Backpacking Central America
I personally backpacked across all of Central America, starting in Panama City and making it all the way to Mexico City, all over the course of four months, moving overland and on a limited budget.
Whether it’s a two-week trip or one lasting several months, to a single country or the entire region, in this article you’ll find lots of useful information, itineraries, costs and tips to plan your trip to Central America as best you can.
Quick menu
- When to go to Central America
- Documents and vaccinations for traveling to Central America
- Backpacking Central America: where to go and costs
- Travel itineraries in Central America
- Backpacking Central America: what to bring
- Backpacking Central America: safety
Telica volcano in Nicaragua.
When to go to Central America
What is the best time to go to Central America?
The dry season, which for most countries runs from January to March (November to April in Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama), is considered by many to be the best time to visit the region, even though the rainy season undoubtedly has its charm: the vegetation is lush, prices are lower, places are less crowded, and in most cases the rain is concentrated within a few hours in the afternoon.
I personally visited the entire region between June and October, right in the middle of the rainy season, and it was absolutely no problem. That said, for some countries, such as Costa Rica, the peak of the rainy season between September and October is definitely not a very pleasant time to visit.
For more detailed information on each individual country, check out the specific sections of my travel guides.
Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico.
Chance encounters in Costa Rica.
Documents and vaccinations for traveling to Central America
With an Italian passport (the rules change depending on your nationality, so check yours), you can easily visit all the countries of Central America without needing to apply for a visa in advance: you just show your passport when you enter the country by air or by land to generally receive a 90-day tourist visa, and in Mexico as many as 180. In some cases, though, a small fee is required to enter or leave the country in question.
Be careful, though, because Guatemala, together with Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador, is part of the CA-4, an agreement between these four countries that allows a maximum stay of 90 days. So if, for example, you spend 40 days in Nicaragua, then go to Honduras for another 20 days and to El Salvador for another 20 before entering Guatemala, you’ll only be given a 10-day visa when you enter Guatemala.
Panama and Costa Rica, on the other hand, officially require proof of exit within the limits of your visa. This isn’t a problem for anyone who has a return flight or a flight to another country, but it could be for those who have a one-way ticket and plan to leave Panama and Costa Rica by land or sea without a set date or booked tickets.
Checks are at the border officer’s discretion, and I, for example, wasn’t asked for anything. I did, however, meet a couple of travelers who were asked for proof of exit. My advice is to rent a ticket (a real one, it’s a paid service) on a site like Onward Ticket. To dig deeper into the topic, you can take a look at this article.
As for vaccinations, some countries officially require the yellow fever vaccination if you’re coming from an at-risk country. Arriving in Panama from Brazil (an at-risk country), in my experience the certificate wasn’t requested by the immigration officer but by the airline staff when I checked in for my flight. This check also seems to be discretionary, but getting this vaccination is advisable, as are Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B.
For more detailed information on visa duration, entry and exit fees, and vaccinations for each individual country, check out the specific sections of my travel guides.
Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico.
The colonial city of Antigua, Guatemala.
Backpacking Central America: where to go and costs
Below you’ll find a short description of all the countries with the most beautiful places and an overview of the costs, just to give you an idea of what to expect. For more detailed information, check out the guide to each individual country, which I’ve linked.
At the beginning of each country section, you’ll find the recommended daily budget. This budget obviously depends on how you travel and on the activities or tours you choose to do, but it’s quite reliable if you’re traveling low-cost. This can be summarized as staying in hostels, eating street food or at local restaurants (and cooking some meals, especially in the more expensive countries), using public transportation, taking occasional tours, and not indulging in excessive nightlife.
If you plan on volunteering, cooking all your meals and so on, you can easily get by on less than half.
If you’ll be moving between several countries, you can also take a look at my guide to the best travel cards to reduce exchange and withdrawal fees.
Panama
Daily budget: 40-45€.
Hostel night: 15-20€.
