A study by the Forex Complex has named the most expensive countries for Americans (and presumably Canadians) to visit. The study tallied daily costs for a typical visitor, including hotels or other accommodations, meals, transportation and other common expenses.
In US dollars, here are the 19 most expensive countries they came up with in daily costs.
- ICELAND, $401.40
- AUSTRALIA, $280.99
- FRANCE, $263.21
- GERMANY, $258.47
- ITALY, $257.67
- UNITED KINGDOM, $256.50
- CANADA, $241.34
- JAPAN, $229.96
- UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, $217.78
- GREECE, $198.84
- SPAIN, $187.79
- CROATIA, $185.65
- PORTUGAL, $163.81
- COSTA RICA, $161.34
- JAMAICA, $151.38
- DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, $148.51
- MEXICO, $145.78
- THAILAND, $81.87
- INDONESIA, $70.23
A waterfall in Iceland. ROBERT LUKEMAN/UNSPLASH PHOTO
I love these sorts of studies as they help make the point I’ve made many times in this space, which is that there are parts of the world that are FAR cheaper than others. This is especially true of southeast Asia, which you can see in this chart. A day in Iceland would cost you more than $400 USD, but a day in Indonesia is just $70. That means you could spend five days in Indonesia for the price of a day in Iceland, and still have money left over.
Similarly, you could spend a day in Thailand for about $82, which is one-third the cost of a day in Australia, France, Germany or the UK, or Canada for that matter.
It’s more expensive to fly to Thailand than it is to Europe, and Canada is, of course, easy to reach for Canadians and Americans. But you could still have a much cheaper week’s holiday in Thailand than you could in Western Europe.
NEW AIR CANADA FLIGHTS TO PERU, MEXICO AND BELIZE
Air Canada has announced it is further expanding its winter 2025-26 network by resuming non-stop service to Lima, Peru with twice weekly flights from both Montreal and Toronto. The airline is also adding three new routes to Central America and Mexico including, Montreal-Belize, Toronto-Puerto Escondido, and Vancouver-Tepic, Riviera Nayarit, building on its recent Latin America expansion announcement. Flights are now available for sale at aircanada.com, through Air Canada Contact Centres, and via travel agents.
“Air Canada is further diversifying its global network this winter under its New Frontiers Strategy by capitalizing on strong leisure demand to sought-after vacation destinations in South and Central America and in Mexico’s Oaxaca and Pacific coast areas. Our new flights are designed to provide easy connections for both Canadian and European travellers, as well as to take advantage of cargo opportunities in the region,” said Mark Galardo, Executive Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer, and President, Cargo at Air Canada.
Air Canada Vacations has launched a Black Friday in July sale. Customers can get up to 40% off select packages to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Cartagena (Colombia) and more; as well as $200 per pair1 off select tour packages to Europe and $200 per pair off select tour packages to Asia, South America & more. Plus, you can save up to $200 per pair on select Flight & Cruise packages. Must book between July 7, 2025 and July 20, 2025.
