Travel Budget Planner: Free Trip Cost Calculator
A free travel budget planner and trip cost calculator. Enter your days, travellers and costs, and instantly see the total broken down per day and per person — then save or print it.
Instant totals
See your full trip cost update live as you type — no spreadsheet formulas needed.
Per day & per person
Automatically splits the total by traveller and by day, so you know the real daily budget.
Custom categories
Add any cost — car hire, visas, a big experience — and mark it one-off or per-day.
Save & print
Your plan saves privately in your browser. Print or export it to PDF to share or keep.
Your budget
| Category | Amount | Basis | Subtotal |
|---|
In this guide
How to use the travel budget planner
Set the basics
Enter your trip length in days, the number of travellers, and your currency.
Add your costs
Fill in an amount for each category — flights, accommodation, food, transport, activities and more.
Mark one-off vs per-day
Choose whether each cost is a one-off (like flights) or a per-day cost (like a hotel). The planner multiplies per-day items by your trip length automatically.
Read your summary
See the total, per person, per day and per person per day, plus a breakdown of where your money goes.
Save or print
Your plan saves in your browser. Print it or export to PDF to share with fellow travellers.
How much does a trip cost?
There’s no single answer — the honest truth is that trip cost varies enormously with five things: your destination, the season you travel, your travel style, the length of the trip, and the number of travellers. A week somewhere inexpensive in the off-season can cost a fraction of the same week somewhere pricey at peak time. That’s exactly why a planner beats a generic “average”: you build the estimate from your own real numbers.
What is consistent is roughly how a budget divides up. Use this as a rough guide to sanity-check your plan — not as fixed rules, since the split shifts with distance and style:
| Category | Rough share of budget | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Flights / getting there | 25–40% | The biggest slice for long-haul; much less for a road trip. |
| Accommodation | 25–35% | Per night, so it scales with trip length and style. |
| Food & drink | 10–20% | Self-catering and street food cut this sharply. |
| Local transport | 5–15% | Transit is cheap; taxis and car hire add up. |
| Activities & tours | 5–20% | Depends entirely on the trip. |
| Insurance & buffer | 5–10% | Don’t skip travel insurance or a cushion for extras. |
To get a realistic number, research actual prices for your destination and dates, plug them into the planner above, and add a buffer. That’s far more accurate than any “average cost of a trip” figure online.
What to include in a travel budget
A complete travel budget covers seven things. Miss one and your estimate drifts:
- Getting there — flights, trains or fuel, plus airport transfers and bag fees.
- Accommodation — per night, including taxes and any resort fees.
- Food & drink — meals, coffee, snacks and the occasional splurge.
- Local transport — public transit, taxis, ride-hailing or car hire and parking.
- Activities & tours — entry tickets, guided tours, experiences.
- Travel insurance — a small, essential line most people forget.
- A buffer — shopping, tips, SIM cards, and the unexpected. Aim for 10–15%.
Budget by trip type
Different trips have different cost shapes. Adjust the planner’s categories to match:
- Weekend city break: flights and accommodation dominate; food and a few sights make up the rest. Short, so per-day costs matter more than one-offs.
- One-week beach holiday: accommodation and flights lead; add activities and airport transfers. Off-peak timing is the biggest lever — see our when-to-go guides.
- Two-week backpacking trip: lower daily costs but many of them; transport between places adds up. Per-day items (hostels, food, local transport) drive the total.
- Family holiday: multiply per-person costs and add family-specific items (extra rooms, kids’ activities, more taxis). The per-person view in the planner is especially useful here.
Budget vs mid-range vs luxury
Your travel style is the single biggest thing you control. The same destination can cost wildly different amounts depending on choices, not luck:
- Budget: hostels or guesthouses, self-catering and street food, public transport, free sights, carry-on only.
- Mid-range: comfortable hotels or apartments, a mix of eating out and self-catering, the odd tour and taxi.
- Luxury: premium hotels, restaurants, private transfers and guided experiences.
Decide your tier first, then price each category to match — the planner makes the difference obvious.
How to cut each cost
Once you can see where the money goes, you know where to save. In rough order of impact:
- Travel off-peak. The single biggest saving on flights and accommodation. Our best-time-to-visit guides show when each place is cheapest.
- Cut the flight cost. Flexible dates and airports beat any coupon — see how to find cheap flights.
- Choose accommodation wisely. Book direct, stay slightly out of the centre, and use apartments for self-catering.
- Eat like a local. Markets, street food and the occasional self-catered meal slash the food line.
- Avoid bag fees. Travelling carry-on only saves money every flight.
Budgeting tips that actually work
- Build in a buffer of 10–15% for the things you always forget.
- Track spending as you go so you can adjust mid-trip rather than getting a nasty surprise.
- Split shared costs clearly if you’re travelling as a group — the per-person view helps.
- Watch the extras — resort fees, drip-priced add-ons and airport purchases quietly inflate a budget.
Now build your packing list
Budget sorted? Make a custom packing list for your trip in a couple of minutes.
Open the Packing Checklist Maker →This planner provides estimates for your own planning only. It is not financial advice and doesn’t sell or book anything. Always confirm real prices with providers before booking.