Okay after a bit more research, I've gone for South America ahead of Central for 3 months. Just want to get a bit of feedback regarding itinerary and budget. Plan on flying into Buenos Aires at the start of June and travelling in a clockwise direction and flying out from BA at the end of August. The rough itinerary at the moment is BA- Mendoza - Santiago and then to Utnui and La Paz in Bolivia. From there we're going to Manu National Park and Lima in Peru. Then its a rough route from Quito to Bogota to Caracas with some sort of flight to Eastern Brazil after that. All with the intention of ending in BA from there at the end of August.
Now on to the questions...........
1) For 3 months, how long should I spend in each to time it right?
2) I have a budget of about 3500e or $4500 living expenses - sufficient?
3) What are the must see's in Venezuela?
4) I know its not the best season but if there was a warm beach somewhere, would very much like to enjoy it for a week along the way. Whats the best on our route?
For a bit of background, its myself and my girlfriend. We both have travelled south east asia amongst others with our favourite country being Vietnam. We like to mix it a bit with the locals and not to do the same old tourist stuff. Both enjoy a bit of trekking, surfing, diving with a nice splurge somewhere along the way. Also dont mind staying in hostels and as we're Irish, decent nightlife is pretty important.
So with all that can it be done and is there somewhere anyone can suggest we should definitely go to?!!!
I know its a pretty open ended question but any comments or suggestions would be most appreciated.
Cheers!
Your If your budget is US $ perperson then its more than enough.
time is a bit short, I did your trip roughly but finished in Caracas. took me 3 months at a fair pace.
Ecuador and Venezuela probably dont deserve too much of your time. Angel Falls and Roraima are worth a look in venezuela, Merida might be good but after Argentina, Bolivia and Peru you might have had enough of mountains.
The following are previous posts on the budget topic:
I have never been very good at budget travel as I end up camping and not spending a dime then blowing my budget staying at an expensive hotel. However, from what I have seen the last figures were in the 30.00 USD a day range for budget backpacker type travel. So say about 1000 USD a month, though personally I would bump that up some just for the extra s--t that happens. Some countries are much cheaper than others and you will find it hard to control costs, say, in Chile and very easy to make your budget in Bolivia.
With 30.00 USD a day you can do quite well in most countries ( Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and even Argentina ) but for Brazil you might need a little more depending where you go. Chile is the most expensive country I have visited in South America.
Rather than cutting the budget I would cut the length of stay. What good is it to travel to a foreign country if you do not have the funds to take it all in?
I am talking about side trips, museums, entry fees, bus travel, wine tastings etc. etc. And what about food. Do you want to live off bread and jam the whole time?.
US$ 800 per month for eating and sleeping ( minimal entertainment ). Add US$ 200 for travel ( buses - flights ) and tours.
My boyfriend and I have been traveling for 2 months in SA so far. We have been staying in private rooms in middle range hostels, slightly more expensive than dorm rooms, and have spent US$ 35 a day so far. My boyfriend tracks the costs daily on a laptop. This includes all tours done on the gringo tour to-date, accommodation, food, internal buses and other transport. We probably could have done it cheaper having cooked for ourselves more and gone to cheaper places but US$ 30 / US$ 35 would see you enjoying yourself.
I spent an average of US$ 900 per month.
I spent US$ 3000 in Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia in three months three years ago. I am budget, but not total hard core. US$ 300 was at Machu picchu. Bolivia was the cheapest. I very brief trip into Chille showed me how expensive that can be.
I also second the roughly US$ 1000 figure. It is less in Bolivia, more in Chile, etc. That will allow for some creature comforts now and then. I spent around that and never really felt like I was worrying about money and pretty much spent whatever I wanted.
US$ 1000 per month is a good estimate.
Bolivia is the cheapest, Peru is still pretty cheap. Chile by comparison to Western standards is still good value, but it is quite a bit more expensive than other places in South America. I spent most time in Chile and stayed in mid range places, ate in good restaurants and generally had fun. I spent about 20.00 or 30.00 US$ a night for a shared room.
I was in Chile last November. I spent 15.00 or 20.00 US$ for a shared room with a couple of friends. Eating well in the evening was another 20.00 US$. Snacks and getting about is pretty cheap. Chile is expensive for south america, but if you are coming from North America or Europe it is still good value. Hostels or family rooms have private rooms ( for a couple ) ranging from US$ 14.00 to 22.00 depending on it having a private bathroom. Basic one course meal US$ 3.00 per person.
Bolivia is a very cheap country, we spent an average of US$ 56.00 a day, a figure pushed up by the number of tours we did. A hotel will cost you US$ 12.00 - US$ 16.00 a night, although we did pay US$ 30.00 in one tourist town. Dinner will average US$ 10.00 for two. Transport is very cheap, so cheap we often bought a third seat to put our bags on. A 6 hour bus journey will cost around US$ 3.50 per person, a 24 hour journey $15.00. A lot of the big sights are only accessible on tours which are very cheap and usually good value but shop around.
At an average of US$ 48.00 a day Colombia was a cheap place to visit. This is mainly because most of the accommodation aimed at tourists are hostels and we spent some time trekking which is very cheap. A hostel room for two varies from US$ 8.00 to US$ 13.00 and hotels from US$ 7.00 to US$ 26.00. A meal for two is around US$ 12.00 - US$ 16.00 and food is of a very high quality. Transport is also reasonable with a 6 hour journey costing about US$ 13.00 for one person. What is nice is that Colombia is a very developed and sophisticated country, so you can have a good time here very cheaply. As things are settling down more Colombians are travelling around and more people visiting, so get there before the hoards.
We averaged US$ 60.00 a day in Ecuador which was probably higher than it needed to be as we spent alot of time in Quito, which is a little more expensive. Accommodation ranged from US$ 14.00 to US$ 21.00 a night and dinner was from US$ 10.00 to US$ 16.00. Transport is very cheap, a 4 hour journey costs about US$ 3.50 and an 8 hour trip costs US$ 6.00. These average living costs include the three weeks we spent in the Galapagos, but do not include transport, fees or tours there.
Jorge Daniel Barchi.
Buenos Aires.
most peoples south american highlights are Colombia, Argentina and Bolivia. So plan your time around those countries...
Hey, hey! Don't neglect Ecuador. It's a fantastic country, and Quito is absolutely beautiful. If you're saavy, you can do Ecuador on about 25 bucks a day. Expecially if you're traveling with a companion. Peru is a little less expensive. When I was in Ecuador last year for 4 months I spent around 3,000$ But I was working, not travelling.
I'd say that it's doable as long as you spend more time in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and less in Argentina and Chile.
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