It’s honestly so sad that so many people think that traveling **necessarily** costs a lot. That’s COMPLETELY false! And it’s not debatable. There are plenty of affordable countries that allow you to travel for less, regardless of your traveler profile — even for as little as $40 total per day **if you want**! And above all, these countries are beautiful destinations too.
When I shared the newspaper article in which I was interviewed on the topic, I promised you this updated list for 2025. This is a good teaser; we’ll also have a much more detailed complete feature to help you soon!
After visiting more than 70 countries and creating content to help you travel for less for over 8 years, I can say without hesitation that choosing cheaper countries is THE best way to travel for less!
(Or rather, the **best way that is very simple**! The **real best way** is obviously the wonderful world of travel rewards that gives you plenty of free travel so easily, like $1025 for any travel expense with a CRAZY deal right now!)
Here are the 40 best cheap countries to travel to in 2025 (for as little as $40 total per day).
Basics of the best cheap countries to travel to in 2025
After the list of 40 countries, there are 4 very important myths that I debunk, which I strongly recommend you read:
- “Cheap countries are not interesting or safe“
- “Cheap countries include Portugal (or another expensive country)”
- “Cheap countries are not for me“
- “Cheap countries are the same for everyone“
Regarding the first one, we’ll have more content about the countries to help you choose your destinations and concretely plan your cheaper trips, including accommodation examples for example.
Regarding the last one, in our upcoming complete feature, we’ll rank the 40 countries to better separate them by level, and we’ll include info on the 5 main types of travel expenses (flight, accommodation, food, transportation, activities).
To get the rest of the feature on cheap countries and not just the list of 40 countries below, join 100,000+ savvy Canadian travelers who receive all our content for free in their inbox!
List of the 40 best cheap countries to travel to in 2025 (and map)
In some of the 40 countries on this list, it’s much easier to travel for $40 total per day than in others. It varies, as explained in the myths below. But the 40 countries are all affordable.
More importantly, we wanted to include 40 countries to give you a wider range of affordable countries right away so you have more cheap choices according to your travel preferences.
Here’s the map of the 40 cheapest countries to travel to (the text version follows).
Note: We’ve excluded several very affordable countries that, for most travelers, are extremely unpopular in 2025 (like Russia, Afghanistan, Iran, Myanmar, etc.)! I’ll still list them all in the detailed feature for more experienced travelers who want them. Everyone has the right to boycott any country, but everyone also has the right **not** to boycott any country. Freedom is beautiful!
Before the myths, here are the countries by region in a more easily readable list format.
Americas (8)
- Cuba
- Guatemala
- Colombia
- Ecuador
- Peru
- Bolivia
- Brazil
- Paraguay
Southeast Asia (7)
- Laos
- Cambodia
- Vietnam
- Thailand
- Philippines
- Malaysia
- Indonesia
East Asia (2)
- China
- Mongolia
South Asia (5)
- India
- Bangladesh
- Sri Lanka
- Nepal
- Pakistan
Central Asia (3)
- Kazakhstan
- Uzbekistan
- Kyrgyzstan
Western Asia (3)
- Azerbaijan
- Georgia
- Armenia
Europe (3)
- Moldova
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- North Macedonia
North Africa (4)
- Egypt
- Tunisia
- Algeria
- Morocco
Sub-Saharan Africa (5)
- Kenya
- Madagascar
- Rwanda
- Ghana
- Uganda
4 important myths about the best cheap countries to travel to in 2025
It’s vital to know that these myths are well debunked if you want to be a better traveler and if you want to understand cheap countries.
Myth #1: “Cheap countries are not interesting or safe”
Honestly, as a travel expert, there’s a comment that comes up too often that very clearly tells me that the person is absolutely not knowledgeable about travel: “cheap countries are cheap… because they’re uninteresting”!
That’s absolutely absurd. Almost all my favorite countries among the 70+ I’ve visited are cheap countries, and that’s the case for literally all the many experienced travelers I know.
You might think this, and it’s not your fault; popular countries that have dominated History for a variety of reasons always dominate the entire media universe, including travel content. You can’t know if no one tells you. But now you know.
Be open-minded about countries you don’t hear about as often. And being open-minded is pretty much the basics of being a traveler!!! Cheap countries are awesome. And they’re all safe enough for you to go there! All countries on this list are as safe as France in the very very alarmist eyes of the Canadian Government.
