Japan has a reputation as an expensive destination that is 50% accurate and 50% myth. The myth: Japan is expensive because Tokyo hotels and kaiseki restaurants are expensive. The reality: a convenience store onigiri costs 79p, a bowl of excellent ramen costs £4.70, a local train journey costs £1, and a night in a clean business hotel in any Japanese city outside peak cherry blossom season costs £35-55. The truth about Japan on £40/day.
Reading time: 7 minutes | Last updated: 2026
Japan’s cost reputation comes from two sources: the cost of a luxury Japan trip (the ryokan at £200-400/night, the omakase sushi at £80-200/person, the Shinkansen pass at £300 for 14 days) and the early-2010s exchange rate (when the yen was significantly stronger). The yen has weakened considerably — £1 buys approximately ¥188-195 at time of writing versus ¥130-140 five years ago. Japan is the best-value quality destination available to UK travellers right now.
The Daily Breakdown in Tokyo
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Business hotel, shared bathroom (Shinjuku capsule) | £25-35 |
| OR: Business hotel, private room (Toyoko Inn, Apa) | £45-65 |
| 7-Eleven onigiri × 2 + coffee, breakfast | £2.40 |
| Ramen, lunch (specialist counter) | £4.71 |
| Convenience store bento + miso, dinner | £3.30 |
| OR: Restaurant dinner (local izakaya) | £12-20 |
| Metro journeys × 4 | £4.24 |
| Temple entry (Senso-ji: free, Kinkaku-ji: £2.65) | £0-2.65 |
| Water from vending machine × 2 | £0.63 |
| Daily total (capsule + convenience store) | £35-45 |
| Daily total (business hotel + one restaurant meal) | £55-75 |
The £40/Day Strategy
Accommodation:
The capsule hotel (the Japanese concept — a sleeping pod with shared bathrooms and common areas): £20-35/night in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. The specific quality: extremely clean, extremely well-organised, not claustrophobic in the better models (the Millennials Kabukicho in Shinjuku has pods with sufficient standing height and a proper mattress). Recommended for solo travellers; not available for couples as most capsule hotels are single-sex.
The business hotel (Toyoko Inn, Apa Hotel, Comfort Inn Japan): £40-65/night for a private room, twin or double. Clean, small, everything functioning. The Toyoko Inn breakfast (400 yen / £2.12 add-on, a standard Japanese hotel breakfast) is adequate. The private room at £50-60/night is the correct budget choice for couples or anyone who values having a door.
Food:
The £40/day strategy: breakfast at 7-Eleven (onigiri × 2 + canned coffee: ¥400-500 / £2.12-2.65), lunch at a specialist ramen or soba counter (¥800-1,200 / £4.25-6.37), convenience store or depachika for dinner 3 nights/week (¥600-1,000 / £3.18-5.31), one proper restaurant meal for dinner 4 nights/week (¥1,500-2,500 / £7.95-13.25).
This produces exceptional food across all categories — the 7-Eleven onigiri and the specialist ramen counter are not compromises.
The JR Pass Question
The Japan Rail Pass (the unlimited JR train pass available only to foreign tourists, purchased before arrival at jrpass.com or Japan specialists):
- 7-day pass: £215
- 14-day pass: £345
- 21-day pass: £440
The calculation: is the pass worth it?
Yes if: You’re doing Tokyo → Kyoto → Osaka → Hiroshima → Tokyo in 7-14 days (the Shinkansen costs alone: Tokyo-Kyoto £60, Kyoto-Hiroshima £35, Hiroshima-Tokyo £90 = £185 in individual tickets; the 7-day pass at £215 is marginally more but covers all other JR trains).
No if: You’re staying in one region or doing a Tokyo-only trip. Individual tickets from IC cards are cheaper for short-range travel.
The break-even: approximately 4 Shinkansen journeys between major cities. If doing a full Japan circuit, the pass pays. If doing Tokyo and Kyoto only, calculate individually.
