How Much Does It Cost to Travel in Latin America (Mexico & Costa Rica) for One Month?

One month down, (hopefully) 11 to go! As promised, here’s our first detailed budgeting post.

When we were saving for this trip, we planned to spend $5,000 per month on the road (for both of us together). Many of the RTW couples we read about traveled on much less (around $2,000 to $3,000/month), but we decided to save a little more because we wanted some luxuries on the road: We wanted to stay in private rooms instead of hostel dorms (at least most of the time), we wanted to be able to enjoy restaurants and bars and coffee shops, and we didn’t want to have to turn down the occasional expensive entertainment activities. Also, we wanted to have the money to buy plane tickets instead of taking 14-hour bus rides when possible. So, though we are traveling on a budget, I wouldn’t call it a shoestring. As Jonathan said at one point during our planning stages: “If the point of this trip were to save money, we wouldn’t be taking it.” True!

I’m happy to report that in the first month of travel, we almost exactly met our budget. On average, we spent $162.94/day (or $81.47/day per person). This is a little more than we wanted to spend (we were hoping for $150/day), but the total was still under our overall budget of $5,000 for the month. This included 17 days in Mexico and 13 days in the most expensive country in Central America (we’re pretty sure): Costa Rica.

Here’s the breakdown of our expenses by country:

Mexico: $2,049.50

Overall, Mexico City is a great budget destination. You can get fairly cheap flights from the U.S., and Mexico City is so diverse that you could travel in style and spend hundreds of dollars a day, or find a cheap hostel room and eat (delicious!) street food for much less. San Miguel de Allende, which is located about a 4-hour bus ride away from CDMX, is a bit more expensive (likely due to the large expat population and foreign tourists), but still pretty affordable.

Transportation (air): $245.36

One-way flights (for two passengers) from LAX -> MEX. We bought our tickets about six weeks in advance. Average: $14.43/day.

Transportation (land): $150.26

Most of this amount was round-trip bus fare from Mexico City to San Miguel de Allende, as well as our day trip to Guanajuato from SMA. It also includes a Metrobus card for Mexico City (so cheap and easy! The card works for the bus and subway systems; we highly recommend). We also took a few Uber rides in Mexico, but only when we had our luggage. Otherwise, we were really good about walking everywhere or taking the very cheap public bus. Average: $8.84/day.

Lodging: $688.82

This amount includes an $80 airport hotel the first night because we didn’t land in Mexico City until around midnight. (You’re welcome, Mom! Hehe.) Otherwise, we stayed in an Airbnb in La Roma for around $36/night, an Airbnb in San Miguel de Allende for $45/night (after receiving a small discount for the Internet not working), and an Airbnb in Coyoacán for $33/night (including a discount for being the first guests). Average: $40.52/day.

Eating out: $473.59

We like to eat (and drink a little…)! As I mentioned in the introduction, one reason we have a fairly high monthly budget for this trip is that we wanted to enjoy the food and drink of the locations we visited. We feel they are a big part of any culture, and we didn’t want to miss out. We definitely could have spent less, but we enjoyed visiting many coffee shops, bars and restaurants in Mexico. Average: $27.86/day.

Groceries/household items: $43.32

Most of these groceries were for our first week in CDMX, where we spent eight days in the same apartment. We didn’t buy as many groceries when we were in places for just a few days (like San Miguel de Allende), which also contributed to our high “eating out” expenses. Average: $2.55/day.

Entertainment (tours, etc.): $241.92

This included a trip to the Teotihuacan pyramids ($39/each), anthropology museum tickets ($3.99/each), a street food tour (which ended up being $60/each instead of $75 because Eat Mexico had to change our guide at the last minute and gave us a discount—not complaining!), a historical walking tour in San Miguel de Allende ($15.86/each), and tickets to the Leon Trotsky museum ($2.11/each). Average: $14.23/day.

Gifts & souvenirs: $37.08

Oops, looks like this was all me. 🙂 I bought a small turtle figurine (for my collection) at the Teotihuacan pyramids, and a wide hat and scarf in San Miguel de Allende. (The scarf was a planned purchase from the beginning, though! And I needed the hat for sun protection.) Average: $2.18/day.

