Backpacking in 2025: 12 Destinations That Are Affordable and Safe Right Now
Backpacking isn’t what it used to be. Sure, you can still sling on a pack and chase sunsets, but in 2025, the smart traveler isn’t just collecting passport stamps. You’re looking for value, safety, and experiences that actually mean something.
Gone are the “wing it and see” days where you’d blow half your budget in week one. Today’s backpacker plays the long game: stretching every dollar, staying safe, and still coming home with stories that make your friends say, “Wait… you did that on only $18 a day?”
If you’re planning your next adventure but the headlines (and your bank account) are giving you second thoughts, here’s your shortcut: 12 affordable and safe backpacking destinations for 2025 where you can still travel cheap, feel safe, and have a trip worth bragging about.
Think of this as advice from a friend who knows their shit, not the travel magazine fluff you find online nowadays.
⚠️ Important Travel Advisory
I’m not including the USA in this list, and here’s why: The current political climate, unpredictable policy changes, and increasing reports of harassment at borders make it a risky choice for international backpackers right now. Immigration enforcement has become more aggressive, even for tourists, and the healthcare costs if something goes wrong can bankrupt you. Until things stabilize, there are simply better, safer, and more welcoming destinations for your money. This isn’t about politics — it’s about practical travel safety.
As this might roll out as a long read, I just reveal the destinations with links below:
- Southeast Asia: Hoi An, Vietnam, Penang, Malaysia, Chiang Mai, Thailand
- Eastern Europe: Bansko, Bulgaria, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Kraków, Poland
- The Americas: Oaxaca, Mexico, Medellín, Colombia, Cusco, Peru
- Europe’s Affordable Corner: Porto, Portugal
- The Secret Caucasus: Tbilisi, Georgia
How I Pick These Places (And Why You Should Trust Me)
I’ve been doing this for almost my entire life. I’ve slept in train stations, eaten questionable street food, and yes, I’ve been robbed. Twice. These days, I’m smarter about where I go and how I travel.
My rules are simple:
✔️ Can I afford more than instant noodles?
✔️ Can I walk around without constantly looking over my shoulder?
✔️ Will I actually have fun, or just survive?
If a place doesn’t tick all three boxes, it doesn’t make my list. Below are the affordable and safe backpacking destinations that actually deliver in 2025.
Southeast Asia: Still the Budget King
Hoi An, Vietnam
About $18 a day
Listen, I know everyone and their Instagram influencer cousin has been to Hoi An. There’s a reason for that. This place just works.
The old town is straight-up magical at night with all the lanterns, the food costs nothing and tastes incredible, and I’ve never felt sketchy walking around. Even at 2 AM after a few too many beers.
Skip the fancy riverside restaurants where they charge you $12 for what costs $2 three streets inland. Follow the locals, eat where they eat. That bánh mì lady near the market? She’s been there twenty years and her sandwich will ruin every other sandwich for you.
The hostel scene is solid too. People actually talk to each other instead of staring at phones all night. Found some of my best travel buddies in a random dorm room conversation about where to rent motorbikes. [back to list]
Penang, Malaysia
About $24 a day
Georgetown is criminally underrated. While everyone’s fighting crowds in Bangkok, you’re eating the best street food in Asia for pocket change and actually enjoying yourself.
Malaysia’s got its shit together politically, which means you’re not dealing with protests or instability ruining your plans. Plus, if you get sick, the healthcare won’t bankrupt you.
The hawker centers are where you live. I spent three days methodically working through every stall at Gurney Drive. Most expensive meal was $4, and that included a beer. The char kway teow alone is worth the flight.
Free walking tours are actually good here. The guides know their stuff and aren’t just trying to drag you to their cousin’s souvenir shop. [back to list]
Chiang Mai, Thailand
About $20 a day
Yeah, yeah, everyone goes to Chiang Mai. You know what? Everyone’s right.
This place has perfected the backpacker experience. Temples everywhere, night markets that go on forever, mountains when you need to escape the city, and everything costs almost nothing.
The community here is unreal. Hostels organize temple crawls, cooking classes, and motorbike trips up Doi Suthep. You’ll make friends whether you want to or not.
Do the morning alms thing with the monks, but do it right. Show up early, dress properly, and actually participate instead of just taking photos. It’s one of those experiences that sticks with you. [back to list]
Eastern Europe: All the Europe, Half the Price
Bansko, Bulgaria
About $27 a day
Plot twist: this Bulgarian ski town is now a digital nomad hotspot. EU safety standards, post-Soviet prices, and some of the fastest internet in Europe.
Winter means skiing for what you’d pay for a lift ticket lunch in the Alps. Summer means hiking and those insane communist monuments scattered around the mountains. Bring a local if you want to find the really wild ones.
The coworking scene here is legit. I got more work done in two weeks than I had in months of “working from cafes” in other cities. Plus, Bulgarian beer is criminally underrated. I did not tell you. [back to list]
Ljubljana, Slovenia
About $37 a day
Slovenia is what happens when a country actually has its act together. Safe as houses, beautiful as a postcard, and cheap enough that you won’t hate yourself for splurging on that castle tour.
