The Burrow
Sep 19, 2023
Organising a backpacking trip can be a time-costly task when you are budgeting for accommodation, food, and sightseeing trips. It also requires research into a variety of other concerns such as safety, weather-averages, and the cost of public transport.
As experts in travel insurance, we were curious to find out what some of the best cities are for backpackers to visit. To do this, we have calculated a variety of different factors for 48 cities across the world and created an index, looking at food costs, number of tourist attractions and hostels, among other metrics.
Here is what we found.
1. Marrakech, Morocco
7.60/10
2. Jaipur, India & Chiang Mai, Thailand
7.39/10
3. Cairo, Egypt
7.11/10
Based on our metrics, the best city for backpackers to visit is Marrakech, Morocco.
The North African city has very affordable food prices, with a basic grocery trip costing around US$7.91 which places it in the top three for food prices in our index. There are also many tourist attractions that backpackers can visit, with more than 3,500 locations. Another attractive factor is the city gets a lot of sunshine, recording 116.07 hours per month.
With a score of 7.39, both Chiang Mai and Jaipur tied for second place on our index.
Chiang Mai had very affordable grocery prices at US$9.26. The city also has the largest number of available hostels on our index (131). Apart from the affordable grocery prices and having the greatest number of hostels, Chiang Mai had an above-average index safety ranking of 76.26/100.
Jaipur had the cheapest grocery prices recorded on our index (US$6.70). The city had an above-average safety score (64.79/100) and many sunshine hours recorded (120.74), which placed it in the top three for this particular metric.
Cairo, Egypt ranked third on our index for best backpacking cities. The Northeast African city experiences a significant number of sunshine hours per month (120.99), just seven hours short of being the sunniest city in the index. The destination also has very affordable food prices with a grocery shop costing US$9.04. Public transport prices are also on the affordable side, with a single ticket costing US$0.26.
1. Oslo, Norway
2.13/10
2. Dublin, Ireland
2.52/10
3. New Orleans, USA & Brussels, Belgium
2.64/10
According to our index, Norway’s Oslo is the worst destination for backpackers to visit.
Oslo performed poorly in our index for a variety of reasons. The city is in the bottom 10 for the number of things to do and has expensive grocery prices at US$23.25 for a basic basket of items. It has the third highest public transport fares on our index at US$3.60. The city also landed in tied worst place for the number of hostels available (4).
Dublin, Ireland was the second worst city in our index, with a score of 2.52/10. Dublin has the lowest number of sunshine hours recorded per month (59.88) of all cities in our study. It also has a lower safety score of 47.65/100, and a limited number of hostels available.
The third-worst city was a tie between New Orleans and Brussels.
New Orleans had very expensive grocery prices, with a typical shop costing US$29.20, which was the fourth most expensive of all cities studied. It also has reasonably expensive beer, a low safety rating, and a limited number of hostels.
Meanwhile, Brussels also has a lower safety rating at 45.55/100. The city also has very few sunshine hours, with just under 75 recorded per month, on average.
| City | Country | Cost of food (USD) | Cost of beer (USD) | Transport cost per ticket | Sunshine hours per month | Safety score | Things to do | Number of hostels | Index score |
| Marrakech | Morocco | $7.91 | $1.65 | $0.39 | 116.07 | 58.94 | 3,581 | 55 | 7.60 |
| Chiang Mai | Thailand | $9.26 | $1.79 | $0.86 | 107.99 | 76.26 | 1,623 | 131 | 7.39 |
| Jaipur | India | $6.70 | $1.77 | $0.36 | 120.74 | 64.79 | 1,791 | 54 | 7.39 |
