How Much to Budget to Backpack Southeast Asia: Cost Breakdown
- Margaux
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Southeast Asia is a very popular backpacking destination, mostly because it is affordable, easy to navigate, and has a huge variety of things to do. But how much do you need to budget to backpack southeast Asia? This blog post gives you a cost breakdown of southeast Asia’s most popular countries to travel: Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia.
Contents
Summary: How much to Budget per day for Southeast Asia
Thailand: £35
Vietnam: £46
Cambodia: £45
Laos: £30
Singapore: £45+
Malaysia: £25
Indonesia: £45
How much to budget for Thailand
My daily average in Thailand was £35 per day. This included food, accommodation, local transportation, activities, and my SIM card. If you are looking to get certified to scuba dive or just dive on some of the islands, your average will go up - mine went up to £43. The north of Thailand is much cheaper than Bangkok and the south. For hostels, expect to pay between £5 and £20 a night, the upper end of that being hostels in Bangkok and the south. Food can be less than £2 per meal in the north, but will be more in the south, at between £3-£7 per meal.
Check out my ultimate one month Thailand backpacking itinerary here.
How much to budget for Vietnam
Vietnam was one of the cheapest countries I’ve visited. The Ha Giang Loop, Sapa trekking, and Ha Long Bay cruise made my daily spend go up significantly, but nevertheless, my daily average was £46. Outside of the days on tours, I was spending around £25 a day. This included accommodation, food, local transport, all activities, and my SIM card. Hostels range from £2 - £12 a night depending on where you are, and meals will cost you between £1 and £4.
How much to budget for Cambodia
My daily average in Cambodia was £45 per day, which included accommodation, local transport, activities, food, SIM card, and my visa. This was in a rushed itinerary, and if you go to the islands like Koh Rong and have some beach days, you will lower this average significantly. I packed lots of activities in per day, hence the higher spend. The visa to Cambodia is also expensive, so splitting this across only 7 days also raised the daily spend significantly. However, Cambodia is generally more expensive than the other South East Asian countries. Hostels are generally between £5 and £8 per night, and food will range between £2 and £6 per meal.
How much to budget for Laos
Fortunately, Laos is an extremely cheap country to visit. My daily average was just under £30 per day, which included food, accommodation, local transportation, SIM card, visa, and activities. The average was brought up significantly by the £65 I spent paramotoring in Vang Vieng. Hostels cost between £3 and £8 a night, and food can be between £1 and £4 per meal. Trains are a little more expensive, and the price varies depending on where you book. Try to book with your hostel as it will be about half the price as with a third party like 12Go Asia (varying from £7 to £15!).
How much to budget for Singapore
Singapore is notoriously expensive, but it actually surprised me how cheaply you can visit it for. My daily average was £45, including food, activities, and public transport, but not including accommodation or flights. Food can cost between £5 and £15 per meal if you are eating at Hawker markets. While some activities are paid for, a lot of Singapore is free to look at and visit, and can be seen just by walking and taking the metro.
How much to budget for Malaysia
I went to Borneo in Malaysia, and my daily average was around £25/day. This included food, accommodation, activities, and my SIM card, but not flights. Hostels range from £5 to £15 per night, and you can eat a meal out for between £1 and £5 depending on where you choose to go. Climbing Mt Kinabalu raised my daily average to £55/day.
How much to budget for Indonesia
I went to Java and Bali in Indonesia, and I’ve split the budgets below.
My daily average in Java was £45, which includes food, accommodation, transport, tours, activities, my SIM card, and visa. This was on the higher side because it was a busy few days, but so worth it! Hostels in Java are much cheaper than in Bali, ranging from £3 to £10 a night. Food was incredibly cheap, around 50p - £3 for a meal.
My daily average in Bali was £41. This does not include scuba diving, but includes all food, accommodation, transport, activities, my visa, and SIM card. Hostels in Bali are generally around £15 a night, but a few are around the £6-£10 mark. Food is much more expensive than on other Indonesian islands. Where I was paying less than £3 for meals on Java, in Bali most were around £7-£8.
See my one week Java itinerary here and my 10 day Bali itinerary here.
Travelling for longer periods of time will lower your daily spend, and packing in multiple activities in a short trip will increase it, so I recommend slowing down to keep within budget. I hope this is useful to you in planning your southeast Asia backpacking trip. It’s an incredible part of the world. As always, look after the places you visit and only leave your footprints behind :)
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