for Excellence to honor the very best hostels around the world. Anyone who has stayed in more than a few hostels should appreciate this because quality can range from dreadful to stupendous, so you can’t just book the first place you hear about.
Price of Travel is happy to be a partner with Hostelbookers because they have lower prices than the other big hostels sites, plus an easy-to-use website. Also, if you talk to hostel owners and operators you’ll hear very frequent complaints about working with the other big hostel sites, so Hostelbookers appears to have an edge in service as well. Lowest prices and better service is a hard combination to beat.
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.
Seven new (mostly very cheap) cities added to the European Backpacker Index
In early January I published the newly-updated cheapest European cities list, also known as the European Backpacker Index for 2012. As with the previous year, the list contained the 40 (more or less) most popular tourist cities in Europe, from cheapest to most expensive. By request, I’ve just added 7 new European cities to the site in general, and also to the Backpacker Index.
Choosing the cities to cover is a bit tricky because the idea is to list cities in as many different countries and regions as possible, without getting too granular. This site is a trip-planning resource, not a complete travel guide, so I leave out cities like Seville in Spain and Marseilles in France because the prices there are quite similar to nearby cities that I do include.