| Cairo | Egypt | $9.04 | $1.25 | $0.26 | 120.99 | 50.10 | 1,745 | 52 | 7.11 |
| Prague | Czechia | $18.15 | $1.07 | $1.45 | 84.48 | 75.28 | 4,188 | 51 | 7.02 |
| Hanoi | Vietnam | $10.92 | $0.88 | $0.30 | 68.48 | 62.80 | 3,089 | 63 | 6.99 |
| Lisbon | Portugal | $14.51 | $1.33 | $2.11 | 100.02 | 70.91 | 3,161 | 66 | 6.93 |
| Budapest | Hungary | $14.27 | $1.16 | $1.01 | 97.27 | 65.31 | 2,482 | 41 | 6.75 |
| Buenos Aires | Argentina | $9.18 | $1.10 | $0.15 | 103.70 | 36.89 | 2,720 | 33 | 6.72 |
| Kathmandu | Nepal | $7.44 | $2.15 | $0.19 | 83.24 | 62.95 | 2,425 | 61 | 6.63 |
| Beijing | China | $19.86 | $1.02 | $0.70 | 116.94 | 72.17 | 2,472 | 9 | 6.60 |
| Dubai | U.A.E | $18.83 | $3.51 | $1.91 | 127.66 | 83.75 | 4,045 | 40 | 6.60 |
| Barcelona | Spain | $14.87 | $1.21 | $2.56 | 104.62 | 49.31 | 4,897 | 90 | 6.53 |
| Rome | Italy | $19.89 | $1.56 | $1.60 | 109.85 | 46.69 | 6,105 | 85 | 6.44 |
| Bali | Indonesia | $12.53 | $2.34 | $0.30 | 103.20 | 51.00 | 9,283 | 35 | 6.41 |
| Dubrovnik | Croatia | $13.26 | $1.29 | $1.92 | 109.02 | 81.87 | 841 | 37 | 6.38 |
| Tokyo | Japan | $21.19 | $2.04 | $1.08 | 93.36 | 75.86 | 12,865 | 47 | 6.23 |
| Rio de Janeiro | Brazil | $10.70 | $1.24 | $0.92 | 95.97 | 22.36 | 2,512 | 45 | 6.02 |
| Havana | Cuba | $18.87 | $1.49 | $0.10 | 107.13 | 68.27 | 651 | 36 | 5.96 |
| Cape Town | South Africa | $8.79 | $1.14 | $1.04 | 101.57 | 26.35 | 2,367 | 29 | 5.90 |
| Santorini | Greece | $16.04 | $1.07 | $1.92 | 93.96 | 77.33 | 937 | 19 | 5.56 |
| Ibiza | Spain | $12.97 | $0.75 | $2.14 | 116.42 | 54.73 | 924 | 10 | 5.50 |
| Santiago | Chile | $15.22 | $1.55 | $1.01 | 118.54 | 37.93 | 1,608 | 28 | 5.47 |
| Amsterdam | Netherlands | $18.68 | $1.45 | $3.42 | 77.05 | 70.13 | 3,134 | 59 | 5.38 |
| Luang Prabang | Laos | $15.12 | $1.00 | $1.97 | 95.18 | 61.03 | 258 | 15 | 4.89 |
| Milan | Italy | $21.55 | $1.70 | $2.35 | 100.24 | 50.80 | 3,168 | 38 | 4.89 |
| Lima | Peru | $11.17 | $1.59 | $0.54 | 75.61 | 29.30 | 1,489 | 43 | 4.80 |
| London | England | $18.18 | $2.30 | $3.48 | 69.22 | 46.11 | 8,666 | 72 | 4.35 |
| Paris | France | $25.53 | $2.27 | $2.24 | 76.72 | 42.94 | 8,474 | 72 | 4.35 |
| Sydney | Australia | $21.40 | $4.95 | $3.34 | 102.40 | 65.77 | 2,401 | 47 | 4.31 |
| Edinburgh | Scotland | $15.33 | $1.97 | $2.36 | 62.23 | 68.63 | 1,747 | 19 | 4.22 |
| Berlin | Germany | $20.35 | $1.16 | $3.31 | 81.33 | 56.59 | 3,408 | 8 | 4.16 |
| Munich | Germany | $22.13 | $1.12 | $3.95 | 85.48 | 80.31 | 1,270 | 18 | 4.10 |
| Hanover | Germany | $18.60 | $1.00 | $3.42 | 75.58 | 57.87 | 381 | 36 | 3.95 |
| New York | USA | $34.50 | $3.10 | $2.75 | 95.71 | 50.58 | 5,726 | 20 | 3.62 |
| Melbourne | Australia | $21.36 | $4.55 | $3.07 | 93.96 | 55.98 | 1,957 | 24 | 3.31 |
| Toronto | Canada | $24.73 | $2.37 | $2.46 | 87.69 | 57.39 | 2,165 | 9 | 3.19 |
| Copenhagen | Denmark | $23.41 | $2.02 | $3.44 | 78.32 | 73.56 | 1,310 | 18 | 3.13 |
| Brisbane | Australia | $20.51 | $4.63 | $3.17 | 100.62 | 63.42 | 1,164 | 12 | 3.10 |
| Ghent | Belgium | $19.57 | $1.75 | $2.67 | 75.25 | 73.26 | 429 | 4 | 3.10 |
| Honolulu | USA | $38.50 | $3.27 | $3.00 | 108.92 | 52.91 | 1,557 | 5 | 2.80 |
| Zurich | Switzerland | $42.29 | $2.30 | $4.85 | 88.65 | 79.25 | 989 | 8 | 2.77 |
| Auckland | New Zealand | $22.89 | $3.74 | $2.43 | 78.64 | 50.68 | 1,642 | 20 | 2.76 |
| Vancouver | Canada | $26.03 | $2.80 | $2.31 | 83.08 | 59.15 | 1,390 | 7 | 2.67 |
| Brussels | Belgium | $19.69 | $2.30 | $2.56 | 74.83 | 45.55 | 1,437 | 18 | 2.64 |
| New Orleans | USA | $29.20 | $3.44 | $1.62 | 101.83 | 31.60 | 1,488 | 5 | 2.64 |
| Dublin | Ireland | $20.40 | $3.30 | $2.14 | 59.88 | 47.65 | 1,884 | 8 | 2.52 |
| Oslo | Norway | $23.25 | $2.94 | $3.60 | 80.52 | 66.88 | 954 | 4 | 2.13 |
As an Australian website, we were particularly interested to see what some of the best local destinations for backpackers were.
