How this Travel Budget Planner calculates your total

A good travel budget should be simple enough to trust and detailed enough to be useful. This calculator follows a “big rocks first” approach: lodging, long-distance transport, food, local transport, and activities — then adds fixed extras (shopping, insurance/fees, misc). Finally, it applies a contingency buffer so your plan survives real life.

The baseline of the budget is defined by two inputs: days and travelers. Your “per day” costs scale with days, and your “per person per day” costs scale with both days and travelers. If you enter nights, we use that. If you leave it blank, we assume nights = days − 1 (common for trips where Day 1 is arrival and the last day is departure).

Lodging is usually the biggest lever. We compute: Lodging total = lodgingPerNight × nights. If you split rooms across multiple rooms, just enter the combined nightly total. Example: two hotel rooms at $140 each → enter $280 per night.

Flights (or trains/boats) are entered as a per person cost: Long transport total = flightPerPerson × travelers. This keeps splitting fair across friends, and it matches how tickets are priced.

The “daily burn” of a trip comes from food, local transport, and activities. We compute:

• Food total = foodPerPersonPerDay × travelers × days
• Activities total = activitiesPerPersonPerDay × travelers × days
• Local transport total = localTransportPerDay × days

These are totals that don’t need to scale by day: shoppingTotal, insuranceTotal, and miscTotal. Misc is where you put small-but-real items: SIM cards, tips, bottled water, snacks, transit cards, luggage storage, museum audio guides, etc.

The contingency buffer makes your budget realistic. We compute a subtotal first (everything above), then apply: Grand total = Subtotal × (1 + contingencyPct/100). Many travelers use 10% by default. If you’re going somewhere with unpredictable costs (peak season, events, remote regions), 15–20% is safer.

• Total trip cost (grand total)
• Per-person cost = grand total ÷ travelers
• Per-person per-day = grand total ÷ (travelers × days)

Realistic examples you can copy

If you’re not sure what to enter, start with these examples and adjust. The “per-person per-day” result is the easiest way to compare trips.

• Days: 7 (nights auto = 6), Travelers: 2
• Lodging per night: 180
• Flights per person: 420
• Local transport per day: 35
• Food per person per day: 55
• Activities per person per day: 30
• Shopping total: 120, Insurance/fees: 60, Misc: 90
• Contingency: 10%

This produces a clear “headline budget”: total trip cost + a daily target. If the daily target feels too high, cut lodging and food first.

• Days: 3, Travelers: 1
• Lodging/night: 95
• Flights/person: 0 (road trip)
• Local transport/day: 20
• Food/person/day: 35
• Activities/person/day: 25
• Shopping: 40, Insurance/fees: 0, Misc: 35
• Contingency: 10%

When traveling with a group, enter shared items as totals (lodging/night, local transport/day), and person-priced items as per person (flights, food/person/day, activities/person/day). That keeps the split fair and transparent.

How to use this planner like a pro (and actually stick to it)

Most travel budgets fail for one reason: they’re too vague. People guess a total, then spend blindly. The fix is to convert the total into a daily target (per person per day). That number becomes your “speed limit.”

Enter days, travelers, lodging per night, and flights per person. Even if these are estimates, they anchor the budget. Lodging and flights are typically your largest fixed costs, so getting them roughly right prevents surprise blow-ups.

Next, decide how you want the trip to feel: food + activities are where your travel style shows. A budget trip might mean street food and free walking tours; a luxury trip might mean tasting menus and paid experiences every day. The calculator turns those vibes into numbers.

Small costs are real costs. Transit cards. Water. Tips. Random museum fees. Extra baggage. That’s why the tool has both misc and a contingency percent. The goal is not perfect precision — it’s realism.

The fastest way to plan is to compare two or three scenarios: Budget vs Mid-range vs Luxury. Save them, then pick the one you can confidently afford. This also makes group trips easier because everyone can react to the same breakdown.

Shareable travel budgets are short and specific. The best format is: “We’re doing {destination} for {currency}{X}/day each.” Screenshot the breakdown and drop it in your group chat. Instant alignment.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Is this a booking tool?

  No — it’s a planning calculator. It helps you set a realistic budget and a daily spending target. You can plug in real quotes (hotel price, flight price) as you find them.

• Why does it focus on per-person per-day?

  Because it’s the easiest way to compare trips and stay disciplined. A $2,100 total means nothing unless you know it’s $150/day each for a couple.

• Should I use days or nights?

  Use days for food/activities pacing; use nights for lodging pricing. If you don’t enter nights, the calculator assumes nights = days − 1.

• What should I put in “misc”?

  Small-but-common costs: SIM card, tips, bottled water, snacks, transit card top-ups, luggage storage, small museum fees, laundry, etc.

• What contingency percent should I use?

  10% is a solid default. Use 15–20% for peak season, remote destinations, multi-city trips, or when you’re still estimating major costs.

• Does the calculator store my data?

  No. Calculations run in your browser. If you save scenarios, they’re stored locally on your device.