Eight destinations for a cheap holiday, from Asia to Europe and North Africa
Low cost doesn’t always mean good value, but when dinner is HK$10.50 – in Ukraine – and a night’s stay less than US$4 (Malawi), your budget might stretch to an upgrade
Everyone loves a travel bargain, but there’s a world of difference between cheap and good value. Cheap is fine unless it means sharing a restaurant table with cockroaches or a hotel room with bedbugs. Good value can mean renting a holiday villa before the season gets going or hiring a car instead of waiting around for overcrowded local buses. Here are nine destinations where your money will stretch further than you ever dreamed – or at least allow you to buy a little more luxury than you budgeted for.
1 Indochina - CAMBODIA, VIETNAM AND LAOS
Living costs in the three countries are a steal. Whether hotels are slightly cheaper in Ho Chi Minh City, Vientiane or Phnom Penh is best left to the heated debate and one-upmanship of travel forums, but bottom-end daily budgets are generally agreed to be US$25 to US$30. Your room won’t come with hot water, but in those temperatures you won’t need it. There’ll be no television either, but even if there was, do you understand Lao?
If living frugally starts to get on your nerves, then slow down. Life on the road sometimes means getting off it for a while. Stop in Sihanoukville, Hoi An or Luang Prabang rather than racing around following a whirlwind itinerary.
2 BULGARIA