Tourism tax: $29.51

Paid at LAX before boarding our flight to MEX. Average: $1.74/day.

Petty cash: $139.64

This category includes small amounts of pesos we spent during our trip, including cash tips, snacks, public bathrooms, bus fare, postcards, etc. Average: $8.21/day.

Mexico total: $120.56/day ($60.28/person)

Costa Rica: $2,838.70

A friend had warned me Costa Rica would be more expensive than the rest of Central America, but I was still surprised by many of the costs. Most times, I felt like I was in the United States: $3 for a cup of coffee, $10-$11 for a substantial lunch, $15-35 for a park entrance fee. However, given how many Americans and Europeans visit Costa Rica on holiday, the prices make sense.

Transportation (air): $338.10

Two one-way flights from MEX -> SJO, purchased about six weeks in advance. Average: $26/day.

Transportation (land): $1,356.52

We splurged a bit in Costa Rica because we rented a 4×4 vehicle fully equipped with camping supplies to get around the country. I’m sure you could visit for much cheaper by taking buses and staying in hostels, but we loved adventuring with our little Suzuki Jimny! (Jonathan is now hoping he can buy one when we’re back in the States…. We’ll see haha.) This amount covers the rental fee, insurance (as our credit card insurance doesn’t cover recreational vehicles) and gas. We also took a few Ubers into San Jose after we returned our rental vehicle. Average: $104.35/day.

Lodging: $106.79

Luckily, renting a vehicle with its own tent meant our lodging expenses were very low in Costa Rica. We did stay at an established campsite the first night because it was late when we arrived and we were not familiar with wild camping yet, and we paid way too much ($33.52! That’s more than almost all of our private accommodations have cost!). But after that, we camped for free almost everywhere. We paid $20/night to stay at a family coffee farm for two days, and our Airbnb in Alajuela was only $11/night. (It was very basic: we just needed a place to do laundry and catch up on work before flying out of San Jose.) Average: $8.21/day.

Eating out: $281.11

Much of this amount was actually spent at one place: Bowie’s Point Bar & Grill. But, they let us camp on their lawn for free and we spent a few hours sitting in the restaurant nursing a margarita to catch up on emails/blogging, so we wanted to thank them with our patronage. 😉 Average: $21.62/day.

Groceries/household items: $228.55

Thanks to our camping lifestyle, we saved a lot of money on eating out in Costa Rica, which also means we spent more on groceries. This amount also includes a plethora of road trip snacks and plenty of sunscreen and bug spray, plus two cheap beach towels. (Word to the wise: Be sure you stock up on sunscreen before leaving San Jose! We forgot to get some during our initial grocery stock, and when we went to buy sunscreen in La Fortuna, it was $25 for a small bottle. Yikes.) Average: $17.58/day.

Entertainment (tours, etc.): $464.23

As mentioned above, parks and attractions in Costa Rica can be expensive! We got a little sticker shock on our first full day in the country, when we paid $26/each to walk through the Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges Park. That ended up being one of my (Megan’s) favorite experiences of the trip, though, so it was definitely worth it! Other significant costs included $18/person to swim at La Fortuna Waterfall, $45/person to zip line in Monteverde, $22/person to hike in the Monteverde Cloud Forest, $69/person to kayak through mangroves at Isla Damas (including lunch), $42/person to take a guided wildlife tour in Manuel Antonio National Park (including parking and the entrance fee), and $10/person to tour the National Theater in San Jose. Average: $35.71/day.

Gifts & souvenirs: $12

In addition to postcards, we bought an $8 bag of coffee from the farm where we stayed. We’re unsure if this will be gifted upon our return to the U.S. at the end of this month, or if we’ll keep it to enjoy ourselves. 😉 Average: $0.92/day.

Petty cash: $51.40

Again, this category is to cover all the small cash amounts we didn’t account for in the above budgets. Average: $3.95/day.

Costa Rica total: $218.36/day ($109.18/person)

Overall: $162.94/day = $81.47/person per day

Whew! And that’s it. This took way longer than I expected, so future budgeting posts may not be as detailed. 😉 Unless you find them helpful and want to see more. Let us know in the comments!

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