In 2017 we spent $17,120 CAD traveling South America on a budget for 9 months. This took us through 194 days and seven countries. Inflated to 2024 numbers, it’s approximately $21,000 CAD.
Depending on how you travel, this may seem like a lot of money. Or it could be a really great deal. This travel spend is for two of us over 194 days and seven countries with everything included. Buses, accommodation, food, sightseeing, supplies, and more. The only thing not included are the flights into and out of the continent.
If we break it down per person, it ends up being just over $44CAD per day. Leading up to the trip, when living and saving in New Zealand, we set ourselves an overall budget of $50CAD per person per day.
Curious as to how we saved for our South America travel budget? We break it down in How To Budget: The Ultimate Guide to Save for Travel.
Full South America Budget Breakdown
- Transport – $5,700.63/£3,151.88 (33%)
- Accommodation – $3,482.11/£1,925.26 (21%)
- Food – $3,374.18/£1,865.58 (20%)
- Sightseeing – $2,627.94/£1,452.99 (15%)
- Hiking – $363.5/£200.98 (2%)
- Clothing – $617.85/£341.61 (4%)
- Miscellaneous – $953.11/£526.97 (5%)
- Total = $17,119.32/£9,465.27
- Total per person = $8,559.66/£4,732.63
This was 194 days and seven countries: Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia
Budget Planning
We used a budgeting app every day to track our spend. We still use it to this day. Despite using it several times a day, it didn’t affect how we traveled. We did everything we wanted. We monitored our spending and tried not to let it dictate our adventures.
During our saving and planning phase, we deliberately over budgeted. One example of this was on accommodation. We set aside enough for $25 per person, per night. In reality we knew we would only spend about half that.
We planned this way knowing that some countries are more expensive than others. If we were forced to stay in ‘expensive’ accommodation, we had the budget for it.
Our trip was almost split in half when it came to spending. Brazil, Argentina, and Chile were the more expensive countries. Whereas Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador were inexpensive. Colombia was somewhere in-between.
This disparity in country costs was primarily the reason we chose the route we did. We visited the more expensive countries first, ending with the cheaper ones. This helped us stretch our planned South America budget.
Country Comparisons
Transportation
In Argentina, transportation cost us $2,434.50/£1,346.04. Chile was our next most expensive country where we paid $843.07/£466.13 for transportation. We spent about a month in each country, covering substantial ground. These two countries combined equal 58% of our total spend for all transportation over the entire trip.
The bus prices in Argentina and Chile are inflated compared to other countries in South America. That being said, the bus is the only real ‘economical’ way to travel. Hitchhiking is not recommended. You could rent or buy a car, but that comes with extra costs and headaches if something goes wrong. Flying isn’t usually an option due to even higher prices, especially when trying to book last minute.
Buying bus tickets was tough on the budget for the first couple months. But we knew everything would even out when we reached the cheaper countries. Buses in Ecuador cost us $201.67/£111.50, just 3.5% of total transport spend.
Food
The same goes for accommodation and food. After going through Brazil, Argentina, and Chile we instantly saw a difference when visiting Bolivia.
Our month spend in Bolivia is the cheapest month we’ve ever had.
In Bolivia food cost us $264.82/£146.42, 8% of our total food spend. If we compared that to Brazil, where we spent a similar amount of time, we spent $401.88/£222.20, a 12% share. We ate all of our meals out in Bolivia, indulging in many a midday snack. Whereas in Brazil we cooked a lot more. Despite trying to find savings, food costs in Brazil were still higher.
To learn how not to have food costs eat away at your budget, check out Budget Travel Tips: The Complete Simple Guide.
Cost Savings
We tried to keep costs down by always looking for the cheapest option. For example, taking a bus that was longer but a fraction of the price than the competition, eating in local outlets & cooking in hostels rather than going to restaurants, and using Booking.com to find nearly all of our accommodation. We found last minute deals at up to 70% off listed prices.
We are shocked at just how expensive Argentina was. Just as much as we are shocked at how cheap Bolivia was.
Activities
Because we saved money in some areas, we were able to experience more. We did most of the activities we wanted to. And this was without worrying about their cost. Some of our favorite adventures include:
- Hiking to Machu Picchu
- A three day Salar de Uyuni tour
- Hiking Torres Del Paine
- Camping in the Atacama Desert
- Visiting the Foz do Iguaçu waterfalls
- Climbing Volcan Villarrica
Overall sightseeing cost us $2,627.94/£1,452.99 – 15% of our spend.
South America is a continent that has to be experienced.
Timing
Overall, we think 9 months should be the minimum amount of time spent in South America if you’re looking at travelling the whole continent in one hit. We spent 6.5 months travelling and felt rushed at times. There were places and activities we had to miss out on, not because of budget but because of time. The distances between places can be huge. And the sheer amount of sights to see and things to do in between is plentiful.
While some countries are very expensive, some are cheap beyond belief. Everything balances out. With a daily spend of only $44.12/£24.39 per person per day, it shows long term budget travel is possible. It can even be done without making huge sacrifices or changing your lifestyle completely.
