Me and Sally spent 30 days in this wonderful country, here is a full cost breakdown.
As a budget backpacker I always find it difficult to work out how much to expect to spend in certain countries. So here is a full breakdown of how much we spent while travelling Guatemala for a month.
Accomodation
We stayed mostly in fairly budget hostels with the occasional private room. As I am travelling with my girlfriend the cost for the private rooms was obviously cheaper than if you’re travelling solo. For hostels we aimed to be spending around £10 for a bed in a dorm but prices generally ranged from £7 up to £20 depending on the hostel and location.
Total cost per person- £305.03
Food
For food we tried to prioritise hostels that had kitchens so we could cook our own meals. However of course we treated ourselves for a meal out on occasion as well! Also free breakfasts were a a great budget saver. Food was pretty cheap to eat out with the average price for a decent dinner being around £5.
Total cost per person- £158
Drink
Drink is one of those things which can really increase your spending. As we’re not huge drinkers luckily this section of the budget wasn’t too bad. It really depends person to person how much you like to go out and party. For us a frequent beer or two most days would be the average. In general drinks were definitely on the cheap side, with beers rarely costing more than £2 and cocktails usually less than £5.
Total cost per person- £71.35
Activities
Activities and tours in Guatemala were fairly expensive. With our sunrise Tikal tour coming to about £40 each. However things like surfing in El Paredón was only about £10 to rent a board for the day. We also did Spanish school in Lake Atitlan which costed around £100 for 5 days of 1-1 3 hour lessons. This obviously increased our costs considerably. How much you budget for activities really depends on what kind of things you’ll be doing.
Total cost per person- £213.50
Transport
Transport in Guatemala is quite expensive and there aren’t any proper coaches or big buses found in most countries. They have these shuttles which are the most common form of transport for tourists between the major attractions. These are usually the only option for longer distance journeys. Usually costs between £10 and £40 depending on the journey. Another option for the more adventurous and budget backpacker is the “chicken buses” which are far cheaper and a bit more fun in my opinion. These can be used for shorter journeys and are very common in the areas between Guatemala City and Quetzeltenanto (Xela). These are very cheap, our bus from Xela to Lake Atitlan only cost £2.
Total cost per person- £156
Extras and souvenirs
We didn’t buy any souvenirs aside from the bracelets pictured above. The rest of this cost was combined of toilet fees (usually around 30p) and tips (15% is around normal).
Total cost per person- £24
Cost Summary per person
Total spent (30 days)- £927.88
Total spent per day- £30.93
Cameron Explores 
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