Budget slow travel destinations

We’ve been to 35 countries between August 2015 and July 2025 — and many of those countries we have visited several times. That said, we aren’t “country counters.” We travel slowly, one country at a time, because the faster you go, the less you see — and the more you spend. Slow travel is easier to do on a smaller budget.

Most of the time, we stay in a country for a month or two, or occasionally longer, on a tourist visa.

Countries we have visited multiple times, include Thailand, Mexico, India, and Malaysia. One country we visited only for a few hours: Ukraine; Ellen would have liked to stay longer, however, it wasn’t practical.

Budget slow travel destinations

Use the table of contents to jump to a country. Tap a country’s name to see all posts we have on that country.

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Latin America

Mexico

• Mahahual (Chetumal, Xcalak)
• Tulum (Playa del Carmen and Cancun)
• Campeche 
• Sabancuay (Ciudad del Carmen)
• Puerto Vallarta
• Yelapa
• Huatulco
• Puerto Angel (Zipolite and Mazunte)
• Puerto Escondido
• Ajijic/Chapala
• Mexico City
• Guadalajara
• Tijuana
• Rosarito Beach
• San Cristobal de las Casas
• Tuxtla Gutierrez
• Oaxaca City
• Zihuatenajo
• Mazatlan
• La Paz
• Cabo San Lucas

Belize

• Corozal
• San Ignacio, Cayo District
• Caye Caulker
• Ambergris Caye

Guatemala

• Peten
• El Remate (Isla de Flores, Santa Elena)
• Tikal
• Guatemala City
• San Pablo, Lake Atitlan (Tzuzuna, Panajachel, San Marcos, San Juan)
• San Pedro, Lake Atitlan
• Tecpan
• Antigua
• Acatenango Volcano

Europe & UK

Portugal

• Lisbon (Sintra)
• Porto (Gaia across the river)

Italy

• Rome
• Lerici (La Spezia, Tellaro)
• Cinque Terre (Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore)
• Florence (Siena, Gimignano, Pisa)
• Venice (Burano, Murano, Torcello)
• Ancona

Spain

• Barcelona (Figueres, Girona, Tarragona, Montserrat)
• Tarifa & Algeciras
• Seville

United Kingdom

• London
• Greenwich

Croatia

• Zagreb
• Split
• Omis (Supetar and Splitska)

Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Sarajevo

Montenegro

• Kotor (Dobrota, Perast, Orahovac, Jaz Beach, Budva)

Albania

• Tirana
• Saranda (Butrint)

Greece

• Athens
• Corinth
• Rio & Patras
• Lefkada Island (Nidri, Kathisma Beach)
• Corfu Island (almost every place on the island – 10 villages minimum)
• Kalavryta

Serbia

• Belgrade, New Belgrade
• Vrsac
• Plandiste

Romania

• Timisoara
• Alba Iulia
• Sibiu
• Brasov
• Bucharest

Bulgaria

• Veliko Tarnovo
• Nesebar / Sunny Beach
• Varna

Turkiye

• Istanbul
• Uchisar
• Goreme
• Mersin
• Alanya
• Antalya (do not miss Termessos!)

Hungary

• Budapest

Slovakia

• Kosice

Ukraine

• Velykyi Bereznyi (only for a few hours from the border crossing at Ubl’a, Slovakia)

Poland

• Krakow

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Northern Africa

Morocco

• Marrakesh
• M’hamid
• Erg Chigaga (*Sahara desert*)
• Ouarzazate
• Casablanca
• Fez
• Chefchaouen
• Tangier

Egypt

• Cairo
• Giza
• Aswan
• Elephantine Island
• Luxor
• Hurghada

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Southeast Asia

Singapore

Malaysia

• Cameron Highlands
• Penang: George Town, Tanjung Bungah, Batu Ferringhi — several times
• Kuala Lumpur
• Melaka (Malacca City)
• Port Dickson
• Kuantan
• Gambang (Dhamma Malaya)

Vietnam

• Hanoi
• Lan Ha Bay
• Cat Ba
• Ninh Binh
• Phong Nha
• Dong Ha (Cam Lo and Khe Sanh)
• Hue
• Danang (Ba Na Hills)
• Hoi An (An Bang)
• Nha Trang
• Dalat
• Can Tho/Mekong Delta
• Cu Chi
• Ho Chi Minh City

Thailand

• Pai
• Chiang Mai
• Phuket
• Krabi (Klong Muang, Ao Nang)
• Hua Hin (our favorite so far)
• Bangkok
• Pattaya

Cambodia

• Phnom Penh
• Siem Reap

Indonesia

• Katu, Semanyak, Legian
• Lovina
• Ubud
• Labuan Bajo
• Komodo National Park
• Sanur
• Nusa Penida
• Bukit Lawang
• Gunung Leuser National Park (orangutan trek camping)
• Berastagi
• Tonngging
• Lake Toba (Tuk-tuk area)
• Weh Island
• Banda Aceh

Philippines

• Cebu City, Cebu
• Liloan, Cebu
• Moalboal, Cebu
• Garcia Hernandez, Bohol (and Jagna, Anda, Valenica)
• Panglao (Bohol)
• Camiguin (Northern Mindanao region)
• Valencia, Negros
• Iloilo, Panay
• Gigantes islands
• *Motag, mainland Malay, Aklan, Panay*
• Caticlan, Panay
• Boracay Island
• Kalibo, Aklan, Panay
• Roxas City, Panay
• Antique, Panay

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South Asia

India

• Mumbai
• Alibag
• Pune
• Udaipur
• Jodhpur
• Jaisalmer
• Jaipur
• Pushkar
• Kota
• Bundi
• Agra
• Chennai (twice, extensive experience in the Mandaveli and RA Puram areas)
• Delhi
• Dehradun (day trip to Mussoorie)
• Rishikesh (twice)
• Kolkata
• Varanasi
• Bodhgaya (and Buddhist Circuit in Bihar)
• Kochi
• Alleppey / Alappuzha
• Majorda, South Goa
• Morjim, North Goa
• Puducherry (aka Pondicherry, Pondy)
• Tiruvannamalai
• Mahabilapuram (aka Mamallapuram, Mahabs)
• Kuilapalayam Village (Near Auroville)
• *Vipassana centers: Dhamma Arunachala, Dhamma Setu (Ellen solo)

Nepal

• Pokhara
• Hyangjakot
• Kathmandu

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East Asia

Japan

• Tokyo (Shinjuku)
• Kawaguchico (to climb Mt. Fuji in one day)
• Kyoto
• Osaka (Nara & Kobe on day trips)
• Hiroshima
• Maezora, Hatsukaichi, for day trips to Miyajima/Itsukushima Island
• Fukuoka

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South_Korea

• Busan
• Gyeonju
• Hahoe Folk Village (Andong)
• Seoul

China (mostly Taiwan)

• Taipei
• Hualien City (& Taroko Gorge)
• Kaohsiung City
• Taichung City
• Chengdu (mainland China)

Middle East

United_Arab_Emirates

• Ras Al Khaimah
• Dubai
• Abu Dhabi

Before these slow travel destinations…

Before early retirement, we also visited Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama and Mexico on vacations from work.

In fact, those vacations showed us this low-cost travel lifestyle was possible. Those trips were successful short “trial runs.”

Trial runs might help you decide if a long-term travel lifestyle is right for you. Read more here.

We also kept track of our expenses during those glorious vacations to see what it would cost to live like long-term travelers instead of short-term tourists.

All inclusive resorts and cruises never appealed to us. Where’s the adventure in that?!

Do you want to retire early and slow travel the world?
Read how we did it.

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