The Cost by City
| City | Budget Hotel (private) | Ramen/Soba Lunch | Izakaya Dinner (food only) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tokyo | £45-65/night | £4.25-6.37 | £12-20 |
| Kyoto | £40-60/night | £4.25-6.37 | £10-18 |
| Osaka | £35-55/night | £4.25-5.31 | £10-16 |
| Hiroshima | £35-50/night | £3.71-5.31 | £9-14 |
| Hakone | £60-100/night | £5.31-7.95 | £15-25 |
| Kanazawa | £35-55/night | £3.71-5.31 | £10-15 |
The 14-Day Japan Budget
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Return flights UK to Tokyo (via Korean Air, Cathay, JAL) | £500-800 |
| 14-night accommodation (mix capsule + business hotel) | £490-700 |
| Food (14 days, mixed strategy) | £280-420 |
| JR Pass (14-day) | £345 |
| Local transport (metro within cities) | £70-100 |
| Site entries (temples, museums, Hiroshima Peace Museum) | £50-80 |
| Total | £1,735-2,445 |
Per day (including flights): £124-175
The per-day cost including flights and the JR Pass is significantly higher than Southeast Asia. Japan is not cheap in the same sense. But the value — the quality of what £124-175/day delivers in Japan — exceeds most other destinations at equivalent price points.
Full Japan context: Japan — The BGGD Guide | Tokyo Food — BGGD Guide
Free download: The Japan budget calculator and JR Pass decision guide → Get the free Japan budget guide
Morocco on £40/Day — The Honest Breakdown
Already covered above in the Southeast Asia comparison. The full Morocco-specific breakdown:
The city-by-city comparison:
| City | Riad Room | Street Food Day | Restaurant Dinner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marrakech | £18-28 | £4-8 | £8-15 |
| Fes | £14-22 | £3-6 | £6-12 |
| Chefchaouen | £12-18 | £3-5 | £5-10 |
| Merzouga (Sahara) | £25-40 (includes breakfast) | n/a | included usually |
| Essaouira | £14-22 | £4-7 | £7-13 |
The Sahara add-on:
The overnight camel trek and desert camp (from Merzouga, the most accessible Sahara access point from the main Morocco circuit): £45-80/person for the experience including the camel, the camp, breakfast, and the return journey. A non-negotiable addition to the Morocco trip that inflates the Merzouga daily cost significantly. Budget for it separately.
The transport:
ONCF trains connect Marrakech, Casablanca, Rabat, Tangier, and Fes. Shared taxis (grand taxi, the shared inter-city Mercedes) connect everywhere else. The bus (CTM, the reliable national operator) is an alternative to shared taxis for longer routes.
The Marrakech to Fes circuit (Marrakech → Merzouga by shared taxi, 8 hours, £12 → Fes by shared taxi, 6 hours, £10 → Chefchaouen by local bus, 3 hours, £5 → Tangier by CTM bus, 2.5 hours, £8 → train to Casablanca, 4.5 hours, £6): total overland transport approximately £41 for the full circuit.
Colombia on £35/Day — The Real Numbers
Already covered above. The full Colombia-specific breakdown:
The almuerzo corriente:
The defining value proposition of Colombia: the set lunch (almuerzo corriente) served at local restaurants from noon to 2:30pm — a soup (sancocho or ajiaco), a main plate (rice, beans, meat or fish, patacones, salad), a drink (fresh fruit juice), and sometimes a dessert. Cost: 8,000-15,000 COP / £1.50-2.81.
This is the meal that local workers eat every day. It is also the meal that the budget traveller builds their Colombia day around. A full nutrition-dense lunch at £1.50-2.81 allows the dinner budget to cover a craft beer and a restaurant meal without exceeding the £35/day target.
The coffee region:
Salento (the coffee town, 4 hours from Medellín by bus through the Andes): accommodation from £12-20/night in a traditional finca guesthouse, meals £3-8/day, the Cocora Valley hike (the wax palms — Colombia’s national tree — the tallest palm trees in the world, growing to 60 metres in the Valle de Cocora) free to enter, the coffee farm tour £8-15 including tasting.
The coffee region is the finest value section of a Colombia trip: the accommodation is in working fincas (farm estates), the food is the local produce, the landscape is extraordinary, and the cost is below any major Colombian city.
The San Andres island:
The Caribbean island 800km from the Colombian mainland — the coral reef (the most accessible and well-preserved reef on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, the Johnny Cay snorkelling from the beach at £8 including equipment), the white sand, and the rondón (the traditional island seafood stew, coconut-based, the flavour of the Caribbean). Accommodation from £25-45/night; total daily cost £45-65 — above the £35 target but within the overall budget when balanced against the cheaper mainland days.
