How much we spent: 2 weeks in Tajikistan 🇹🇯
- Calvin Chan
- Aug 21, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Oct 22, 2024
🇹🇯 Tajikistan | 📅 14 days in Jul 2024 | ☀️ Summer
This is how much we (2 people) spent during 14 days in Tajikistan, in July 2024 (Summer). We hit up Panjakent, the Seven Lakes Hike, the Great Lakes Hike and Dushanbe in 14 days.
For reference, we're nature-loving, value-seeking 20-something year olds from Australia who think with their stomachs. Hopefully this helps you plan and budget your trip to Tajikistan! Three money saving tips for Tajikistan below!
💲How much we spent
Total spend*: 794 AUD | 532 USD | 476 EUR
Daily spend: 57 AUD | 38 USD | 34 EUR
* The above prices are without international travel and shopping costs (i.e. arriving in country and souvenirs)
🛏️ Accomodation: 22 AUD /day 314 AUD | 210 USD | 188 EUR
Accomodation in Tajikistan is super affordable. From 13 AUD per night per person beds in Panjakent (mountain town) to spacious private rooms in Dushanbe (capital city), these were the cheapest stays of our 14-month trip so far. If you're in Panjakent and looking for a great hostel to meet people, get local tips and even hire camping gear, check out Salom Hostel and say hi to Zafar for us! For Dushanbe, we had a great time at Ultra Hostel - huge modern kitchen, centrally located and friendly staff.
🍽️ Food: 23 AUD /day 317 AUD | 212 USD | 190 EUR
Equally as cheap is the food. While in Tajikistan we didn't eat out that often, since we were mainly backpacking, hiking and camping, the food is good! Similar to Uzbek food, but not as flavoursome in our opinions. Expect to pay 5-10 AUD per meal per person.
🚶🏻♂️ Activities: 6 AUD /day 84 AUD | 56 USD | 50 EUR
For activities, we mainly hiked and camped, and our spending reflected that. We hired a tent, 2 sleeping bags and 2 sleeping mats for 5 nights from Salom hostel and set off into the wilderness. So worth it, easy to do by yourself and the Great Lakes Loop was one of the most beautiful hikes we've ever done.
🚌 Local transport: 2 AUD /day 32 AUD | 22 USD | 19 EUR
In Tajikistan, there are really only 3 modes of transport. Hiring a car/taxi, catching a shared taxi/bus and hitchhiking. We recommend getting shared taxis/buses (marshrutkas) for the best value and a real local experience. Hitchiking can often times be free, we managed to hitch 3 rides and paid for 1, but not always reliable. With a shared taxi, you end up splitting the cost of hiring a taxi, so end up saving 3/4 of the price and is way more reliable as you catch them at hotspots in towns/cities. Plus, there's no experience like being in a bus with a goat. Don't worry, this doesn't always happen 😅.
🧺 Misc: 3 AUD /day 47 AUD | 32 USD | 28 EUR
This category encompasses anything and everything outside of the other categories, and shopping below. Typically this includes laundry, pharmaceuticals, buying replacement for things, and in this case registration fees with the Tajikistan Migration Office (OVIR). Required for visa-on-arrival tourists who are staying more than 10 business days. Definitely get it, and set aside a 2-3 hours to get this done, as you could get fined a few hundred USD at airports/borders if you stayed over 10 business days and don't have one. It's quite a confusing process, with a bit of waiting and back and forth, but don't pay more than 15 USD each. It is cheaper in some cities than others in Tajikistan.
🛍️ Shopping: 0 AUD /day 0 AUD | 0 USD | 0 EUR
We did no shopping during our 14-day trip in Tajikistan.
🧠 Tips on saving money in Tajikistan 🇹🇯
Avoid private taxis and travel like the locals! There are marshrutkas (public buses) and shared taxis for pretty much every route. They are 5-10x cheaper than hiring a private taxi or booking a tour package.
Get backpacking! With >93% of the country covered in mountains, Tajikistan is known as “the roof of the world” and a hiker’s paradise. Explore the beauty of the country and save money on accomodation by wild camping 😁
Find the Whatsapp numbers of accomodation and travel companies! They will usually offer cheaper direct rates than advertised on aggregator sites like booking.com and tripadvisor.com.
✨ For Tajikistan 🇹🇯 itinerary inspo, check out our blog posts:
Panjakent 1 day itinerary
Seven Lakes 3 day itinerary
Great Lakes 6 day itinerary
Dushanbe 1 day itinerary
5 things we wished we knew: Tajikistan
📔 For budgeting and planning your trip to Tajikistan, check out our FREE resources:
🧮 Travel Budget Tracker ⬅️ The screenshots from this article used this!
📕 Travel Adventure Planner ⬅️ This is how we planned our year+ adventure!
🪨 More travel resources:
📱 Our favourite global travel eSim ⬅️ Use "KIMNCAL30" for 30% off!!
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