After Costa Rica and Belize, Panama is definitely the most expensive country in the region, and costs go up considerably if you decide to visit the San Blas archipelago or do a lot of diving.
The country probably isn’t as rich in spectacular attractions as Guatemala or as extremely low-cost as Nicaragua, but it definitely has a lot to offer. Plus, its geographical location and the fact that flights to Panama City are relatively cheap make it a great starting or ending point for a trip to Central America.
Besides the famous San Blas islands already mentioned, you can visit the cheaper and more accessible Bocas del Toro archipelago, the little-visited but spectacular Isla Coiba, and the small town of Boquete, surrounded by rainforest at the foot of the Baru volcano (from the top of which you can see both oceans), an excellent base for lots of activities, including trekking, rafting, coffee plantations and much more.
For itineraries, tips, other destinations within the country, and more, check out my Panama travel guide.
The Bocas del Toro archipelago.
Costa Rica
Daily budget: 40-45€.
Hostel night: 15-20€.
Costa Rica is considered by many to be the most expensive country in the region, and this is especially noticeable when it comes to national park entrance fees (often $15 and up), guided hikes, transportation and consumer goods. Accommodation, however, is relatively inexpensive compared to everything else.
Costa Rica is undoubtedly a spectacular country for nature lovers, with national parks and protected areas covering 23.4% of the territory—the highest percentage in the world!
If you’re looking for a low-cost destination, you may be better off looking elsewhere. However, budget permitting, Costa Rica is probably the best destination in the region for ecotourism.
For itineraries, tips, destinations within the country, and more, check out my Costa Rica travel guide.
A basilisk lizard in Cahuita National Park.
Nicaragua
Daily budget: 30-35€.
Hostel night: 6-12€ (updated October 2026).
When it comes to prices, Nicaragua is in my opinion the cheapest country in the entire region: meals in local restaurants for less than 2€, short distances, super cheap transportation, and hostels that rarely cost more than 10€ a night (updated October 2026).
But Nicaragua isn’t just cheap—it has loads to offer for every taste. The beautiful colonial cities of Granada and Leon may not rival Cartagena in Colombia or Antigua in Guatemala, but they’re definitely worth a visit.
The Corn Islands are a true Caribbean paradise still relatively remote from mass tourism, located just over an hour by plane from the capital, Managua, or at the end of an adventurous ferry crossing.
Then there are the many volcanoes, with lots of opportunities for trekking or more daring activities like “volcano boarding,” and finally the many coastal towns where you can surf or simply enjoy the nightlife, especially in San Juan del Sur.
For itineraries, tips, other destinations within the country, and more, check out my Nicaragua travel guide.
N.B. Unfortunately, after being one of the safest and most stable countries in Central America for years, Nicaragua is going through a period of political crisis, and for this reason visiting it isn’t recommended (November 2018). I suggest checking your own government’s official travel advice (for example, the UK’s Foreign travel advice) for up-to-date information.
Crater of Cerro Negro volcano.
Honduras
Daily budget: 30-35€.
Hostel night: 8-13€.
Honduras itself is a very cheap country. However, many people end up spending a lot of money here because they visit the Bay Islands. These islands offer some of the most beautiful dive sites in the world and, along with Thailand, the lowest prices for getting a scuba diver certification. Although the certification is really cheap compared to the rest of the world, it’s still a significant expense.
In the rest of the country, tourism isn’t developed at all, mainly because of the serious security problem. The exceptions are the beautiful Mayan archaeological site of Copan near the Guatemalan border and Lago de Yojoa in the center of the country, an excellent base for getting to know the local flora and fauna.
In short, if you’re planning a trip to Central America and you’re interested in getting your diving certification or just diving at a fraction of the prices you’d pay in the rest of the world, then make sure you pass through Honduras.
For itineraries, tips, and more, check out my Honduras travel guide.
The ruins of Copan.
