Best budget-friendly places to travel

Cheap trips usually mean somewhere worse. These are places where the food, the transport and the accommodation are all genuinely inexpensive and the trip is better for it.

How these were picked

A good sit-down dinner under about $25 a head
Transit or drivers cheap enough to stop thinking about
Accommodation that splits well across a group

The picks

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Best budget-friendly places to travel

Cheap trips usually mean somewhere worse. These are places where the food, the transport and the accommodation are all genuinely inexpensive and the trip is better for it.

How these were picked

A good sit-down dinner under about $25 a head
Transit or drivers cheap enough to stop thinking about
Accommodation that splits well across a group

The picks

02Mexico CityMexico

World-class food, walkable neighbourhoods, and prices that still feel like a mistake.

Stay: 4–6 daysGo: March to May, and October to November

Full Mexico City guide →|3-day itinerary →

03BaliIndonesia

Three or four completely different trips sharing one island.

Stay: 8–12 days, split across two basesGo: April to June, and September to October

Full Bali guide →|3-day itinerary →

04BangkokThailand

The best street food on the planet, and a transport system that makes the chaos navigable.

Stay: 3–4 days, or 5 with a day tripGo: November to February

Full Bangkok guide →|3-day itinerary →

05New OrleansUnited States

The most distinctive city in America, and the easiest to plan badly.

Stay: 3–4 daysGo: February to May, and October to November

Full New Orleans guide →|3-day itinerary →

06MarrakechMorocco

Four days of sensory overload, three hours from most of Europe.

Stay: 3–4 days, or 6–7 with the Atlas or coastGo: March to May, and October to November

Full Marrakech guide →|3-day itinerary →