Here is a full breakdown of our expenses for our most recent trip:
Days: 24
Total spent: $5,059.52
Per day breakdown: $210.81
Per person / per day breakdown: $105.41
| Cost |
Category |
|
|
| $400.00 |
United Airlines Philadelphia to Portland |
| $1,437.00 |
Via Rail Vancouver – Winnipeg – Toronto |
| $51.00 |
Bolt Bus Portland to Vancouver |
| $94.00 |
Winnipeg Airbnb 2 nights |
| $60.00 |
High Bluff Airbnb 1 night |
| $165.00 |
Toronto Airbnb 3 nights |
| $105.00 |
Via Rail Toronto to Montreal |
| $95.00 |
VaiRail train ticket Ottawa – Quebec City |
| $45.00 |
Bus ticket Quebec City to Montreal |
| $50.00 |
Amtrak Montreal to Port Kent, NY |
| $16.00 |
Ferry crossing Port Kent to Burlington, VT |
| $152.00 |
Amtrak Burlington, VT to Philadelphia, PA |
| $213.00 |
Montreal Hyatt 3 nights – Points + Cash redemption |
| $207.00 |
Philadelphia Airbnb 3 nights |
| $89.00 |
Ottawa Hotwire Best Western Hotel 1 night |
| $70.00 |
Ottawa Airbnb 1 night |
| $134.00 |
Hotwire Quebec City Hotel PUR 2 nights |
| $80.00 |
Hotwire hotel King of Prussia |
| $0.00 |
Burlington hotel 2 nights (used points) |
| $111.50 |
Public bus / metro / hotel shuttle driver |
| $18.00 |
Uber & Lyft rides |
| $60.00 |
Greyhound bus Kingston to Ottawa |
| $72.00 |
Tips: Train & Hotel |
| $933.52 |
Food – groceries, restaurants, etc. |
| $63.00 |
Car rental & gas |
| $114.00 |
Souvenirs / gifts |
| $220.50 |
Attractions – tours, admissions, fees, bike rental, etc. |
| $4.00 |
Laundry |
Breaking it down even further into major categories, I found some surprises…
| $1,112.00 |
Hotels / Airbnb |
| $2,603.50 |
All Transport |
| $933.52 |
Food |
| $190.00 |
Tips / Gifts / Misc |
| $220.50 |
Attractions |
|
|
| $5,059.52 |
Total |
Over half of our travel expenses were related to transportation! Granted, this was specifically a train-oriented vacation, but I didn’t realize just how big of a chunk it would take.
The hotels “only” costed us $1112, or 22% of our travel expenses. Averaged out over 23 nights, that breaks down to $46.33 per night. Keeping in mind that four of those nights were overnight on the train, the real cost comes to $1112 / 19 nights = $58.52. We used a combination of Hotwire hotels, Airbnb’s and our credit card reward points to keep our costs low.
Finally, we originally budgeted $60 total per day for our food expenses. Taking out the four days on the train, our average per day came to $933.52 / 20 = $46.67. This is kinda surprising too, since we had a lot of meals that costed us around $30, especially in Philadelphia when we just had to eat at Sabrina’s every day! One reason why I think we came below our food budget is because Lisa and I aren’t terribly huge eaters — although I have been known to eat mounds of food at the buffet, when it is just Lisa and I we usually just split an entree or we will snack during the day. It also helps that the US exchange rate was so favorable when we were in Canada — basically everything was 20% off. So when we ate out at a restaurant, we just figured we were getting free service gratuities since we typically tip 20% anyways.
All in all our vacation costed us just a shade over $5,000 for 24 days. When planning for trips, my magic number is about $200 per day, or about $100 per person per day. This includes everything — from transportation and accommodations to food and attractions. When budgeting for a cruise vacation, this is the same framework I use — if a cruise costs $100 per person per day with everything included (port fees, taxes, tipping, cruise fare), then I consider it a good deal. Sometimes though the airfare costs too much to get there and it just isn’t worth it. I’m getting a little ahead of myself, but you get the idea that our vacation budget tries to stay around $100 per person per day. And for this recently completed 24-day train trip in Canada and the East Coast, it was pretty close to budget!
For a breakdown of other vacations and trips we’ve taken, be sure to click on the category “Anatomy of Vacation Costs.”
