Cheap Latin America Travel

There was a time when people rode trains all over Ecuador, from the capital of Quito to Otovalo, Cuenca, and the coastal port of Guayaquil. More than 60 trains a day departed from the main station in southern Quito. Then came the age of the automobile, which killed off the trains in a lot of …

Last week I was in Bolivia and it was dirt cheap. (See this post with prices.) This week I’ve been in Chile and I’m paying more than I would at home. As soon as I crossed the border, most prices went up by a factor of four. It’s kind of hard to get your head …

For those who want to get straight to the superlatives, Bolivia is still the cheapest country to visit in South America—if you’re staying long enough to offset the exorbitant visa fee for some nationalities. Bolivia is my last stop in updating the upcoming 4th edition of The World’s Cheapest Destinations, out the first week of …

I’m currently in Quito, Ecuador, where it’s only taken me one full day to confirm that most prices are pretty much where they were last time I was here a few years ago. (See Travel Prices in Ecuador.) The fact they use the U.S. dollar as their currency helps, but there’s also low inflation and …

The general public is starting to come around to the idea that Colombia is no longer some scary place you should avoid in your travels. Most of them still don’t know though how really unbelievably great Cartagena is. No, this is not one of the world’s cheapest destinations. Far from it actually since Cartagena has …