Travelling can be overwhelming – there is just so much to plan! And the trouble already starts before you can even begin booking your holidays. The first decision to make is where you’ll go. A US passport lets you choose between 166 countries! With so many possible destinations, sometimes it’s the travel budget that makes the decision.

Your Travel Budget In Different Countries

Depending on where you’re going, $1000 can make you a millionaire or a beggar. Here are some examples of what your money can get you once you’re on the ground (excluding tickets).

UK: £560

The UK is the most popular destination for Americans, and it’s easy to see why. Everyone speaks the same language (well, they sound pretty posh there) and it’s a very accessible destination. Now, London is rather expensive compared to the rest of the country, but a great place to start our comparison. For $1000 you get £560 – pretty disappointing number, right? A hotel including breakfast and an average-priced meal for two costs you £120 a day already. So in London, a travel budget of $1000 might give you three days stay, including a decent meal (£40) and small lunch, an oyster card to use public transport each (£7/day), a bottle of wine (£10) and a couple pints of beer (£3.5) here and there. This leaves you with about £100 for activities.

France: 875€

Who could not love the most romantic place in the world? It’s one of the most visited countries worldwide, luring tourists in with a combination of cheese, wine, and beautiful countryside. One of the most stunning cities is Bordeaux. When you arrive, you can swap your $1000 for 875€. With a decent hotel for 80€ and a mid-range dinner for 40€, you could do nothing but dine for a week (food holiday, anyone?) Stay for only 5 days and you could rent a car (160€/week) and get down to the markets for some wine (6€/bottle), beer (5€/pint) and cheese. Keep some of your last 100€ for a café au lait you can sip while taking a nice free walking tour in Bordeaux.

Dominican Republic: RD$ 50,400

This is also a very popular holiday destination for Americans – it is more affordable and there’s very little that can beat Caribbean beaches. Here, you will get RD$50,400 for your budget. If you stay in La Romana, you can find a decent hotel for around RD$4,500. You might be able to stretch your money for a week if you don’t drink a lot – this means you can still have a pretty good dinner every day (RD$1,500) and rent a car for a week (RD$8,500). Cut the trip down to 5 days and you can fit a few beers (RD$150) and cocktails (RD$300) into your travel budget and take the occasional tour, like snorkeling at Catalina Island (RD$4,000).

Thailand: 32,000 Baht

Now if the previous destinations made you cringe, that might be because you want more out of your small travel budget. If that’s the case, there is no better destination than Thailand. For this comparison, I chose Koh Lanta – a beautiful Island that’s fairly quiet and not flooded with tourists. Once you get your money exchanged to 32,000 baht, you can get a nice hotel for as little as 1,700 baht (private room). Have a delicious three-course dinner for two (650 baht) and a couple of beers a day (100 baht/each). That way you’ll still have enough to rent a scooter (200 bath/day).

Just relaxing on the beach and zipping around on your scooter will make for a nice 10-day vacation, but if you replace the three-course fancy meal with something more modest, you’ll be able to stay even longer. Or you could just enjoy some tours to Koh Phi Phi and go snorkeling (avg. 1500 baht/person).

How To Use Your Budget

Of course, some travelers might be happy to stay longer in cheaper hotels, while others wouldn’t set foot in anything that has less than 5 stars, so these estimates vary. But it shows that a nice holiday can be had with a small budget and that even a big budget can be spent quickly in an expensive location. So it’s up to you to make your money work for you!

What do you think – how long can you make $1000 last in your dream destination? Let me know in the comments below!