We found that the best local city for backpackers is Sydney. We gave the New South Wales capital a score of 4.31/10, which placed it 26th in our index overall. Sydney has around 102.40 hours of sunshine per month, and more than 2,400 tourist attractions to keep travellers busy. Despite being filled with things to do and having the best safety score of Australian cities, Sydney returned the most expensive Australian prices for food, beer and transportation, meaning it may not be the preferred location for those wanting to cut on costs.
Melbourne got a score of 3.31/10 on our index, placing it 32th overall. Despite there being nearly 2,000 tourist attractions in the city, it has the least amount of sunshine of the local cities we studied. Australia had the worst beer prices of all the countries in the index, however Melbourne is the cheapest within the nation, with a 0.5L bottle costing around US$4.55.
Brisbane got a score of 3.10/10, and placed 35th on the overall index, tying with the Belgian city Ghent. Brisbane has the cheapest grocery prices in the nation at US$20.51, but performed worse overall by having considerably less tourist attractions and hostels available.
Below are the best performers in each individual category across the index.
Jaipur, India ranks first for affordable food prices, where a typical grocery shop would set you back US$6.70.
Ibiza, Spain has the cheapest beer prices on our index. Buying 0.5 litres of domestic beer would set you back US$0.75.
Havana, Cuba ranks first for affordable public transport. Buying a single ticket costs US$0.10.
In our index, U.A.E’s Dubai has the most sunshine hours. The city documents an average of 127.66 hours per month.
Dubai, U.A.E is also the safest city on our index, with a safety score of 83.75/100.
Tokyo, Japan ranks first when it comes to the greatest number of attractions available for tourists. The city has 12,865 attractions.
Chiang Mai, Thailand takes the top spot for having the greatest number of hostels, with 131 available.
Compare the Market’s General Manager of General Insurance, Adrian Taylor, said backpackers should always make sure their items were stored away safely while travelling.
“It’s always important to keep your belongings safe, so you’re not at risk of having a claim denied if the worst were to occur,” Mr Taylor explains.
“For example, if you have items go missing in your hostel and it’s found that they were not securely locked away, your insurer may refuse to pay out your claim.
“A great way to protect yourself and avoid this happening is by keeping your luggage items locked in a safe location, such as a safe or locker.”
Mr Taylor also explained how medical-only cover could be useful for those wanting to travel on a budget.
“Sometimes referred to as basic cover, medical-only cover is a policy designed almost exclusively for medical assistance overseas,” he said.
“This type of cover could help you cover the cost of hospital expenses if you need to be admitted for an injury or illness, or in severe cases, cover the costs of travelling back home if there has been a medical emergency.
“It’s important to note, however, that not all insurers offer this type of policy, so it’s important to check your Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for an in-depth view of what you are covered for.”
This dataset ranks 48 cities around the world using seven different metrics. Once the data for the metrics was collected, the datasets were normalised to provide each city with a score between zero and 10. The normalised values were then averaged, to give each city a final index score out of 10. The cities were then ranked from highest to lowest, based on their total scores, where a higher score reflected a better position on the index. Cities where a certain data point was unable to be found were given an average score calculated from the other cities recorded.
The factors used are as follows:
The factors were indexed as follows:
All data was collected between 08/06/2023 and 12/06/2023.