Mexico on a Budget: How Much Does a Trip to Mexico Cost?
In August 2025, we traveled through Mexico, starting in Mexico City and ending in Cancún. As always, we kept track of our exact expenses to give you a clear picture of what a trip like this actually costs. Take a look below to see what we spent and use it as a guide to estimate your own budget for a journey through Mexico!
Also check out our Mexico itinerary to see all the places we visited. Naturally, this had an impact on our expenses, as we traveled quite a lot by bus. If you’re only exploring the Yucatán region, for example, renting a car might actually be a much more budget-friendly option for you.
Mexico on a Budget in General
To put the following expenses into context, it’s good to know what type of trip we made through Mexico. We traveled as a couple during August 2025 (25 days in total) and stayed mostly in simple accommodations, usually with a private bathroom and sometimes even a kitchen. Of course, we also ate out regularly, because food is an essential part of any trip through Mexico!
Overview Mexico on a Budget: Our Total Budget
In total, we spent around €2,600 (excluding flights), which works out to about €52 per person per day. Below you’ll find a rough breakdown of how we spent this budget. All prices are based on 2025 rates. We didn’t receive any discounts or special deals anywhere.
Costs Travel Route Mexico
- Accommodation (31%)
- Food and Drinks (27%)
- Transportation (27%)
- Activities (13%)
- Other Expenses (2%)
Flight Tickets
The price of a flight ticket depends on so many factors that we won’t list exact amounts here. Instead, check Skyscanner for the best deals and definitely look into options with a layover, if possible. From Europe, there are also regular direct flights to Mexico. You could even do this itinerary in reverse if that works out cheaper for your flights.
Budget Transportation Mexico
Our transportation costs covered bus journeys, public transport, and a one-day car rental, adding up to about €700 in total. While planning this trip, we discovered that renting a car in Mexico can be quite expensive, mainly because of the high one-way fees. Since we wanted to finish in Cancún and continue our journey south from there, taking the bus quickly became the most logical choice and we were more than happy with it. We even wrote a separate article about traveling by bus in Mexico. Still, it’s worth checking if car rental fits your budget, especially if you can avoid the one-way fees by returning to your starting point.
For car rentals, we almost always book with Sunnycars. That way, we’re fully insured and usually get a second driver included for free. In Mérida, we rented a car for just one day, and once again, it worked out perfectly.
We also relied on public transportation quite a bit. In Mexico City, the metro is an easy and cheap way to get around. You simply buy a rechargeable card (credit card–sized) and top it up as needed. One card works for multiple people. You can just pass it along after checking in. As far as we could tell, this was the cheapest way to travel through the city. Uber also works fairly well in Mexico, especially in the larger cities, though we sometimes had to flag down a local taxi when no Ubers were available.
Mexico on a Budget: Accommodation
In total, we spent around €800 on accommodations, which comes to roughly €30 per night. For this amount, we had private rooms, sometimes with shared bathrooms and kitchens. We had air conditioning everywhere except in San Cristóbal, but the evenings there were cool enough to sleep comfortably.
Activities Mexico
We spent roughly €350 on activities in Mexico. This includes visiting Mayan temples and taking city tours in Mexico City, Oaxaca, and San Cristóbal. Or what about the ferry ride to Isla Mujeres, where we could relax on stunning beaches with crystal-clear waters? If you check out our Google Maps Mexico travel guide, you can see all the activities we did along the way.
Food & Drinks
Looking back, we spent quite a bit on food and drinks. That said, this also includes small purchases like sunscreen, which only made up a small part of the €700 total. Eating out in Mexico isn’t particularly expensive. You can easily get tacos for just a few euros. We did, however, often treat ourselves to extra coffee outside and bought snacks for during the day or in the evening.
Other Expenses Mexico
We spent a few dozen euros on miscellaneous costs during our trip through Mexico. This included a SIM card. We compared both the Airalo eSIM and a local Telcel SIM card. Need an eSIM? You can easily order one through Airalo, and using the code MEIKE4854 gets you €3 off your first purchase. We also spent a little on currency exchange, even though we primarily used our Revolut card.
