cost per day to tour

[froze]

Due to inflation, does anyone have any current information as to how much you spend a day road touring?  Don't include your bike, tent, etc., just day-to-day expenses.

Thanks

[ray b]

(Variables - area of the country, population density, food preferences, calories burned/aomount of food consumed, grocery vs. cafe vs. restaurant, camping vs. hotel, etc....)

Most recent - rural, 8000 kcal/d, grocery plus one meal a day in a cafe, one motel a week.

~$60/day.

[John Nelson]

I have spent anywhere from $16 to $45 a day.

The question is, however, somewhat meaningless. I’m sure that if you ask enough people, you could get answers anyway from $2 to $200 a day. It would be hard to use those numbers to estimate what it might cost you.

[froze]

You are correct, but I can take those numbers and get an average so I know what I'm looking at more or less, but an average would be for me to budget on.

[Jono1979]

(Variables - area of the country, population density, food preferences, calories burned/aomount of food consumed, grocery vs. cafe vs. restaurant, camping vs. hotel, etc....)

Most recent - rural, 8000 kcal/d, grocery plus one meal a day in a cafe, one motel a week.

~$60/day.

This is probably not a bad estimate.

[staehpj1]

That $60 estimate sounds quite high to me based on my experiences where with trips where seldom paid for campsites, but I am kind of a cheapskate when on the road so maybe $60 per day or more reflects a large portion of the touring community.

In some areas campsites are quite expensive and if you stay in an official campsite every night that can be a factor.  Where there are cheap hiker biker sites or free camping it makes a big differences.  That may depend on how good you are at finding it or on what is in the area you are in.  Are you good at finding free places to camp in plain sight?  Do you stealth camp?  I found I was able to camp for free without the need for stealth much of the time on my tours.

Similarly motels/hotels can vary widely in cost both by location and by where you choose to stay.  I don't mind staying in cheap places and asking for a discount.  At the very least I get an AARP discount.  Sometimes the "I am biking across the country" story gets a bigger discount.  The same variability by location and choice applies to food, maybe to a lesser extent, but I do treat myself to some extra nice meals here and there.

[froze]

I appreciate the responses. While $60 is a bit high, maybe, but that's what I'll budget, if I go under then all the better, but it's better to budget too high than not high enough.

[ray b]

(All depends on how much you want to pamper yourself and how much you want to support the economies of the small towns.)

My credo - make the budget and plans..., then take half the clothes, twice the time, and twice the money.

Enjoy!

[Westinghouse]

$20.00-------$30.00   More or less.

[froze]

$20.00-------$30.00   More or less.

That's what I'm hoping, but will keep the $60 budget just in case I need extra.

[Westinghouse]

In general it costs about as little or as much as you have to spend for it.  In winter 1984-85, two of us had 66 days on the road, from Florida to San Diego.  Cycling 100% of the distance.  The actual days in the saddle were 54.  We did a huge loop around south Florida, down to the Keys, and back to Stuart before commencing the trip to California.  That is part of the 66.  All costs, including the drive-away car to return were about $1600.00.  There is no way you can do that now for that kind of money.  Every night save four was a camp in the woods, free camping, what they call stealth camping.  That brought costs down, very far below paying rents in motels.  About 90% of all our meals, we cooked for ourselves.  Remember, nutrition is of extraordinary importance to pushing pedals day in and day out.  Try more fresh fruits and vegetables.  Avoid the convenience store trap.   Some small, out in the middle of nowhere, town may have a store for sure----all junkfood.  A few days of that, even two, and you will feel the difference, and it is not good.  Even young, healthy, athletic  women got queezy after a day or two of that glop.  They had it on youtube.  I think it was 4 or 5 of them.  They showed the best eatables they could buy in those small towns.  It made my skin crawl.  Most or all of them reported feeling sick after a day or two.

[BikeliciousBabe]

(Variables - area of the country, population density, food preferences, calories burned/aomount of food consumed, grocery vs. cafe vs. restaurant, camping vs. hotel, etc....)

Most recent - rural, 8000 kcal/d, grocery plus one meal a day in a cafe, one motel a week.

~$60/day.

Yep. Geography alone can greatly affect the price.  When I was coming down the Atlantic Coast a couple of years ago, the KOA in Cuddebackville, NY wanted close to $110 for a campsite. I kid you not. Got a site at the campground sightly off route, but that was even $35 with a cash discount.

But it's not just in the east.  A site at a MT state park was $18 in 2019 for residents.  $28 for non-residents.  $10 more if you made a reservation.  And a shower was another $3. Some federal campground have been raising prices as well. For example, a BLM place along the Big Hole River in Divide, MT that I have stayed at a few times used to be $5.  Now, it's $10.

[froze]

In general it costs about as little or as much as you have to spend for it.  In winter 1984-85, two of us had 66 days on the road, from Florida to San Diego.  Cycling 100% of the distance.  The actual days in the saddle were 54.  We did a huge loop around south Florida, down to the Keys, and back to Stuart before commencing the trip to California.  That is part of the 66.  All costs, including the drive-away car to return were about $1600.00. 

Do you realize that trip you're talking about was almost 40 years ago?  That same trip today would cost you $4,672, that's almost $71 a day for a 66 day trip if you include the rental car.

[BikeliciousBabe]

Do you realize that trip you're talking about was almost 40 years ago?  That same trip today would cost you $4,672, that's almost $71 a day for a 66 day trip if you include the rental car.

You got me thinking about the budget for my first tour back in 1999, which was ACA's unsupported Northern Tier group tour.  I believe the per person average was $10/day for food and $5/day for camping.  We did some hostels and even a couple of motels. That was balanced out by free nights at municipal parks and at least 4 nights of being hosted by locals.  Most of the time we cooked dinner, but we did eat out on some occasions.  For example, no one was in the mood to shop and cook after crossing the N. Cascades Highway in the rain and snow, so we went out for pizza in Winthrop.

That did not include adult beverages, which, for insurance and other reasons, had to be purchased with your own money.  That affected the average for some of us more than others. 

[rayed]

I wold say around $50 per day if that's a solo trip. With the family and especially kids, amount goes up dramatically.
In that case i prefer to check  smartertravel reviews here and go for a planned trip and booked accommodations.
Of course that kind of holidays has nothing to do with the cycling trip only and enjoying the nature and wildness.