10 Most Affordable Cities in Asia for Traveling, including Taipei and Jakarta

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - For traveling, compared to Europe, travel destinations in Asia are considered much cheaper. Only a select few cities—like Singapore—are regarded as pricey. The airfare is the only additional cost associated with a trip to Asia. But like any other travel destination, travelers can find good deals if they know the tricks. 

If you want to save even more, Kayla Inserra DeLoache, Kayak's consumer travel trends expert, recommends travelers to plan their trips during the off-season of fall (October-November). Airfare savings can be up to 12 percent compared to summer (May-July).

Kayak teamed up with Travel + Leisure to look at the cheapest Asian cities to visit. To create the list of the 10 most affordable cities in Asia, they compared searches on Kayak between January - June 2024 with June - December 2024. They combined the average round-trip economy airfare with the average price of a one-night stay in a standard hotel room.

Here are the 10 most affordable Asian cities for travelers:

1. Taipei, Taiwan

Kayak reports that for travel between June and December 2024, Taipei is the most affordable place to visit in Asia. The average total cost for a single vacation is US$1,411 or around Rp22.8 million.

Travelers can find highly rated hotels for under US$100 or Rp1.6 million per night. In addition, there is plenty of delicious street food such as xiao long bao (Chinese steamed dumplings), milk tea and mango shaved ice. 

2. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Ethan Crowley, a travel planner at Asia Desk, says that travel tickets to Ho Chi Minh from San Francisco, USA, are more affordable and there are direct flights. Lodging and food are also cheaper. He thinks Vietnam is likely to be the lowest-cost country for travelers in all of Southeast Asia. The average cost is US$1,452 or around Rp23.4 million.

3. Jakarta, Indonesia

Bali is the top destination for tourists in Indonesia, but Jakarta is actually much more affordable. According to Jarrod Hobson, travel specialist with ATJ and Travel+Leisure travel advisor, Indonesia and Vietnam are the best in terms of price. Hotel prices are cheaper especially after Covid-19. Services such as manicures, massages and haircuts also tend to be high quality but much cheaper. The total cost of a vacation to Jakarta averages US$1,478 or Rp23.9 million.

4. New Delhi, India

Travelers can find simple, but clean and pleasant hotel rooms for as little as US$15 or Rp242,000 per night. Hobson advises, if going to India it would be better to exchange money at the hotel, not at the airport, after arriving at the destination. The average cost for a vacation to New Delhi is US$1,490 or around Rp24 million.

5. Bangkok, Thailand

Thailand used to be an affordable city in Southeast Asia, but as its popularity has grown, so have the prices. However, it remains one of the most affordable countries in Asia to visit, thanks to the many direct flights to Bangkok. An average vacation to Bangkok costs US$1,493 or Rp24.1 million.

The other five cities rated as the most affordable for a vacation in Asia are:

6. Manila, Philippines

7. Tokyo, Japan

8. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

9. Hanoi, Vietnam

10. Osaka, Japan

So, those 10 cities mentioned above are the most affordable Asian cities for travelers. We hope that this information will be useful for you all, dear readers. 

TEMPO.CO

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