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How much does it cost to travel to China in 2026 + Budget & Tips
When we started to organize our trip to China one of the questions we asked ourselves was How much does it cost to travel to China? y if would caror travel to China. After traveling part of the country in 25 days we bring good news, It is possible to travel to China cheap. In fact, we were surprised by the economic that you could get to eat and the quality-price was so good that they had some accommodations.
However, there will be other expenses that will take up a good part of your budget for traveling to China in 2026, such as transportation between cities. So that you know what to expect both when making reservations and once in China We tell you what prices you will find in food, activities and hotels.
- Es caror travel to China?
- China Budget 2026 – What expenses should you take into account?
- 1. Visa expenses to enter China
- 2. International flight expenses
- 3. Accommodation expenses – Budget for traveling to China
- 4. Safe travel expenses for China
- 5. Spending on the internet and access to social networks
- 6. Transportation, a major expense in the budget for traveling to China
- 7. Restaurant and supermarket spending
- 8. Activities and Tickets, another expense to take into account in your budget for traveling to China
- 9. Other expenses of how much it costs to travel to China
- Our budget, a low-cost reference for travelling to China in 2026
Es caro travel to China?
Personally It didn't seem like a country to us. caroAlthough it is true that some things do have high prices, especially transportation between cities on high-speed trains and entry to National Parks.
Traveling through China is more caror to do it for some of its neighbors like Laos or Vietnam, but much cheaper than doing so through its other neighbors Japan, Hong Kong or South Korea. And of course, cheaper than travelling around Europe.
It is difficult to give an exact figure of how much it costs to travel to China because, as happens in the vast majority of destinations in the world, It will depend a lot on your travel style and itinerary.. Specifically in China the itinerary you choose will greatly influence the budget, the distances are massive for example from Beijing to Shanghai There are 1300 km and the cost of travel is somewhat high.
Recommended itinerary: China in 21 days
Guide: Aboutnin 15 days
Read: Aboutnin 10 days
Another aspect that Your budget will be greatly influenced by the type of food., Chinese restaurants are very cheap, but Western options are scarce and sometimes with prices similar to Europe.
China's 2026 budget – What expenses should you take into account?
So that you can get a good idea of How much will it cost you to travel to China? We leave you the different price ranges for the main expenses you will have. At the end of the article you have of our budget for traveling to China and Hong Kong for 24 days.
You've read how to pay in china? Es One of the big things to keep in mind to prepare your trip.
1. Visa expenses to enter China
Currently and until November 2026 with a Spanish passport and many other European countries you can enter China 30 days without the need to apply for a visa and free of charge. It is possible to leave the country and re-enter to have another 30 days.
→ You only need a passport with 6 months of validity, there is no need to do any prior paperwork.
2. International flight expenses
When discussing the cost of traveling to China, we can't ignore the international flight, which typically accounts for a significant portion of the budget. However, considering the exorbitant prices for travel to some destinations, Flying to China in 2026 is not caro.
There are round-trip flights from Madrid or Barcelona with a stopover for between €450-600 and direct flights from €800. We recommend using a comparison site such as Skyscanner all with find the best option.
Taking into account the distances within China, the best alternative is enter the country through one city and leave through another. For example, fly to Beijing to start the trip and take the flight home from Hong Kong or Shanghai.
→ How to get from Shanghai Airport to the city center.
→ How to get from Beijing Airport to the city center.
3. Accommodation expenses – Budget for traveling to China
The more hotels carYou'll pay for it in Beijing and Shanghai.In the rest of the country, they're cheaper. Another thing to keep in mind is that prices vary considerably depending on the season; in winter, you'll pay almost half of what you would in summer. The prices below are for summer.
En Beijing and Shanghai The cheapest interior double rooms in a central area cost around €25-30 in simple hotels, and from €60 for exterior rooms in somewhat nicer hotels.
⚠️ Don't look for accommodation in Booking.com, better use Trip.com. In Booking there is less variety and even The same hotel is more caro.
En In the rest of China you will find lower prices, even in the most famous towns in the country such as fenghuang or in large neighboring cities of Shanghai such as HangzhouYou can calculate that single rooms with private bathroom cost around 14-18€ and more premium rooms with views from 35€. We were looking for the cheapest ones in a good area and we didn't pay more than 18€.