Planning your trip? If you still need travel insurance, you can find my guide to the best travel insurance here. Purchasing through the links in the guide supports this site at no additional cost to you.
El Salvador
Daily budget: 30-35€.
Hostel night: 8-13€.
In terms of prices, El Salvador is comparable to its neighbors Honduras and Guatemala.
This is probably the least visited country in the entire region. Tourism is really underdeveloped, mainly because of its bad reputation for safety, which it shares with neighboring Honduras. The lack of must-see attractions certainly doesn’t help.
In any case, my stay, although short, was really enjoyable. There are a couple of archaeological sites worth visiting, and the area around the town of Santa Ana offers several activities that can keep you busy for days: climbing the nearby Santa Ana volcano, which has a sulfur lake inside the crater, numerous lagoons, coffee plantations and the Ruta de las Flores.
Plus, along the coast there are numerous popular destinations, especially among surfers, given the excellent surfing conditions. El Tunco is probably the most popular.
For itineraries, tips, and more, check out my El Salvador travel guide.
Suchitoto, a small colonial town in El Salvador.
Guatemala
Daily budget: 30-35€.
Hostel night: 8-13€.
As mentioned earlier, Guatemala has similar prices to its neighbors Honduras and El Salvador, and in many cases, prices are even lower, especially for accommodation. Since it’s much more touristy, competition is really high, especially in the main tourist destinations.
For many travelers, this is their favorite country in Central America: it’s relatively safe (outside of Guatemala City), really cheap, and has a good number of tourist attractions.
The only thing missing is probably some nice Caribbean beaches, but otherwise it has plenty. To the south stretches a vast highland plateau where you’ll find Antigua, considered by many to be the best-preserved colonial city in Central America, Lake Atitlan, and numerous volcanoes, including Acatenango volcano, from where you can watch its extremely active younger brother Fuego, and Tajumulco volcano, the highest peak in Central America.
To the north, immersed in the jungle, are the Mayan ruins of Tikal, probably the most impressive in the entire region, and finally Semuc Champey, a real gem consisting of a series of natural pools set deep in the Guatemalan rainforest, a true wonder of nature.
For itineraries, tips and more, check out my Guatemala travel guide.
The natural pools of Semuc Champey.
Belize
Daily budget: 55-65€ (updated October 2026).
Hostel night: 15-20€ (updated October 2026).
I’ll say up front that Belize is the only country in Central America I didn’t visit, as I preferred to go straight from Guatemala to Mexico for a number of reasons, above all the high cost, which was confirmed by all the travelers I met and by the research I did.
The main reason many people visit the country is the Caye Caulker islands, but there are also some archaeological sites and the San Ignacio caves, which are definitely worth a mention.
That said, with numerous much cheaper countries nearby, Belize definitely doesn’t offer good value for money: the beaches farther north in Mexico’s Yucatan and farther south on the Bay Islands in Honduras are just as beautiful, and the cost of living and diving there is only a fraction of what it would be in Belize. The same goes for the archaeological sites, which in neighboring Mexico and Guatemala are much larger and more impressive.
For more detailed information on costs, take a look at this guide to the cost of a trip to Belize.
The Blue Hole in Belize.
Mexico
Daily budget: 30-40€ (updated October 2026).
Hostel night: around 10-15 € (updated October 2026).
Technically, Mexico belongs to North America, but I’m including it here since it’s part of the classic Central America travel itinerary.
Mexico is generally a really cheap country, but a lot depends on the region you decide to visit: the Yucatan Peninsula, for example, is far more expensive than other regions such as Chiapas, where prices are among the lowest I’ve seen in all of Central America.
The country is gigantic, to say the least, and I personally had the pleasure of visiting only part of it, but to sum it up roughly, you can expect spectacular beaches along the Yucatan Peninsula, archaeological sites scattered more or less everywhere, numerous colonial cities, delicious food and lots of culture.
