My boyfriend and I are looking to backpack from Costa Rica up to Belize. He has been to Costa before and is fluent in Spanish, while I have been no where and know few Spanish phrases and words. We both love the beach, nature, history, culture and all around adventure. We don't need blitz and glam and are fine with hostels, excluding flights from and to NY we are looking to make it on $2000 for about 4 weeks. Is this possible? Does anyone have any tips on a nice route that would fit within our criteria? Thank you for any ideas!
Itinerary help for backpacking excursion for two from CR to Belize
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I don't really know this for a fact, but I've heard that CR is more expensive in all ways than Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Sal. I do know first hand that Guate is inexpensive and you can get a hostel for around 10/night, at least in the places that I was in last year.
Sounds like a fun time. Have fun planning. Thorntree forum is really good for this sort of trip.
That's a generous budget but a lot of ground to cover in less than a month - I'd normally suggest 1 country or maybe 2 in that amount of time (I'm splitting 6 weeks between Guatemala and Belize this summer, return trips to both). So it's possible as long as you're willing to spend a much higher percentage of time sitting on buses heading from big city to big city than I would be. Guatemala/Belize and Guatemala/Honduras are both awesome combinations - loads of photos and recommendations below. Have a great trip, whatever you decide!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/collections
Have done your journey fine for backpackers with experience.
Your budget is fine when I did this several years back.
Into CUN(Cancun) our SJO(San Jose CR)spiritair.com was cheapest
Cabinas Zazilkin right on the beach Tulum.
Mexican directo to Chetumal cross to Belize City
sort of dodgy head out to Amergris or Caye Caluker.
Antonios Cabins there for me last cheap nice.
Placencia Cozy-Corner Belize
San Ignacio to Tikal jaguartikal.com
aroundantigua.com to lacasadelmundo.com Atitlan
Pick up ticabus.com down to San Jose
with stops along the way thebusschedule.net good bus info
hotelcolonialgranada.com one of my favs in Nica.
Pangeahostel.com your best chain in CR for hopping around there. Took me the better part of 4-6 weeks so more time would be better. Dodgy for the clueless in many areas review travel.state.gov for a heads up beware folks "befriending"
you on bus do not share cabs money belt etc. Dress down to blend leave expensive electronics at home relax enjoy. Trip Cover columbusdirect.com or other wise.
Found it very adventurous had a blast May begins the rainy season so I usually shoot for winter/spring travel in CA.
Happy Trails PM if needed.
hopefulist, I'm curious... That's only $67/day for 2 people, right? You really consider that "generous"? If it has to pay for 2 beds on a hostels or a cheap hotel, long distance bus transportation for 2 all the way between CR and Belize, daily food for 2, etc.??
You're right, suze, it's not really a 'generous' budget, especially if they want to cover that much ground. Guess I was assuming they would see the light and decide to just visit a country or 2. My favorite hotels in Guatemala are nice, clean, cute, safe, and well located with free internet and purified water and often breakfast for $20-30 night/double. Local buses and share shuttles are cheap and work well if you're not going long distances day after day. In Belize and the Bay Islands there are good budget options at that price or a bit higher, leaving room for good locals food or cooking for themselves and splashing out for the occasional tour. Generous for a budget traveler.