Budget/Backpacker Travel Guide: South America
Experience authentic local culture on a shoestring budget with hostels, street food, and public transport
Daily Budget: $24-72 per day
Complete breakdown of costs for budget/backpacker travel in South America
Accommodation
$8-22 per night
Dorm beds fill backpacker hostels, basic guesthouses, and budget posadas across South America's cities and towns. Shared bathrooms are standard. Expect sunscreen in the corridors. Travelers compare notes over communal breakfast.
Browse budget/backpacker accommodation →Food & Dining
$8-18 per day
Street food stalls, local market comedores, and set-lunch menus at family-run restaurants. Think smoky grilled meat, steaming sopa criolla, and tropical fruit that stains your fingers yellow. South America's budget food scene rewards the curious. It rewards the unpretentious too.
Transportation
$3-12 per day
Long-distance overnight buses, crowded urban colectivos, and shared minivans on mountain routes. The seats recline just enough. Air conditioning hums at uncertain temperatures. Andean scenery rolls past dusty windows for hours.
Activities
$5-20 per day
Free colonial plazas, public beaches, eucalyptus-scented national park trails, and occasional entry-fee museums or ruin sites. South America's landscapes are the main attraction. Deep pockets are rarely required.
Currency: South America spans more than a dozen national currencies. Count the Argentine Peso, Brazilian Real, Colombian Peso, Chilean Peso, Peruvian Sol, and Bolivian Boliviano among them. US dollars serve as a widely understood reference currency. Some destinations accept them directly. Exchanging into local currency typically yields better day-to-day value.
Money-Saving Tips
Eat the set lunch menu, known as menu del dia or almuerzo, at local family restaurants rather than ordering a la carte in tourist-facing zones. A three-course meal with soup, main, and drink typically costs a fraction. The same calories run higher in traveler-focused places.
Travel overnight on long-distance buses to absorb accommodation costs into the journey. South America's intercity bus network is extensive. A cama-class seat lets you cover several hundred kilometers while you sleep.
Buy fruit, bread, and snacks at covered municipal markets rather than supermarkets or convenience stores in transit hubs. Prices run lower. Produce arrives fresher. Wandering a busy South American market is worthwhile on its own terms.
Use app-based rideshare services in cities where they operate rather than hailing street taxis, which in several South American cities are priced informally and can run two to three times higher for travelers who look uncertain about local fares.
Travel in shoulder seasons between peak tourist weeks and the wettest rainy-season months. Accommodation and guided tour prices in destinations like Patagonia and the Sacred Valley soften noticeably outside the busiest weeks. Crowds thin enough to improve the experience qualitatively. It gets cheaper too.
Share private tours with other travelers met at your hostel or guesthouse. A half-day guided excursion split across four people costs a fraction of a solo private booking. It often unlocks access that large group tours skip entirely.
Book long-distance buses and any trekking permits that require advance allocation well ahead of travel dates, during South American summer. Last-minute availability frequently means paying a premium. Slower routes become your only option.
Common Budget Mistakes to Avoid
Relying on taxis or private transfers for every urban journey instead of using colectivos, metro systems, or app-based rideshares. The cumulative cost difference across a two-week stay in cities like Buenos Aires or Lima can fund several extra nights of accommodation.
Eating exclusively in restaurant strips nearest to major tourist attractions. Prices in these zones across South America carry consistent markups over what local neighborhoods charge for comparable quality. Walking ten minutes in almost any direction tends to halve the bill.
Booking all accommodation at the last minute during high season without accounting for the fact that popular South American destinations fill early. Desperation bookings in full cities often land travelers in poorly located properties. Daily transport costs then add to every activity.
Moving across this continent costs more than most travelers expect. South America is vast. Plan the overland legs casually, and you will hit a string of border-crossing bus journeys. These add up. They consume a meaningful share of your total trip budget if you do not factor them in from the start.