3 Months in South America Budget! How Much I Spent!

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I spent just over 3 months in South America a few years ago. When I booked the trip I really wasn’t too sure how much money I would need to budget for 3 months in South America but I knew I wanted to go so I booked a ticket and hoped it wouldn’t be too expensive.

I visited 6 countries in South America in 3 months and as it turns out, the way I booked my trip meant I started with the most expensive countries – Brazil, Argentina & Chile and ended with the cheaper countries – Bolivia, Peru & Ecuador which worked out pretty well and less stressful than the other way round.

3 Months in South America Budget

I was on a budget in South America and travelled South America as a backpacker on a budget but I tried to not miss out on too many South America activities because as I quickly realised these are the best things to do in South America and if you say no to expensive day tours, you miss out on a lot.

But I’ll explain that more below in my 3 months in South America budget post!

How to Travel South America on a Budget?

I always stayed in hostels in a shared dorm which South America as plenty of.

I did most of the day trips available because if you don’t do them, often there is no point in going to the town, village or city you travelled to.

I didn’t spend much money on alcohol as alcohol isn’t that cheap in South America.

On average, breakfast was included in the hostel rate, I would eat lunch out and then cook dinner in the hostel from the food I brought in the markets and supermarket, I also did this for snacks. Buying food at the local markets was cheap and a great experience.

I didn’t spend much money on buying clothes or souvenirs in 3 months in South America.

I didn’t take any flights apart from to get there and leave. I took all buses to get around ranging from 4 hours to 10 hours to 22 hours which also ranged dramatically in cost between the countries!

South America Budget Per Country

Here is a break down of how much I spent in each country in South America, along with how long I was there for:

Note – this was a few years ago so expect costs to have gone up!

Brazil

Days Spent: 9
Money Spent: £478

Argentina

Days Spent: 11
Money Spent: £415

Chile

Days Spent: 10
Money Spent: £400

Bolivia

Days Spent: 12
Money Spent: £389 including £126 on the 3 day Salt Flats trip.

Peru

Days Spent: 21
Money Spent: £670

Ecuador

Days Spent: 21
Money Spent: £555 including £149 on the 4 day Amazon trip

Here’s my 3 week Ecuador itinerary!

Peru

Days Spent: 6
Money Spent: £130

3 Months in South America Budget

My flights from Birmingham UK > Rio Brazil and Lima Peru > Birmingham UK were £750 with Lufthansa. Have a look at Skyscanner to see what deal you can get!

As I mentioned, the countries definitely got cheaper as I went along.

I think the main thing that affected how much I spent were the prices of the buses– in Brazil, Argentina and Chile they were very expensive, whereas in Bolivia and Peru they were perry reasonable for the distance travelled and in Ecuador they were very cheap- $1USD per hour!

Day trips were another thing that I hadn’t thought about, in most places a day trip is involved in order to see the full area and its attractions and you can’t really go all the way to South America and not do them!

Some of the day trips I did and would recommend are

• Rio City Tour
• Iguazu Falls in Brazil & Argentina
• Wine Tour in Mendoza, Argentina
• Moon valley and geysers in North Chile
• Salt Flats tour in Bolivia
• Biking Death Road in La Paz, Bolivia
• Floating islands on Lake Copacabana, Peru
• Sandboarding in Huacachina Desert, Peru
• Machu Picchu
• Pastoruri Glacier Tour in Peru
• Multi-Day Amazon Tour

Overall I loved South America and the money I spent in South America was totally worth it! I hope this helps you plan your South America budget and work out South America prices!

• Related Post:
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