How Much Does a Week Abroad Cost?
Honest, data-backed weekly totals for budget, mid-range and luxury travellers — anywhere in the world.
The cleanest unit for talking about trip cost is one week, mid-range, shoulder season. It strips out the noise of length and seasonality, and produces a number that maps cleanly onto how people actually plan: 'a week somewhere nice'. This guide gives that number for every region we track, plus the rules for adjusting it to any trip you might book.
The weekly headline numbers
Across all 68 cities in the TravelBudget index, the global median for a mid-range week in shoulder season is roughly $1,950 per person, on the ground. Cheapest cities deliver the same week for under $800; the priciest push past $5,000. Flights are excluded — they are an order-of-magnitude variable that depends on origin city, not destination.
| Tier | Region examples | Week total |
|---|---|---|
| Very cheap | Kathmandu, Hanoi, Chiang Mai, Delhi | $650 – $900 |
| Cheap | Bucharest, Krakow, Marrakech, Bali | $900 – $1,400 |
| Moderate | Lisbon, Berlin, Athens, Mexico City | $1,400 – $2,300 |
| Pricey | Paris, Tokyo, Sydney, Vienna | $2,300 – $3,600 |
| Very pricey | Zurich, New York, Reykjavik, London | $3,600 – $5,200 |
What's actually in a weekly number
Every weekly total on TravelBudget is built from the same five line items, multiplied by seven days.
- Accommodation — 7 nights at the chosen tier
- Food — three meals per day, mix of casual and one nicer meal
- Local transport — metro, occasional taxi, no intercity legs
- Activities — 2–4 paid attractions, one guided experience
- Miscellaneous — SIM, tips, laundry, the unplanned coffee
Flights, visas, insurance and gear are excluded. They live in a separate 'fixed costs' stack added to the trip total. A New York–London return flight is $600; from Sydney to London it can be $1,800. Adding that to the daily number distorts comparisons across origins.
Adjusting the weekly number to your trip
- 01Style: drop ~50% for budget, multiply by ~2.4 for luxury.
- 02Season: drop 15% for low, add 25% for peak.
- 03Couples: per-person cost drops ~15% because accommodation halves and some activities share.
- 04Families of four: multiply per-person total by ~2.5 (kids in shared rooms, lighter meals).
- 05Longer stays: cost-per-day drops ~10% after 14 nights, ~25% after 30 nights (long-stay rents).
Three worked examples
Solo mid-range, one city
Seven nights in Lisbon, shoulder season: $300/day × 7 = $2,100, plus $500 flight from Western Europe = $2,600. Add 15% buffer → $2,990.
Couple, two cities, mid-range
Three nights Rome + four nights Florence: avg $400/day × 7 × 2 people × 0.85 (couple discount) = $4,760, plus $1,400 flights from US East Coast = $6,160. Add 15% → $7,084.
Family of four, budget, two weeks
Two weeks in Bali, shoulder season: $130/day mid-range single × 2.5 (family) × 14 = $4,550, plus $4,000 flights from North America = $8,550. Add 15% → $9,832.