What this calculator works out
This calculator multiplies a daily spending figure by the number of days and adds a contingency.
The contingency is the honest part. Holiday spending is systematically underestimated, and a planned margin is better than an unplanned overspend.
Enter your details
Before you set a daily figure
- Cost a realistic day rather than an average one — the day with a meal out, a taxi and an entrance fee, not the day spent on a beach.
- Decide what the figure covers. Food, drinks, activities and small purchases behave differently and are easy to double-count or miss.
- 15% contingency is a reasonable minimum. First visits to unfamiliar destinations warrant more.
- Convert to local currency before travelling so the daily figure is meaningful on the ground.
Arrival and departure days carry transfers, airport food, an unfamiliar area and often a meal out because nothing has been bought yet. They frequently cost half as much again as a normal day, and budgeting a flat daily rate across the trip understates the total by roughly a day's spending.
How this calculator works
Daily spend times days, plus contingency:
Total = daily spend × days × (1 + contingency ÷ 100)Applying the contingency to the whole total rather than to individual days keeps it as a single reserve, which is easier to manage than a margin spread invisibly across every day.
Worked example: ten days
Using the default figures — £60 a day for 10 days with 15% contingency:
- Base spending: £600
- With contingency: £690
£690 for ten days, of which £90 is reserve. That reserve covers roughly one and a half days — enough for an unplanned excursion or a costly arrival day, and not enough for a significant problem. For travel where things going wrong would be expensive, insurance rather than contingency is the right instrument.
Common mistakes
- Costing an average day rather than a realistic one. The expensive days set the total.
- Taking no contingency. Something always comes up.
- Double-counting food already paid for. Half board changes the daily figure substantially.
- Ignoring the exchange rate at the point of spending. Card fees apply per transaction.
- Treating contingency as spending money. It is a reserve, not a budget line.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I budget per day?
It varies too much by destination for a useful general figure. The reliable approach is to price a specific realistic day — breakfast, lunch, dinner, drinks, transport and one activity — for where you are actually going, using current prices rather than remembered ones. Destination guides and recent traveller reports are better sources than averages.
Cash or card abroad?
Both. Cards are safer and usually give a better exchange rate, particularly a card with no foreign transaction fee. Some cash is essential for places that do not take cards, for tips and for emergencies. Airport bureaux typically offer the worst rates of any option.
What is dynamic currency conversion?
Being offered payment in pounds rather than the local currency at a foreign card terminal or cash machine. It almost always uses a worse rate than your card would, with the difference kept by the merchant or machine operator. Always choose the local currency — the phrase to look for is being asked whether to pay in GBP.
Should I tell my bank I am travelling?
Most banks no longer require it, and many app-based accounts detect travel automatically. It costs nothing to check your provider's guidance before departure, and carrying a second card from a different provider is sensible insurance against one being blocked or lost.
Is what I enter stored?
No. Figures are processed in your browser and never transmitted or retained.
Related tools
References
- GOV.UK — foreign travel advice and consumer guidance
- MoneyHelper — travel money, card fees and budgeting abroad
Sources are checked at publication and can change — how I choose and check references.