For itineraries, tips, destinations, and more, check out my Mexico travel guide.
The Pyramids of Teotihuacan in Mexico City.
Travel itineraries in Central America
For country-specific itineraries, check out the dedicated section within each individual guide, which I’ve linked below for convenience.
Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico.
If, on the other hand, you have in mind a trip through several countries or maybe the entire region, the itinerary is roughly the one you see on the map below; you’ll find detailed information on where and how to cross the various borders in each country’s guide.
An equally popular variant basically skips El Salvador and Honduras altogether, going from Guatemala to Nicaragua; Tica Bus covers this route with a direct bus.
The ideal departure airports, both for their geographic location and for cost, are Panama City, Mexico City and Cancun, the latter generally the cheapest.
Backpacking Central America: what to bring
For a trip to Central America, unlike South America, traveling extremely light is really easy, and I often saw other travelers with a backpack no bigger than 30 liters.
This is because—unlike South America, where the climates you pass through are very different from each other because of latitude but also altitude, which at some tourist destinations can even exceed 5,000 meters—in Central America temperatures are relatively constant throughout the year and generally quite high.
Long story short, with a few rare exceptions—such as some destinations in southern Guatemala, central Mexico, and a few other destinations here and there in some “mountainous” areas (Boquete in Panama and Monteverde in Costa Rica come to mind), where in the evening once the sun goes down you’re definitely better off with a sweatshirt on—I spent the rest of the time in shorts and flip-flops.
Basically, avoid filling your backpack with unnecessary weight and bring only one “heavy” change of clothes (sweatshirt + long pants), plus of course all the light clothes you think you’ll need.
To make your life easier, here’s my (complete) list of things to put in your backpack.
To wrap up, many people ask me which SIM card is best to choose. The reality is that there are no roaming agreements between the various countries like there are in the European Union. If you want to be connected all the time, I recommend buying a local SIM every time you enter a new country.
If you have a phone that supports eSIMs and you want the convenience of being online right away without having to buy a local SIM, then I recommend using a service like the one offered by Airalo and Ubigi. If you go for this option, though, there are at least a couple of things to consider. First of all, with rare exceptions, you pay much more for data than you would with a local SIM; second, their local partner isn’t always the one with the best coverage in the area.
Basically, I think most travelers would be better off buying a local SIM (or maybe trying to buy an eSIM from a local provider), but think it over for yourself, as there’s no shortage of exceptions. For example, when I visited Japan, the plan offered by Ubigi was cheaper than any local SIM I could buy without proving I was a resident.
That said, I don’t think it’s necessary at all; you can easily travel far and wide without being constantly connected to the internet. It may sound absurd, but over my entire trip through South and Central America, I never had a local SIM. I only ever used wifi whenever I had the chance, and in general I think staying disconnected isn’t that bad. To get around the cities you can just download Organic Maps and the various maps you need.
Backpacking Central America: safety
Central America is much safer than it used to be, but obviously you need to use a good dose of caution and common sense. Some areas, especially in big cities, are actually places to avoid even during the daytime, and some countries are statistically more dangerous than others.
Costa Rica and Panama are considered safe countries to visit for all intents and purposes, with a few exceptions of course, but the same goes for certain areas of some Italian cities.
While other countries such as Honduras certainly have serious problems, mainly related to the gangs that control certain territories, it’s very unlikely that this violence takes place in tourist areas or, more generally, against tourists. The situation in El Salvador has actually improved a lot in recent years.
Ask someone local (maybe at the place where you’re staying) for advice on what the safety situation is like in a given area, be especially careful in big cities, use common sense but don’t be too paranoid: during my 4 months in Central America I never had any kind of problem.
Check out my tips and tricks on how to travel safely anywhere in the world and have a great trip!
Planning a trip to Central America? Take a look at these posts:
Which travel backpack to choose
Do you have any questions? Updated information? Feel free to leave a comment or message me on Instagram!
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