The folks at Travelex, the foreign-exchange giant, recently published a list of the destinations where £500 (currently, $674 USD) would last the longest. Although the list targeted British travelers, the figures should work out about the same for travelers from North America, with roughly $700 in mind.
The World’s Most Inexpensive Countries, Ranked
The Travelex figures are based strictly on daily out-of-pocket tourist expenses: three restaurant meals, four soft drinks, two beers, two coffees, and two trips using public transport. Although the calculations do not include hotel accommodations costs, in general, the countries with low per-day costs usually enjoy low accommodations prices, as well.
Related:7 Ways You’re Throwing Money Away While Traveling 10: Portugal, 17 days
For several years, Portugal has earned the reputation of Western Europe’s bargain spot. And it offers a great mix of scenery, a wide variety of accommodations, museums and historical sites, an outstanding cuisine, and top-notch wines. It’s also easily accessible by low-fare airlines.
9: South Africa, 18 days
Traveler attractions in this vast country range from famous wildlife to nightlife; from cosmopolitan Cape Town to deserted beaches; from desert to jungle. And you’ll find two of the world’s most famous luxury trains, the Blue Train and Rovos Rail’s Pride of Africa. Unfortunately, it’s a long, usually expensive flight away.
8: Turkey, 22 days
Whether it’s multicultural Istanbul, the sandy beaches of the “Turkish Riviera,” the steaming mineral water pools of Pamukkale, or Roman ruins from 200 B.C., Turkey has something for you—at good prices. The upside is that these days, Turkish Airlines is offering some good deals; the downside is maybe enough local tension and unrest to make you think twice about visiting.
7 and 6: Poland and Hungary, 22 days
Poland’s two primary visitor centers, Warsaw and Krakow, both offer a mix of historical architecture and “old town” centers that focus on more recent World War II and Cold War history. And, of course, there’s the kielbasa sausage. Most visitors to Hungary concentrate on historic Budapest, with its unique culture, history, scenery, and cuisine. Both are easily accessible from North America.
Related:This Website Can Get You Money for Flight Delays or Cancellations 5 and 4: Czech Republic and Bulgaria, 23 days
Completing the domination of Eastern Europe in the mid-price range, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria provide much of the same mix of history, scenery, nightlife, culture, and cuisine that you get in Poland and Hungary. Prague, of course, has topped many recent lists of Europe’s “hot” destinations for budget travelers. Sofia is starting to earn a similar reputation. Again, both are
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Amsterdam doesn’t know a low season. There’s the perpetual high season, and then there are two highest seasons: April (tulips!) and July (summer!). Despite the city pulling out all the stops in recent years to limit the number of tourists, the Dutch capital continues to lure visitors by the millions. And understandably so — you’re meandering along the canals one minute, mingling with a van Gogh the next. It’s all fun and games, until you’re elbowing your way through Dam Square.
Emirates has announced it will reduce service between Dubai and almost half its destinations in the U.S. Flights to Boston, Seattle, and Los Angeles will be reduced from two per day to one, and daily flights to Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale will be reduced to five per week each. The total number of weekly flights cut comes to 25.
Looking for a new museum to add to your travel to-do list? TripAdvisor (SmarterTravel’s parent company) has released the Travelers’ Choice Top 25 Museums of 2018, including the top 10 worldwide and the top 10 in the United States, with some surprising frontrunners. The findings also highlight bookable ways to see each winner—think VIP tours and scavenger hunts—with some offering the added perk of allowing you to skip the lines to get in.
Americans use 500 million of them a day without thinking about it, and now, a growing number of countries, cities, airlines, and restaurants are banning this popular item. Plastic straws—we use them to sip our cold brew coffee, they come unasked for in our cocktails and sodas, and they are killing our environment.
AirHelp, the online service that files complaints against airlines on behalf of passengers entitled to compensation for air delays or cancellations, knows a thing or two about air travel. Because it’s hard for the average person to understand air passenger rights and pursue a legal claim when they’ve been wronged, AirHelp is always going toe-to-toe with airlines and airports—and reveals once a year which ones that treat their passengers for the better (or worse).
If you’re looking to find the least expensive accommodations in a destination regardless of what kind of accommodation it is, you might be surprised to learn that Airbnb isn’t always the cheapest. A new study from Compare the Market shows that hotels can sometimes beat Airbnb prices. The study covered the average Airbnb vs. hotel rates (per night) in 52 important destinations around the world.
Travel to Europe is going to get slightly more complicated in 2021. Starting that year, visitors from the U.S. will need to get an ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorization System) approval before entering countries in the Schengen zone. According to the delegation of the European Union to the U.S., the measure is not a Europe visa, but an authorization that “will enable us to get more comprehensive information from travelers coming from visa-exempt, third-country [nations] arriving at the Schengen external borders.”
With rideshare apps like Uber and Lyft taking over, you might be wondering where in the world it’s still possible to take a cheap taxi. Cabs aren’t dead, yet: These countries still heavily rely on them.
In a big win for Britain’s consumers, the British Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has told big online travel agencies that they must include any mandatory charges like hotel “resort” fees (which are often applied by non-resort hotels in big cities, as well) in the up-front listed price. It’s ok, says CMA, for hotels to break the full price into a base charge plus a mandatory fee, but all mandatory fees must be included in the initially displayed cost.
In this time of isolation, businesses and individuals around the world are sending out messages of hope. Discover, in photos, how we’re keeping our spirits up during the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the sixth year in a row, Finland has claimed the top spot in the World Happiness Report. The annual report, compiled by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, surveys residents in over 150 countries to determine which nations are the happiest.