Do you have travel dreams for 2023? Money a little tight? Check out the following country locations, then. Yes, there is magic and adventure. However, what’s equally significant for the traveler on a tight budget is that these are locations where your money will go a very long way. I’ve been fortunate enough to visit all 10 as a travel writer, but as a tourist, I’d want to go back to each and every one.
1. Montenegro
After separating from Serbia, Montenegro has become one of Europe’s most popular vacation destinations and the newest sovereign country in the world. You’ll discover a world of jagged mountains with a switch-backed Adriatic coastline with coves, beaches, and villages made of light gray stone, along with three-course dinners for $7 and private accommodations for $10. The winged lion emblem of the Venetian Republic is frequently painted on the ancient walled cities with decaying towers and palaces, while the water glistens like a blue topaz.
Now, paint in fishing communities with red-tiled rooftops and deep-green shutters as well as monasteries tucked into mountain clefts. Roman mosaics, olive orchards, water-lilied lakes, deep valleys, the powerful Boka Kotorska, Europe’s most southern fjord, and the border town of Ulcinj with its minarets and slave-trading legends are just a few of the sights to see.
2. Nicaragua
You can accomplish a lot in a week in Nicaragua from the laid-back colonial city of Granada: climb volcanoes; learn Spanish; visit the Masaya craft market and the villages where rocking chairs, hammocks, and pottery are made; explore the cloud forests and coffee plantations of the Selva Negra; converse with expats in the beach surfing town of San Juan del Sur; and travel to colonial Leon, where you might encounter native Indians.
The cost of relaxing in a rocking chair with a cool Victoria beer is typically less than $1, and it is challenging to spend more than $7 on a dinner. A night at the Alhambra Hotel in Granada’s central center only costs $30.3.
3. Vietnam
Vietnam’s boundaries include a lot. The Mekong delta, with its floating marketplaces, the foggy Halong Bay, with its fantasy seascapes of limestone outcrops and islands, and the historic Vietcong tunnels at Cu-Chi near Saigon—officially known as Ho Chi Minh City—are just a few highlights. (Don’t be concerned if you get stopped; one tunnel has been expanded especially for westerners.) Although hostel beds are quite inexpensive, good motels frequently cost less than $40. Less than a dollar gets you six seafood spring rolls or a hearty cup of pho bo beef noodle soup. Beer from Saigon Export costs 40 cents per bottle in neighborhood bars.
Go to the old district of Hanoi for the best traffic story to tell your family and friends back home. Every effort to cross the street results in a thrilling experience. There are thousands of motorbikes and scooters whose drivers view a red traffic light as a suggestion rather than an instruction in addition to psycho-cyclos (rickshaw bicycles), which you must also avoid. The best way to witness the complete mayhem is from a cyclo rickshaw.
4. Austria
These Alps? There is no doubt that Switzerland is one of the world’s most picturesque nations. But I can assure you that seeing its mountains, lakes, and medieval villages will wreck havoc on your wallet unless you’re prepared with an expense account.
Austria, a neighboring country, provides stunning alpine scenery year-round, in addition to the urban splendors of Vienna and Salzburg. And it costs a lot less money than you may imagine. For instance, you might spend as low as 175 euro ($230) a week to rent a furnished apartment for two in a chalet in the Tyrolean village of Fendels. The town of Fendels, which is surrounded by hiking paths, is a great base because the Tyrolean Oberland is close to the borders of Switzerland and Italy. (Check out the website of the Austrian Tourist Board at http://www.tiscover.at to locate a ton more self-catering lodging at comparable rates.)
5. Lithuania
Visitors frequently combine Lithuania with Latvia and Estonia since it is the most southern of the Baltic States. But you might easily spend a week by yourself in Lithuania. Strange towns like Vilnius and Kaunas are rich in music, art, and historical oddities. There are also farmers pulling haycarts through the forests and strange locations that are deep in paganism. the Curonian Spit’s wind-whipped dunes, where you may beach-comb for amber.
It would be ideal to travel around mid-June. In Lithuania, the ancient paganic festival of Rasos commemorates the summer solstice and is a national holiday. Singing, dancing, bonfire jumping, looking for “magic” ferns, and floating garlands down rivers are all part of the all-night celebration. Most people are able to remain up to see the sunrise despite some severe drinking. A drink of Svyturnys beer costs $1, while three potato pancakes with smoked salmon and sour cream cost $2.54.
