For a lot of people, now’s a time of penny-pinching. Whether that means darning old clothes or following the U.S. government’s advice on groceries — skip steak and buy liver or “cheap cuts” suggests R.F.K. Jr. – it’s not a time to be throwing money around.
“The Dollar Index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of major currencies like the euro, yen and pound, fell nearly 10 percent in 2025 and has continued sliding into early 2026,” Paul Jebara recently wrote at Conde Nast Traveler. “At around 97, its lowest mark in four years, the dollar simply buys less abroad than it did a year ago.”
For folks planning a vacation, that can mean thinking outside the box. Monaco or the Seychelles? Forget it. Hello instead to India, Kyrgyzstan, Guatemala and other budget-friendly horizons. Jebara has pulled together 16 suggestions for traveling where the U.S. dollar remains strong; here are the first 10.
CN Traveler’s cheapest countries to travel to in 2026:
1. Romania
2. Kyrgyzstan
3. Senegal
4. Laos
5. Turkey
6. India
7. Serbia
8. Vietnam
9. The Gambia
10. Egypt
Source: cntraveler.com/story/16-cheapest-countries-to-travel-to-in-2026