Product Description

The World's Cheapest Destinations is a guide to the best travel values on the planet. It provides an overview for 21 countries, with activity descriptions and actual prices. Revised second edition.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #702930 in Books
• Published on: 2006-03-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 164 pages

Customer Reviews

Is there such a place as a cheap travel destination?
Is there such a place as a cheap travel destination?

Writer and seasoned traveler, Tim Leffel has written about a wide range of topics, from sailing on the Nile to hanging out with holy men, while he roamed three times around the world.
Apparently, he has sampled everything from Kentucky bourbon to Korean soju while making his way around the globe.

Leffel's slim guidebook, The World's Cheapest Destinations, focuses on his belief that it is not how you go, but where.
Traveling overseas may be expensive, but, as Leffel states, only to get there.
The key "to really travel well without spending your life savings is to go to where your first world dollars are worth a fortune."

Leffel concentrates on certain areas, where he believes that there is a great deal to experience, and not difficult to get around. For example, Romania and Poland are briefly discussed, as the author feels that their neighbors have much more to offer for the price.

Dividing up travel destinations into four sections, Asia, Africa & Middle East, Europe and the Americas, Leffel points out how in each of these geographical locations you can stretch your dollar to the maximum.
You may compare this to the old adage, "it is not how much one earns, but how your money is managed, that is important."

Each chapter begins with a general description of the country, accommodations, food & drink, transportation and general comments entitled "what else."
This last section concentrates on pointing out where the bargains are located such as, museums, snorkeling and diving, shopping, interesting transportation possibilities, and even what you can purchase for a buck or less.

Were you aware that you can take a camel safari through the desert in Rajasthan for $10-$20 per day including meals? You can enter the Egyptian Museum in Cairo-one of the world's biggest and greatest- for $4, less with a student card.
Have you ever heard of the town of Kutna Hora that is an hour from Prague? This town offers the same level of architectural splendor without having to fight crowds and inflated prices.

For the traveler who enjoys adventure traveling to some of the most exotic places in the world, trying new food and customs, learning about other religions and traditions, this slim book will prove to be a great tool.

General Overviews
This small 113 page guide book discusses general aspects of several low price, low risk (they're not "on the US State Department's 'Warning List' due to a dangerous climate for travelers") destinations. A lot of the prices depend on your bargaining skills. The short chapters cover briefly topics such as accommodation, food & drink (including some vegetarian references), and transportation. As well as some other general tips. The countries include: in Asia: Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos, Vietnam, India, & Nepal; in Africa & the Middle East: Morocco, Egypt, & Jordan; in Europe: Turkey, Bulgaria, Hungary, & the Czech Republic; in the Americas: Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, & Venezuela. The appendices do include a listing of other travel resources, including a couple of websites. If you want a general overview of possible cheap destinations (don't expect a lot of information on sites that you can see) then you might want to give this book a look, but don't expect anything too in depth. This book might best be used to find a country that you may want to visit, you can then buy a more detailed guide book about the country. Although this book will give you a general budget for visiting the country of your choice. In the future you might also want to take into account that the book is from 2003, although because it is so general and the prices depend on bargaining this shouldn't matter too much.

Excellent Update Of The First Edition
Kudos to Leffel for this improved second edition of "The World's Cheapest Destinations," the original book having been published back in 2003. He makes some beneficial additions to the introduction as well as updating prices and information for individual countries.

However, the most useful changes were those Leffel made in his list of inexpensive countries worth visiting. For example, he substituted great value Argentina and super cheap Nicaragua for Mexico and Venezuela in Latin America. He also replaced the now pricey Czech Republic with the much more afforable Romania in Europe. Furthermore, he added to his list by providing extra "honorable mention" countries for each region. These include some sub-Saharan countries in Africa as well as numerous other places worth travelling to throughout the globe.

I believe these substantial changes make this edition better than the first and make this book a worthwhile purchase, even for those who already have the original.