No matter what type of travel experiences you like, you can find them in cheap countries. No matter your specific taste among the 2 types of attractions (cultural and natural), some cheap countries have them. More expensive countries are not automatically better by default. They’re just more expensive.
Our upcoming complete feature will give you a good introduction to each cheap country to help you discover them (and we’ll obviously tell you all our favorites).
Myth #2: “Cheap countries include Portugal (or another expensive country)”
It’s quite fascinating how many people think Portugal is an affordable country. Or other countries that objectively aren’t either.
(It’s perfectly normal when you don’t know, again. But that’s why Flytrippers wants to help you become a better traveler with all our numerous tips so you learn how to really travel for less!)
For a long time, I myself thought traveling was expensive, and I wasted so much time because of that. I badly wish someone had told me earlier…
Portugal is just one example, and yes, it’s more affordable than Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, and Western Europe, of course… but those are literally the worst places on Earth! That’s like saying a Mercedes-Benz is “affordable” because it’s cheaper than a Ferrari!
That’s not what an affordable country is. An affordable country is when you can get by on something like $40 total per day if you want. There are dozens like that, on almost all continents.
Our upcoming complete feature will also include the ranking of all countries, so you can see the difference between expensive countries too, like between Portugal and Switzerland (huge difference nonetheless).
Myth #3: “Cheap countries are not for me”
There are essentially 3 types of travelers that exist:
- Those who travel very frugally
- Those who travel normally
- Those who travel luxuriously
In all cases, cheap countries are the best! Cheap countries are for all travelers.
But the $40 total per day budget, that’s obviously if you want to travel very frugally (although the **most** affordable countries can be at this level even when traveling normally; see the last myth).
Still, if you want to travel more normally or luxuriously, of course, the cheapest countries where you can travel for $40/day are also those where more normal or luxurious trips are the cheapest (as a general rule)!
In fact, it’s almost even more important to choose cheap countries if you like normal and luxurious travel, because the price difference will be even more enormous! And it’s the easiest way to save without having to change anything about how you travel (just **where**)!
My Taylor Swift tickets for US$23 in Rio de Janeiro are a great example. Those tickets were selling for $2000 in Toronto. It’s the exact same artist, the exact same concert, the exact same decor; everything was the same. It’s just in an affordable country. The same simple principle obviously applies to hotels, meals, transport, activities… EVERYTHING: the same quality is much cheaper if you simply choose affordable countries.
Our upcoming complete feature will detail strategies for all 3 types of travelers and especially how exactly to travel for $40/day if that’s what you want.
Myth #4: “Cheap countries are the same for everyone”
Obviously, the 40 cheapest countries on our list are not all as cheap as one another… but especially, the cheapest for you specifically also varies according to what you prefer in travel.
As mentioned, some countries are even much more affordable than others on the list for all travelers, but we wanted to have 40. Our feature will rank them for you.
But some countries are more affordable depending on what your personal breakdown of travel expenses at your destination is (accommodation, food, transportation, activities), depending on how long you’re going for and where you’re leaving from, or depending on whethere you’re solo or with a companion, for example.
If you absolutely want to eat in nice restaurants for every meal, the cheapest country for you will be different than for a traveler who loves street food. If you prefer hostels to other lodging (or the opposite), the cheapest country will vary. Etc.
And since you always have to look at the overall cost of a trip (the cost at your destination AND the plane tickets), the cheapest country overall will be different if you only have 10 days of travel versus if you have 20 (it’s almost always more financially worthwhile to go to Asia for a long trip, but not often for a one-week trip).
Our upcoming complete feature will detail all of this for you! Of course, even in any cheap country in the world, you can always spend $400 a day. There’s never a **maximum** limit anywhere. But there are **minimum** prices. Good luck spending just $40 a day in France! Almost impossible. Knowing those minimum prices is why this list is helpful.
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Summary
The best cheap countries to travel to are extraordinary destinations where you can get by on as little as $40 total per day if you want (or save a lot on more normal or luxurious trips). They are located almost everywhere on the planet, and there are certainly some that have the experiences you’re looking for… for much less than where everyone always goes.
What would you like to know about the best countries to travel to for less in 2025? Tell us in the comments below.
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Featured image: Vietnam (photo credit: Thomas Boxma)
The graphic is messed up. Check Turkey.
Hi, it’s called Türkiye now, and it’s one of our favorite countries in the world. We’ve been many times.
But have you been recently? Prices have gone way up, very sadly :/