Our Our hotel spending averaged 18.5€/day (2 people) taking into account that we spent two nights on night trains, one of them to go from Beijing to Shanghai, and most days in big cities.
It may interest you… Where to stay in Zhangjiajie to visit the National Park
4. Safe travel expenses for China
When you are calculating how much it costs to travel to China, do not forget include the price of travel insurance. Although China is one of the safest countries in the world in terms of theft, you can get sick, have a fall, food poisoning or even an accident while walking down the street because pedestrian crossings are not respected much and it is normal for electric scooters to go up on the sidewalks.
I recommend taking out a policy with coverage of minimum €600.000, like the Tranquility Journey of Heymondo, 15 days of insurance with our 5% discount will cost you €52,87.
5. Spending on the internet and access to social networks
To travel through China you need to have an internet connection throughout the day, otherwise you will not be able to use transportation public in Beijing, nor in any other city. Because you can't, you won't even be able to pay! We have a very complete article on the whole topic of how to pay in china.
La most economical option is to get a local SIM upon arrival, they cost about €15 with data rate, and the more practical alternative es This eSIM With integrated VPN, the price for 15 days is €44 with unlimited data.
If you buy a local SIM, you will also need to install a VPN to access Google, WhatsApp, Instagram... We recommend Surfshark which was the one we used on laptops. Instead, The eSIM has a built-in VPN.. If you are going to opt for the local SIM, remember to install the VPN before arriving in China, it is almost impossible to do so there.
6. Transportation, a major expense in the budget for traveling to China
The transportation section of the budget for traveling to China we can divide it into two, long distance and urban transport. On the one hand, going from city to city on your route through China will not be cheap if you prioritize comfort and speed. High-speed trains for long distances cost between €50-120 and internal flights from €70. There are cheaper train options, but the time triples and they are not comfortable.
During our trip we traveled with a flight that cost us €72 and long-distance trains, in which despite trying to choose the economical options We spent €179/person. If you want more information we have an article about the types of trains, seats and how to book train tickets in china.
The good news is that the Public transportation within cities is not only efficient, but also very economical. You will hardly spend more than €5 a day, we spent about €25 per person on the entire trip. Public transportation helps a lot to reduce the budget for traveling to China.
These were the standard prices in all the big cities we visited:
- Bus ticket is 2¥ (0.30€)
- Metro ticket downtown 3-4¥ (0.40€-0.55€)
- Bike rental 1,5¥ for 15 minutes (0.40€)
Taxis are cheap too. We don't use them much, but when we order a Didi (Uber in China) we never pay more than €3-4 for a 20-minute ride.
7. Restaurant and supermarket spending
In China you eat well and cheap, there are many restaurants where you can eat for €3-4/person and snacks both at street stalls and supermarkets for less than €1. So it can be a point where you spend little money on travelling to China. In addition, drinks are also cheap, with soft drinks, teas and water for less than €1 and a half-litre beer costs around €1.
When we were wondering how much it costs to travel to China when preparing our trip, we weren't expecting such low prices. Plus, if you like trying new things in China, you'll enjoy it!
Restaurants specializing in something more gourmet, such as the famous Peking duck, go up a little more, but it is easy to find options to taste everything for no more than €6-12/person. For example, we spent €16 on one duck and about €6-7 on several Hot pot that we had dinner.
Now, all this talking about Chinese and local food. If we go for more international food the prices go up and generally, no dish costs less than €8-15. In addition to the fact that it is difficult to find in some places, except in shopping centers or very westernized areas such as the French Concession from Shanghai.
The same goes for breakfast, you can find options like Chinese crepes, gyozas or balls of carne for less than €2, but if you try buscar In Western-style shops, the price skyrockets. The same goes for coffee; having a coffee is very expensive. carOr, and a much cheaper iced tea. We used to buy something to drink at a convenience store.
8. Activities and Tickets, another expense to take into account in your budget for traveling to China
This expenditure item of the budget for traveling to China It's not one of the cheap ones. Some tickets, especially those for National Parks, are carOn the other hand, temple entrance fees are cheaper (€1.5-€5). But they add up quickly, because practically all places are paid.
