Solo traveler ideas - $1500 budget

[tone77]

February tends to have lowest plane fares to many destinations. I usually travel during that month. I have been to Peru for right around $1,500 (including airfare), Ecuador for less. Both Panama and Nicaragua cost less than $1,000. I had a good time in all of those, although Ecuador was the best. My most recent ocean crossing trip was to Sri Lanka in Feb. 2017 (3 weeks). That cost me around $1,700 (including visa) and was worth every penny.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by IonRedline08

Flights to Europe are insanely cheap right now. What about a quick trip to Spain?

Even London is cheap with Brexit and the crashed British Pound if you do AirBnB. That would be a good low stress first Europe trip.



From Chicago, I personally would do the day flight to Heathrow so I'm not doing an overnight in an economy seat. AA 90 goes out at 9:15am and it's a 7 1/2 hour flight. You're in passport control at Heathrow by 10:30pm. Going out Saturday Feb 8 and returning Sunday Feb 16 on AA 91, I see $667.55 and that includes an assigned seat. If you fly on a Saturday, the airport hotels are cheap for that first night on a prepaid weekend rate reservation sleeping in a real bed. The bus service within Heathrow is free and Google Maps on free WiFi will tell you the bus to take with real time status. Have a leisurely morning and take the Heathrow Express train into central London already mostly adjusted to the time zone change. Do AirBnB. Take the tube. See the sights.




So my budget for a Saturday to Sunday London trip would be:
Airfare - $667.55

First night airport hotel - $75. I did the Sheraton for $78 last May including breakfast.

7 day tube pass for central London - $502 Heathrow Express train tickets - $23 (weekend fare, purchased 30 days in advance)
7 nights of AirBnB - $554. I clicked on a very small studio near Paddington and Hyde Park. You could do it cheaper less centrally located. For two people, I'd probably do something nicer that's about $120/night.


So I could easily do a week (8 nights) in London from Chicago for under $1,500 plus food and entrance costs to tourist things (an awful lot of things are free). Doing most of your eating in your AirBnB and beer in pubs, you could live within that budget.

[Hefe]

Originally Posted by IonRedline08

Flights to Europe are insanely cheap right now. What about a quick trip to Spain?

And then in Spain you could walk the Camino de Santiago, a trek that attracts thousands from all over the globe yearly. You can pick the starting point, the distance according to your schedule, when to go & which of several routes to take (including from Portugal too). You would be going through scenic areas & villages well served by hostels & BnBs & eateries catering to the pilgrims. You can have as much interaction as you want with other solo travelers & small groups also making the walk or at night stopping along the route's haunts.

I have a few relatives that have done this or do it regularly.