6. India
India is more intriguing than anything you’ll ever encounter outside of it. The coastal state of Goa provides the simplest introduction to this populous nation. This sleepy world of Arabian Sea beaches, backwaters, and spice-laden winds is marked with more than a few echoes of Old Portugal, baking beneath a tropical canopy of banana, coconut, and mango trees. Sunrise yoga on the sand, complete massages for $8, dolphin cruises for approximately $6, and vibrant hippy shops can all be found there.
Two individuals may eat at a beach shack for less than $10, which includes four drinks. Additionally, there are inexpensive beach huts where you may stay for as low as $8 per night if you want to live on the cheap.
7. Portugal
Porto is Portugal’s second city and is renowned for its port wine lodges, which do, in fact, provide free samples. A network of laundry-hung lanes leads to a waterfront of boats, nets, and seafood eateries in this old Atlantic trading port. Outside of grocery stores with authentic art nouveau tiled façade, sheets of cod (bacalhau) are hung; the inside of the church of Sao Francisco is covered in gold leaf, enough to make King Midas drool. The Bolhau food market and the Torre dos Clerigos, Portugal’s tallest belfry tower, are not to be missed. You’ll get fantastic views of the chaotic cityscape of churches, bridges, and red-roofed homes from the summit.
The cost of food, lodging, and public transportation around the region is amazing by EU standards. An inexpensive method to travel along the coast and inland through terraced vineyards and lush river valleys is by train or bus. Don’t miss Braga and the Cathedral of Bom Jesus’ 1,000-step staircase. Some visitors climb these stairs on their knees on holy days.
8. Crete
It would be criminal to skip Chania, a town on the Greek island of Crete. Former capital of Crete with a 5,000-year history. You can find icon workshops, lyres hanging in dingy music instrument repair shops, bursts of white jasmine cascading from archways, cats dozing on balconies, and the strange sights of a pencil-thin minaret above church towers and a mosque squatting on the waterfront in the narrow alleyways of the Old Town.
At twilight, Chania’s historic Venetian harbor, which is hung with garlands of colorful light bulbs, is certainly the stuff of romance. The Venetian lighthouse flashes its beady wink, the ocean shimmers in waves of scarlet, sapphire, and emerald, and booths are busy selling pistachio nuts. Alleys that were quiet in the day became crowded with inhabitants out for an evening promenade, or volta. You can find studio flats here for under $40 per night, even in July and August, and you can dine well for $10.
9. Czech Republic
Tourists abound in Prague, but few are aware of what the remainder of the Czech Republic has to offer. One of its locations is Bohemia, which is endowed with a mesmerizing mosaic of castles, frescoed homes, and towers modeled after Rapunzel straight out of a sword-and-sorcery story. You may see a historical bear pit with bears at Cesky Krumlov. A church in Sedlec, a Kutna Hora neighborhood, is completely furnished with human bones, even down to the chandelier.
There are stoupas—huge “plague pillars” decorated with chained devils—in several places. They honor being freed from the diseases that ravaged Europe in the Middle Ages. The oldest of Bohemia’s luxurious spa towns is Karlovy Vary. It’s a beautiful town with baroque buildings in sugar-plum colors, floral parks, and stores gleaming with Bohemian crystal, with spa water flowing up all around town that tourists may collect for free.
10. Malaysia
Malaysia, a cultural mash-up of Malay, Chinese, and Indian influences, offers visitors pristine beaches and untamed rainforest teeming with wildlife, as well as the bustling capital Kuala Lumpur and the ancient port city of Malacca, as well as reasonably priced seafood and spa pampering, as well as sailing, snorkeling, diving, fishing, golfing, and island-hopping.
Georgetown, the capital of Penang island, is one of Malaysia’s major attractions and has a distinctly Chinese feel. You come across kong-teik craftspeople who produce funeral paper objects, snake temples, arcaded shophouses, little factories specializing in mahjong tiles and dice, and fish being dried outdoors like laundry. On the Clan Quay jetties along the Weld Quay shore, some 2,000 fishermen families reside in decrepit wooden houses.