In fact, even to enter many of the Beijing public parks There is a fairly symbolic entrance fee (0.20-1€) which controls access. And so on with everything.
⚠️ The price of tickets varies depending on the season: March to November: High season & December to March: Low season don't forget your carStudent IDs offer discounts of up to 50% in many places.
Another expense to take into account is if you do any free tours or organized tours with a guide to learn more about the places. Like the guided tour of the Forbidden City. Or to save you the hassle of getting to places like the Wall of China. Although we To avoid crowds we recommend you visit the places on your own.
We leave you some reference prices for the high season:
- Terracotta warriors en Xi'an: CNY 150 (approx. €21)
- Yellow Mountain: CNY 230 (approx. €31)
- Yu Garden in Shanghai: CNY 40 (approx. €5)
- Summer Palace in Beijing: CNY 30 (approx. €4)
- Forbidden City in Beijing: CNY 60 (approx. €8)
- Zhangjiajie, Avatar Mountains: CNY 230 (approx. €29)
9. Other expenses of how much it costs to travel to China
Your budget for traveling to China will likely include some souvenirs and small expenses like laundry if you're traveling for several days. We didn't buy anything, but from what we saw, they're not expensive. carthe.
It is also common to take advantage of the opportunity to buy some imitation, I don't know the prices but what I do know is that don't forget to haggle, is a common practice in China.
Traveling to China does not require specific luggage, but you may need to do some shopping before your trip. You can read ⪼ Clothing for traveling to China all with See all the must-sees and take into account whether you will need to make any purchases before the trip.
Our budget, a low-cost reference to travel to China in 2026
I have already left some reference prices throughout the article, but to give you an idea of how much it costs to travel to China, I will share with you what we spent. The expenses are for two people. We were also in Hong Kong (a price that we have not considered in China's budget).
- Restoration: 373€ (18,65€ daily)
- Accommodation: 370€ (18,50€ daily)
- Trains: €357
- Tickets: and activities: €132
- Public transport: 50€ (2,5€ daily)
- Taxis: €33
- Others: €8
✅ Not counting flights, we spent a total of €1323, which is €33 per day per person.
To start our trip to China we flew Barcelona – Beijing with a stopover in Abu Dhabi for €320/person. After touring China for 15 days We left direction South Korea for 70€ to restart the Chinese visa. After touring Korea we returned to China flying Busan – Changsha for 72€.
To these expenses it would be necessary to add the travel insurance, we carry the Chapka's Globetrotter to travel for several months. You also have to add either the physical SIM or eSim. In our case Holafly He gave us the eSims so we could test how they worked in China.
Taking these extra expenses into account and adding international flights to €600, the approximate cost of a route lowcost for China in 20 days is €1450 per personWhat do you think? Did you expect to be able to travel to China so cheaply?
And so far it is Guide on how much a trip to China costs on your own We hope you find it super useful to get an idea of what your budget will be for traveling to China in 2026. To continue organizing your trip you can read our articles on China for free or take a look at our experience through the stories of Instagram.
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Hi Alba, I really enjoyed reading all the information you have given and how you have explained it. Very easy and simple to reach everyone. It has helped me to clarify many doubts I have, and to find out other explanations that I was unaware of. I congratulate you and thank you from the bottom of my heart for so much information. Thank you so much and I will continue reading you to learn about your travels.
Hello! Thank you so much for your comment ☺️ It's always wonderful to read that information helps. Happy travels!
Thank you very much for the information!! We are planning a trip to China for June 2025 and we were terrified because the last two years we have been traveling at full speed and this year we wanted to spend a little less, but I see that the calculations fit within our budget (1500 per person I had calculated for 20-22 days counting everything hahaha). I proceed to read your other articles about China 😉
Thank you very much for your comment, Marina! I'm sure you'll be able to make your trip fit your budget. China offers options for all budgets, especially in food and transportation.
Enjoy the trip 😊
Hi!
Thank you so much, I found it super useful!
Could you confirm what year these expenses are from?
Hi Carmen, it's June 2024. All the information we have about China is very up to date :) On Instagram you can see more information about the trip and the route that we haven't had time to upload to the blog yet.