Guide
How to Plan a Travel Budget
Build a trip budget in the order costs are committed, and keep a buffer you never touch.
Fix the large, committed costs first
Transport and accommodation are usually the biggest items and the first ones you book. Settle them before planning anything else, because they define what is left for the rest of the trip.
Include the additions that get quoted separately: luggage, seat selection, airport transfers, resort or cleaning fees.
Model daily spending per person
Food, local transport and small entry fees scale with both people and days, so they are best estimated per person per day. Look up a realistic daily figure for your destination — the difference between cities is far larger than most travellers expect.
Budget the fun, then the buffer
Give activities and shopping explicit line items. Both happen whether or not you planned for them; the only question is whether they were counted.
Add roughly 10% as an emergency buffer for a missed connection, a medical visit or a change of plan. Its purpose is to remain unspent.
Check the per-day figure against your budget
Total cost divided by days is the most useful sanity check available. If the daily number looks uncomfortable, shortening the trip by two days is usually less painful than downgrading everything about it.
Frequently asked questions
How big should the emergency buffer be?
Around 10% of the rest of the trip covers most surprises. Raise it for remote destinations or long trips, and treat it as money that should stay unspent.
Can I budget a multi-city trip?
Use averages across the trip, or run the calculator once per city and add the totals. Mixing nightly rates without averaging is the easiest way to be wrong.
What is most often forgotten?
Airport transfers, luggage fees, local transport and card foreign-exchange fees. They are individually small and collectively the usual cause of an overrun.
Conclusion
Fix the large committed costs first, model daily spending per person, give activities and shopping explicit lines, and keep a buffer you never touch. The per-day figure is the best sanity check before you book anything non-refundable.