So how much does it cost to travel South America for 50 days?

In an effort to make this blog useful, what follows is a spending summary to give fellow travelers an idea of how much it cost us to travel through Peru, Chile, and Argentina. We are frugal travelers which means we don’t spend a lot of money on things like souvenirs, fancy meals, fabulous hotels, or first-class tickets. We do, however, like to maximize the bang for our buck; this requires planning and research on our part. We are a couple, and this gives us an advantage when traveling as we can split everything 50/50. In fact, a shared double room often tends to work out cheaper than the cost of a dorm bed.

“Day Trips” includes admission fees, taxis, public transit fares, etc.
“Transport” is the cost of transportation between cities: buses, trains, boats, etc.
“Spending money” includes things like beer money, gifts, laundry, and sundries.

This budget is based on a trip we took. View the details of that trip here:
How We Conquered Half the Pan-Am Highway in 2 Months for $2000

The numbers which follow are on a per person basis.

Peru

23 Days

        PEN (S/)       CAD ($)
Accommodation 504.50 196
Food 368.85 143
Day Trips 608.40 237
Transport btw. cities 182.50 71
Spending money 93.40 36
Total S/1757.65 $683

Chile

15 Days

          CLP ($)       CAD ($)
Accommodation 116,164 246.40
Food 75,100 159.30
Day Trips 30,740 65.20
Transport btw. cities 65,152 138.20
Spending money 35,087 74.40
Total $322,243 $683.50

Argentina

10 Days

          ARS ($)       CAD ($)
Accommodation 506 101.50
Food 568.15 114
Day Trips 45 9
Transport btw. cities 329 66
Spending money 47 9.40
Total $1495.15 $300

South America Total

50 Days

          CAD ($)
Accommodation 543.9
Food 416.3
Day Trips 311.2
Transport btw. cities 275.2
Spending money 119.8
Total $1666.40