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Traveling around Southeast Asia proves to be more affordable than anticipated, especially when visiting locations in Asia where accommodations and meals are significantly less expensive than in Europe. Would you be surprised to learn that we spent under 1,400 € per person during a 20 day trip across Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia? This cost covered all flights (all 5 secondary flights), excursions, meals, and lodging. Truly everything.
But before getting too thrilled, I’ll mention that we were traveling through Southeast Asia as budget travelers. We are those who don`t mind where we’d spend the night or how many people we’d be dividing a room with. If you like adventures and low-cost travels, this post is for you.
Table of Contents
GUIDE TO PREPARE A SOUTHEAST ASIA TRAVEL BUDGET
Initially, we will discuss our particular experience and how much we spent in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia within 20 days. We will also break down how much we reserved before the trip and how much we spent during our journey in Southeast Asia.
Then, we will create a section where we generally account for the estimated cost of traveling to Southeast Asia, independent of the specific itinerary and dates of travel. In this section, we will discuss topics such as flights, lodging, meals, activities, travel insurance, and other expenses in broad terms.
Finally, I will share a very helpful tool to assist calculate your travel budget to Southeast Asia in under a minute.
Our 20-days Southeast Asia travel budget
EXPENSES BEFORE TRAVELING
MAIN FLIGHTS
As I expressed in the article on planning a voyage to Southeast Asia, we opted to avoid taking a round-trip flight between Spain and Southeast Asia. The main entrance points to Southeast Asia are Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, and since we planned to visit both cities, we chose to take two discrete flights. This might lead to a small inflation in costs, but not enough to undermine its value.
The price of our airplane tickets were: one-way (Madrid – Singapore) for 260 € and return (Kuala Lumpur – Madrid) for 261 €. We obtained the tickets three and a half months before the trip.
Acquiring plane tickets typically costs less if done between 3 to 4 months ahead of the trip. This expense represents the first element to consider when planning your travel budget for Southeast Asia.
SECONDARY FLIGHTS
After exploring various locations we aimed to visit in Southeast Asia, we analyzed choices for flights considering timing and pricing. We matched offerings from different carriers, ultimately finding that AirAsia constantly offered the most cost-effective solution.
Within the 20 days we spent exploring Southeast Asia, we visited Singapore,Penang,Sumatra,Yogyakarta,Bali and Kuala Lumpur.
The pricing for domestic flights within the country:
Singapore – Penang – 37.09€
Penang – Sumatra – 28.09€
Sumatra – Yogyakarta – 85.42€
Yogyakarta – Bali – 32.35€
Bali – Kuala Lumpur – 52.22€
ACCOMMODATION
As it was our maiden voyage to Southeast Asia, we opted not to travel without pre-booking lodging. For backpackers seeking affordable accommodations who have ample time during their trip, looking for a place to stay upon reaching destinations is the best choice. That way, you will find better rates and be able to inspect your room before deciding.
In our case, we didn’t leave one night to improvise. We booked the accommodations through these platforms.
- Booking
- Airbnb (you can check here how to obtain an Airbnb coupon code)
- Hostelword
- Hostelbookers
We booked:
- Spending one night in Singapore 13 € / person per night
- Accommodation in Penang for 2 nights 10.5 € / person per night
- Spending one night in Bukit Lawang 2.5 € / person per night
- Spending 2 nights in Yogyakarta 7 € / person per night
- 4 nights in Bali at $6.5/person per night
- A lodging option in the Gili Islands for 7.75 euros per person each night can be found at this link: 2 nights in the Gili Islands.
- 2 nights in Kuala Lumpur 12.5 € / person per night
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TRAVEL INSURANCE
It is highly advisable to procure travel insurance for Southeast Asia. Based on my experience, Heymondo is one of the most reliable travel insurance companies and the one I recommend for your trip to Asia.
Total expenses in travel insurance = 65 € x 2 people = 130€
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OTHER EXPENSES PAID IN ADVANCE
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For this particular journey, I recommend booking in advance because the prices were higher if you booked upon arrival, not to mention there was quite a difference between companies in terms of cost.
EXPENSES DURING THE TRIP
Once there, we used my smart Evo account card to handle finances during the trip, as able to withdraw from any ATMfor free despite currency exchange. Apart from already paid in advance, we spent 1060 € totally (530 € each) in Southeast Asia on the following:
Meals
Victuals, fruit shakes and beers. We paid anywhere from 0.90 € to 15 € for any given menus. We spent the day experimenting with novel things, typically avoiding the more touristy areas to genuinely experience the local scene. I believe I partook more sustenance on this trip than any other destination. Not a sole day passed that I did not consume exotic fruit smoothies and banana pancakes, among other gastronomical delights.
The type of diet one wishes to follow during their trip through Southeast Asia will impact their travel budget in the region.
ACCOMMODATION
As I noted earlier, even though all of our accommodations were booked in advance from Spain, we only paid 8.5 € for reservations. During the trip, we had to pay 108 € in lodging costs for 15 nights. The rest of the nights of the 20 that we were touring in Southeast Asia, we slept in the jungle or at some airport.
TRANSPORTation
In addition to flights and the ferry, we utilized several modes of transportation. Buses, tuk-tuk, taxi and even a privately hired driver we booked from Spain, to travel to the jungle of Bukit Lawang from Medan airport (42 € one way).
EXCURSIONS
A number of excursions and activities were directly arranged in Southeast Asia, such as entrance fees to various temples in Yogyakarta (approximately 15 €), snorkeling in Gili Trawangan (around 10 €), and a traditional dance performance in Ubud (€5). Others were booked from Spain, like our two-day jungle trek through Bukit Lawang to see orangutans in their natural habitat + return to the village for tubing (60 + 10 €), and the climb to witness the sunrise at Batur volcano in Bali (16.5 €).
If you want to know the expense of each of the means of transportation and activities that we carried out during those 20 days in Southeast Asia, you will find them in the specific guides to each destination that we will provide you at the end of this article.
In total, the expense of our trip for each individual was €1,400, including advance payments and money spent during the 20 days we spent in Southeast Asia.
But now we will provide assistance in creating your individualized Southeast Asia travel budget as each excursion is unique.
General budget of Southeast Asia for backpackers
FLIGHTS
Traveling to Southeast Asia (Kuala Lumpur or Singapore) from Madrid, buying your flight 3-4 months in advance should cost between 400 and 600 € depending on whether you choose a round trip or two one-way flights as we did.
The average cost of domestic flights with AirAsia between one location and another is 50 €. Add 50 € for each trip you want to fly.
SECONDARY TRANSPORT
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TRAVEL INSURANCE
The most effective way to know how much travel insurance is going to cost you is to set up a quote which takes under half a minute here. It principally depends on the length of your trip.
ACCOMMODATION
If sharing accommodations with other backpackers is tolerable, the nightly price in Southeast Asia should not exceed 10 €. Note that locations like Singapore or Kuala Lumpur are costlier than other destinations like Bukit Lawang or Penang.
Meals
The last cost we paid in advance was the ferry that goes to Gili Trawangan from Bali (40 € roundtrip).
EXCURSIONS
On excursions, daily costs generally average less than 15 euros, but we still felt this was too high. We were pleasantly surprised when we returned home to discover our actual expenses had been under our estimates.
Budget Calculation Tool for Traveling to Southeast Asia
By clicking on the following icon, you will download an Excel sheet, which can calculate your approximate travel budget in under a minute. Note! This travel budget for Southeast Asia is only applicable for true backpackers. Couples organizing their honeymoon or similar occasions will likely want to spend more on private hotel rooms etc.
