South america advice- money etc

cr17

Hi Everyone,

Was just looking for some advice on travelling in south America and how much money I would realistically need for a 4-6 month trip exploring the main parts of the continent in no particular rush. A lot of people have said its “so cheap” etc, but is it really? And what are the prices of food, hostels, drink etc in the different countries. Trying to work out how much money I would need to bring.

Thanks, also please give suggestions for places or little gems you’ve come across while there.

dory

Its not really that cheap.
Only Bolivia I found to be very cheap. The average was 1000 Euro a month, more for some like Brazil Chile and Argentina and less for others.

In the more northern countries I paid between 5 and 15 dollars a night for a dorm bed.
I'll check my old travelling notes see if I can find other prices but its all from 2007 anyway. might be bit more now.

paulieeye

Hi there,

I've been travelling for 2 months now, just in peru so far and 1 week in brazil. I have spent 2300 and I havent been saying no to anything. We've been eating well, doin alot of tours (these actually help u not spend money cus ur up a mountain for 4 days), we've been quad biking, dirt biking , rafting a few times, boat trips, horse rides and out on the lash most weekends and the often during the week. Not stayin in the cheapest hostels either (cept in cuzco where we found a quality place for 15soles (4euro-ish) for a private room ensuite).

Course I can only talk about peru but it wud definatly be able to do it under 1000 a month if you had more discipline than me.

Headin to boliva next so hopefully cost will go down.

Good luck on the plannin
paul

dr gonzo

I went all over in 3 months or so(Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil) So i have a good idea of both the places and traveling across them in a shortish span of time.
It goes without saying i guess to save as much as possible because before i went i heard the same things, its cheap and you get bargains etc. It is cheap in some places but you'd be surprised how much money you'd end up spending even in the good value places unless you were a hardcore backpacker watching every cent. While i had over three grand with me(the standard 1000 a month) i spent far more and needed money sent over near the end however in saying that i did a heap load of traveling which sometimes included flights(Flights are cheap within their respective countries but unbelievably expensive if they cross a border) so if youre not doing anything more then an odd couple of bus trips then you shouldnt be spending as frequently as i was.

Hope this helped somewhat and if you have any other questions feel free to IM me, happy to help.