Budget for my 3 Month Backpacking Journey across Central America

Visits: 3178

This article won´t be long. No worries. It will be short, clear and hopefully useful. In my previous article (Itinerary for Central America for 3 months) you read about places I have visited within 92 days in Central America. In this article you will find out how much money I needed for such journey.

So let´s keep it single – within 92 days of my backpacking journey I spent exactly 1682 euro which makes the average of 18,30 euro per day.

Total price doesn´t include flight tickets as I flew to Colombia and flew to Canada from Mexico which are NOT  countries  of Central America. Price doesn´t include travel insurance as I needed insurance for longer time. Exactly for 16 months and it cost me around 550 euro with The True Traveller. Highly recommended, by the way. 😉

So let´s have a closer look on each country travelled. Which item was most and least expensive and which country was most or least expensive from my journey.

PANAMA (13 days)

Accommodation

$39,70 – only 3 nights paid, rest was couchsurfing or friends of my friends 🙂

Transportation

$92,30 – only local buses

Food & Drinks

$174 – the most expensive item of Panama – average meal for at least 10 dollars

REST

$53 – phone card, souvenirs, some entrance fees

TOTAL —– 359 dollars —- 289 euro!!!

AVERAGE – 22,20 euro per day

COSTA RICA (37 days – including volunteering)

Accommodation

20 000 colones (around 29 euro) – only 4 nights paid, rest was couchsurfing or volunteering house

Transportation

55 965 colones (around 80 euro) – only local buses

Food & Drinks

188 340 colones ( 268 eur) – the most expensive item of Costa Rica – average meal for at least 5 000 colones (7 euro)

REST

89 630 colones (134 eur) – phone card, souvenirs, some entrance fees, volunteering extra

TOTAL —- 510 euro!!!

AVERAGE – 13,80 euro per day

PS: Costa Rica is officially the most expensive country of the whole Central America but in my case it was actually the cheapest! Why?! Thanks to my blog (I never paid any entrance or excursion) and thanks to my volunteering stay of 2 weeks where I had accommodation and meals for free. 🙂

NICARAGUA (15 days)

Accommodation

3560 cordobas (around 93 euro) – only hostels, Nicaragua was the only country in Central America where I was not hosted by couchsurfing

Transportation

979 cordobas (around 26 euro) – only local chicken buses, super cheap, taxis are included

Food & Drinks

3671 cordobas (around 95 euro) – super cheap food especially at local places

EXCURSIONS

933 cordobas (around 24 eur) – Volcano Boarding with Quetzal Trekkers in Leon

REST

$2357 cordobas (around 62 euro) – phone card, souvenirs, laundry, some entrance fees

TOTAL —– 11 500 cordobas—- 299 euro!!!

AVERAGE – 19,90 euro per day

HONDURAS (5 days)

Accommodation

300 lempiras (10 euro) – only 1 night paid on Amapala island, rest couchsurfing or blog cooperation 🙂

Transportation

785 lempiras (27 euro) – only local chicken buses + boat ride to Salvador

Food & Drinks

1955 lempiras (67 eur) – well I was pampering myself with good food at good restaurants 😉

REST

210 lempiras (7 euro) – entrance fee to country of 3 dollars, tips

TOTAL —– 3250 lempiras —- 111 euro!!!

AVERAGE – 22,20 euro per day

Salvador (9 days)

Accommodation

$39 – only few nights in Santa Ana & El Tunco

Transportation

$37 – local buses, hitchhike or car share

Food & Drinks

$66 – typical food “pupusas” can be found for 1 dollar 🙂

REST

$63 – phone card, phone fix (30 dollars), souvenirs, some entrance fees

TOTAL —– 205 dollars —- 165 euro!!!

AVERAGE – 18,30 euro per day

GUATEMALA (13 days)

Accommodation

265 quetzales (30 euro) – average was 45 quetzales per night, super cheap 🙂

Transportation

483 quetzales (53 euro) – only local crazy fast chicken buses

Food & Drinks

857 quetzales (95 euro) – super cheap street food

Excursions

560 quetzales (62 euro) – Semuc Champey for 50 Q, Tikal ruins for 150Q and Acatenango tour for 300Q + tips

REST

615 quetzales (68 euro) – phone card, souvenirs, cosmetics, medicine, some entrance fees

TOTAL —– 2780 quetzales —- 308 euro!!!

AVERAGE – 23,70 euro per day

In case you are interested in a guided tour around Guatemalan ruins Tikal, CLICK HERE to get more information.

It might sound crazy but during my journey the officially known as most expensive country  – COSTA RICA – was the country where I spent least money. And generally known as super cheap country – GUATEMALA – was the country where I spent most of my money. Why??? Well, in Costa Rica my blog worked well for me so I didn´t have to pay for any excursion and I haven´t spent almost any money on accommodation. While in Guatemala I had to (and wanted to) take few paid excursions and this made my average per day higher.

To sum up, within 92 days of my backpacking journey I spent exactly 1682 euro which makes the average of 18,30 euro per day. So what do you say about my BUDGET for 3 MONTH BACKPACKING JOURNEY ACROSS CENTRAL AMERICA??? Low or high???

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And if you are interested in more articles on CENTRAL AMERICA – click HERE. On SOUTH AMERICA click HERE. 🙂

PS: Looking for great travel insurance with great prices? Insurance which you can book even when your journey has already started? Have a look at The True Traveller. I am more than happy with them. 🙂

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