The students keep this place fun and affordable. Craft beer for less than coffee back home, bars that stay open late, and locals who actually want to hang out with travelers instead of just tolerating us.
Forget Lake Bled. It’s pretty but it’s also tourist trap central. Lake Bohinj is just as stunning with half the crowds and actual budget accommodation nearby. The train ride there is scenic as hell too. [back to list]
Kraków, Poland
About $35 a day
Medieval porn at its finest. The old town looks like a movie set, the pierogi are life-changing, and Polish people are way more fun than their reputation suggests.
The food scene here is next level. You’ve got traditional Polish comfort food that costs nothing, plus this whole modern gastronomy thing happening if you want to splurge. The milk bars are communist-era cafeterias that serve massive meals for $3. Ugly as sin, delicious as hell.
Auschwitz is heavy but necessary. Balance it with Kraków’s ridiculous nightlife. The bars in Kazimierz are where locals actually drink, and they’re refreshingly unpretentious. [back to list]
The Americas: Where Culture Hits Different
Oaxaca, Mexico
About $32 a day
Mexican food tourism is exploding, and Oaxaca is ground zero. This is serious food culture with mole that takes three days to make and mezcal that’ll have you philosophizing with strangers.
Safety-wise, use your brain. Stick to the central areas, don’t flash expensive gear, and you’ll be fine. The local police presence is visible but chill, and every backpacker I met there had similar experiences.
Take a cooking class. Not for Instagram, but because you’ll learn more about Mexican culture from some grandmother teaching you to make tortillas than from any guidebook ever written. [back to list]
Medellín, Colombia
About $30 a day
Medellín’s comeback story is insane. The city that was a war zone in the ’90s is now safer than most American cities if you stick to the right neighborhoods.
El Poblado and Laureles are your zones. Good hostels, solid nightlife, and that metro system that’s basically free sightseeing. Those cable cars going up into the hills? Best city views you’ll get for the price of a bus ticket.
The Comuna 13 graffiti tour tells the real story of this place’s transformation. It’s heavy, but the community pride is incredible. One of those experiences that actually changes how you see things. [back to list]
Cusco, Peru
About $30 a day
Everyone comes for Machu Picchu. Fair enough. But Cusco itself is worth the altitude sickness (and yes, you will get altitude sickness, so take it easy the first few days).
The backpacker infrastructure here is solid. Tourist police who actually help, hostels that don’t suck, and enough other travelers that you’ll always find someone to split a tour or grab dinner with.
Skip the overpriced Machu Picchu tours everyone’s pushing. Rainbow Mountain and Huacachina are just as spectacular and cost a fraction. Sometimes the best adventures are the ones not clogging up your Instagram feed. [back to list]
Europe’s Affordable Corner
Porto, Portugal
About $45 a day
Portugal is Europe on easy mode — safe, beautiful, and Porto gives you Lisbon’s charm without capital city price gouging.
The port wine scene here is ridiculous. Tours and tastings across the river cost less than a cocktail back home, and you’ll actually learn something instead of just getting drunk.
That francesinha sandwich everyone talks about? It’s basically a heart attack on a plate, and it’s glorious. The food scene here is having a moment, but it’s still affordable if you know where to look.
Walk across the Dom Luís I Bridge at sunset. Free views that are better than anything you’d pay for, and the light on the river is pure magic. [back to list]
The Caucasus: Europe’s Weird Little Secret
Tbilisi, Georgia
About $25 a day
Georgian hospitality isn’t tourism board bullshit — these people actually want you here and will simply treat family. The country’s stuck between Europe and Asia, so you get this cultural mashup that doesn’t exist anywhere else.
The wine culture is 8,000 years old and still going strong. Wine tastings cost less than a coffee back home, and they’re making wines with methods you literally can’t find anywhere else.
Stay with a Georgian family if you can swing it. About $15 a night including dinner, and Georgian grandmothers will force-feed you until you physically cannot eat anymore. It’s aggressive hospitality in the best possible way. After living here for 6 months, I had to leave. Let’s say it was for health reasons. [back to list]
If you’ve been to one of these spots recently, drop your tips in the comments — you might make the next list.
Why These Places Actually Work
Look, I could’ve made a list of 50 “cheap” destinations. But cheap means nothing if you’re miserable, scared, or bored out of your mind.
These places work because they hit that sweet spot: your money goes far, you feel safe walking around, and you actually have fun instead of just surviving until your flight home.
I’ve learned that the best travel happens when you’re not constantly stressed about money, health or safety. When you can afford to say yes to that cooking class, join a group going to the mountains, or stay an extra week because you’ve met people you actually like, that’s when travel stops being about checking boxes and starts being about actual experiences.
These aren’t the destinations you’ll see in luxury travel magazines. They’re places where real backpackers go to have real adventures with real people, often for less than you’d spend on a weekend in any major Western city.
The world feels pretty fucked up right now, and everyone’s watching their money more carefully. But that doesn’t mean you have to stay home or settle for some boring-ass “safe” destination that empties your bank account.
Sometimes the best adventures happen in places you never planned to love. Pack light, keep your mind open, and remember, the best travel stories rarely come from the most expensive places.
Your next adventure is out there. And it doesn’t have to cost a fortune to change your life.
– Ramon
