How the daily budget is built
A travel day costs more than a day of living somewhere, mainly because short-stay rooms are priced per night and almost every meal is eaten out. The calculator starts from local rent and restaurant prices in each country and turns them into a nightly room rate, three meals, local transport and a budget for sights and extras, then scales the whole day for your travel style.
Trip cost = (room + food + transport + extras) × days × travelers
For a mid-range trip to Japan, this comes to roughly $155 a day for one person, so a 10-day trip is about $1,550 before flights. The weak yen has made Japan far cheaper for visitors than its reputation suggests. A backpacker in Vietnam can spend well under $100 a day, while a comfort trip to Switzerland runs several hundred.
Traveling with others
Rooms are the one cost that sharing really cuts. Two people in a double room pay far less each than one person alone, while food and tickets stay per person. Enter the number of travelers and the calculator splits the room cost accordingly.
Where the numbers come from
Rent is a typical asking rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the main city we list for each country, taken from 2026 listings and local market reports and converted to dollars at the exchange rate of October 28, 2026. Rent is the number that varies most from street to street, so the calculators let you change it whenever you have a better figure.
Everything else starts from a monthly budget for one person in the United States: about $450 for groceries, $250 for eating out, $200 for utilities, $90 for phone and internet, $300 for transport and $350 for clothes, personal care and fun. Each line is then scaled by the World Bank's International Comparison Program price levels for that type of spending, and brought forward from 2021 with the World Bank's latest price level data, so a country where restaurant meals cost a third of US prices gets a third of the eating-out budget.
These are planning estimates, not quotes. A lean budget uses 75% of the moderate one with cheaper rent, and a comfortable budget uses 150% with nicer rent. Visas, health insurance and flights are not included unless a calculator asks for them.
Common questions
How much money do I need per day in Japan?
About $155 a day per person for a mid-range trip in our estimate, less as a backpacker staying in hostels and eating at convenience stores and noodle shops.
Are flights included?
No. Add your flight cost on top of the trip total.
What is the cheapest country to travel here?
India comes out cheapest per day, followed by Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia.
Sources
This calculator gives estimates for planning. Real returns, rates and prices change, so treat the result as a guide rather than a promise. Read how we build and check our calculators.