What are the cheapest countries to visit in 2027?

How we ranked them, and what a daily budget covers

A daily budget here means one person sharing nothing: a dorm bed or the cheapest private room, two or three meals where locals eat, local buses or trains, and one paid sight. It excludes the flight in, travel insurance and big excursions such as a Halong Bay cruise or a desert camp. Couples sharing a private room usually pay about 1.5 times the single figure, not double.

Ranking by daily cost alone misleads, so each pick also gets the thing that is not cheap. For most Americans, Western Europe and Japan are the comparison: a hostel bed in Munich or London can cost more than a full day in Hanoi.

For the full country-by-country table, including the expensive half of our route, see daily travel budget by country.

The cheapest countries, ranked roughly by daily cost

• Vietnam: about $25 to $35 a day. Hostel guides put dorm beds at roughly $6 to $11. Street food and bia hoi are the cheapest good eating in this list. Not cheap: Halong Bay cruises and domestic flights at Tet. Best months vary by region: see best time to visit Hanoi. We were there 29 days, Hanoi to Hoi An to the Mekong at Can Tho.

• Albania: about $30 to $50 a day. One 2026 backpacker index puts it near $36. Hostelz rates Albania as the place a Europe budget stretches furthest. Furgons (shared minibuses) and byrek bakeries keep costs down. Not cheap: Ksamil beach loungers in August. We spent 31 days there, from Theth to the south coast; read our Albania guide and the note on cash and ATMs in Albania.

• Indonesia (beyond south Bali): about $25 to $40 a day, against roughly $40 to $60 in Bali's tourist corridor. Rice-terrace areas like Sidemen and Munduk cost far less than Seminyak or Canggu. Bali also charges a one-off tourist levy on top of the visa (150,000 rupiah, about $10, in 2024 reporting; check the current amount before you go).

• Thailand (north and central): about $30 to $50 a day. Chiang Mai, Lampang and Sukhothai are much cheaper than Phuket or Koh Samui. Not cheap: island ferries and December to February island rooms.

• The Philippines (outside resorts): about $30 to $50 a day. Food and jeepneys are cheap; the islands are not, because island hopping needs boats and boats cost per trip. See Coron vs El Nido.

• Morocco: about $30 to $50 a day. Riads with breakfast in the Fes and Marrakech medinas start low, and tagine in a local cafe costs a few dollars. Not cheap: Sahara camps and guides. Morocco's dirham is a closed currency, so read the dirham and ATM guide.

• India, Nepal, Laos, Cambodia, Sri Lanka: 2026 estimates put India and Nepal around $20 to $30 a day and Laos, Cambodia and Sri Lanka roughly $20 to $45. We did not go, so we only flag them.

• Turkey: about $25 to $45 a day. Food and long-distance buses are good value; Istanbul rooms and museum tickets priced in euros are not. See Istanbul to Cappadocia, flight vs night bus.

• Romania: about $35 to $50 a day. Estimates vary: Hostelz groups Romania with the Balkans at about €30 to €35 (≈ $33–39), Going.com puts it nearer $50. Trains between Cluj-Napoca, Sibiu and Brasov are cheap and slow.

• Montenegro: about $40 to $60 a day; Hungary: about $40 to $70. Both are cheap next to Croatia and Austria, though the Kotor coast in July and August is not.

What actually changes in 2027

The year in the title matters only if something changes, and several things already have.

• Thailand cut its visa-free stay from 60 to 30 days on 15 September 2026 for about 60 nationalities including the US, UK, Canada and Australia. A slow two-month trip now needs a visa or an exit. Check the Thailand visa rules.

• Japan tripled its departure tax to ¥3,000 (≈ $19.0) on 1 July 2026. It is built into air tickets. Japan is not on this list, but it is often paired with Vietnam or Korea.

• Bulgaria adopted the euro on 1 January 2026. Prices are now posted in euros only, which makes comparisons with Greece and Croatia easier.

• ETIAS, the EU's €20 (≈ $22) travel authorisation for visa-free visitors, has still not launched. As of October 2026 the EU has given no start date, and reporting points to 2027 at the earliest. It will apply in the Schengen countries, not in Albania, Montenegro or Turkey.

Exchange rates move faster than any of this. Treat every figure here as approximate and check the current rate in the week you book.

The flight changes the answer

For a two-week trip, the airfare is often the biggest single cost. A traveller from the US East Coast usually finds Morocco, Albania or Turkey cheaper overall than Vietnam, because the transatlantic ticket costs less than the transpacific one, even though Vietnam's daily costs are lower. From Australia it is the opposite: Bali, Vietnam and Thailand are short flights.

A simple rule: multiply the daily budget by your number of days, add the return fare, and compare totals. On trips over a month, the cheap daily rate wins; on trips under ten days, the cheap flight usually wins. Our guides to finding cheap flights and why fares are high right now cover the ticket side.

How to keep each of these cheap

• Go shoulder season. April and October are good value in Albania, Turkey and Morocco; March and November in Vietnam's north.

• Stay longer in fewer places. Weekly rates and fewer transfers save more than any coupon. On our route the cheapest stretches were the long ones.

• Watch card fees. A 3% foreign transaction fee plus ATM fees can add several dollars a day; read cash or card abroad.

• Buy data locally or by eSIM, not on a $10 a day roaming pass: see eSIM or local SIM.

• Do not skip insurance to save money. It is the one cost that protects all the others: what travel insurance to get.

For more on spending less everywhere, read how to travel on a budget.

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