Partying is often a big part of backpacking, but it can be a major drain to your budget. Particularly if you are traveling to cities where it costs alot to drink and party – like Vegas. However, Vegas is not your only option when it comes to party destinations. There are plenty of budget friendly party destinations around the world where you can have great time, but at minimal costs – here are 7 of my favourites!

Berlin, Germany

Berlin has long been known as a city filled with artists and musicians. Therefore, it should come as no surprise it has a carefree attitude toward partying and booze that fits the budget of a starving artist. Berlin is home to a wide range of epic bars, beer halls. and edgy nightclubs that keep the party going well past sunrise. Plus, you can also find warehouse parties, rock venues and underground techno clubs that will have you raging harder than ever before. Some places can have pretty restrictive entrance policies so best not to look like a broke backpacker. You can take your pick from any number of places anyway of the week, just make sure your prepared to be hungover AF during the daylight hours

What to do other than party

Literally endless amounts of thing to do in Berlin. I loved the Street Art tour and demonstration, any of the walking tours and the holocaust memorial. There is also a whole island dedicated to museums in Berlin!

Krakow, Poland

I think its something about visiting Auschwitz during the day that makes people want to let off some steam and party the night away in Krakow. I need to see more of Eastern Europe, but from what I have seen Krakow is one of my favourite cities. There are a ton of cave bars, lots of great bar crawls and the alcohol is cheap! My favourite bar was an ax throwing bar which I have never seem outside of North America before. Krakow has a reputation as a budget party destination so there tends to be bachelorette or bachelor parties around, but it has that reputation for a reason – it’s true!

What to do other than party

The obvious must do in Krakow is a visit to Auschwitz. It is a depressing and humbling experience that you defiantly need to have. There is also the near by “Wieliczka” Salt Mine one of the biggest salt mines in Europe – it has a entire ballroom in it!. Krakow itself has a beautiful historic district with many cool restaurants and cafe and a great walking tour.

Ko Phi Phi, Thailand

On the other side of Thailand then Ko Phangan (the famous Full Moon Party island) is Ko Pho Phi. Ko Pho Phi is a party all the time, not just once a month when it is a full moon. It is particularly known for its beach parties complete with fire dancers and jump ropes. There are Thai boxing clubs that will let largely drunk tourists take a turn. Not to mention that it is one of the most common places in Thailand for people to get tattoo. There are tons of tattoos parlours of varying reputation along the main strip. On the main land, Krabi is also known for its wild parties, particularly at the Slumber Party hostel.

What to do other than party

The most famous spot to visit near Ko Phi Phi is the Beach from the movie ‘The Beach’. The movie with Lenoardo is filmed in Maya Bay Beach just a short ride from Ko Phi Phi. You can go on tours to there, but I actually thought they were over priced, a scam and over touristy. There is however a lot of other beaches and great snorkelling in the area.

Ios, Greece

There are lots of island in Greece that are known for parties, but a lot of them can get pretty expensive. However Ios is cheap, very cheap! Plus it tends to attract a more backpacker crowd than the higher end party islands like Mykonos. There are silent discos, beach and pool parties, dollar shot bars among many other place to drink and party! Ios has a tendency to suck people in. There are tons of people who came for a week and stayed for a summer.

What to do other than party

Ios has some beautiful beaches and cliffs. They are generally not in the main town, but most accommodation will have a pool. There is also a wide variety of shops, cafes and restaurants and eating like a Greek can take hours!

Lisbon, Portugal

Portugal in general is filled with budget party destinations, the Portuguese like to party and it is cheap. There is the Festa de São João in Porto every June. It is a huge, weird street party involving plastic hammers and all night concerts. However I think Lisbon is the bigger all year party city in Portugal, particularly if you like street parties. There are hundreds of different nightclubs, bars and Fado music houses that suit every taste. Many of them overflow on to the streets and merge into each other. I greatly enjoyed the Lisbon Bar Crawl, but also liked venturing out with a few friends just to see where you end up.

What to do other than party

Lisbon is the capital of Portugal so naturally there are a ton of things to do that don’t involve alcohol. My favourites were the walking tour, a visit to the historic town Sintra and stopping at as many cafes as I could to eat pastel de nata.

Vang Vieng, Laos

This is probably one of the most famous party destinations in Asia. Plus it is an extremely cheap party destination, probably the cheapest of these budget party destinations. For many years tons of riverside bars operated along the banks of the Nam Song river. They would pull passing partying goers in tubes towards their bar by long nets where ploughed them full of cheap alcohol. There were rope swings and jumps along the edge of the river, despite it being pretty shallow in spots. After several years of injuries and several deaths the authorities (rightly) put a stop to a lot of mayhem that was going on. But they did not put an end to the party in Vang Vieng.

The riverside bars are still in operations, although they do put a limit on how many can run at the same time. The rope swings and other water activities have been replaced by land activities like soccer or beer pong. But most importantly thousands of backpacker still flock to this town in the middle of nowhere to buy $1 bottles of rum, float down the river in tubes then party the night away at one of the many bars.

What to do other than party

There are several beautiful caves and hikes in the surrounding area that are well worth a visit or you can join a rock climbing tour. There is also several lagoons near by that you can bike and have rope swings or jumps. Vang Vieng is also known for its hot air ballons although those are most defiantly not a budget activity.

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San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua

San Juan Del Sur is known largely for Sunday Funday – the biggest pool party in South America. While the size of the party has decreased slightly since the revolution it is still a huge party. One of my favourite elements of the Sunday Funday party is that it is always on the same day of the week and because it is so well known alot of back packers in the region come to San Juan on Sunday. This means it is a great opportunity to meet new people, but also means that you have a pretty good chance of seeing those same people over your time in Nicaragua. The majority of party goer stay at the Naked Tiger hostel, but it is not mandatory and there are many other hostels in the town. Beware there is A LOT of glitter at this party.

What to do other than party

Surf! Most people come here to surf and there are tons of places for both beginners and experienced surfers to catch some waves. There are also a few nice restaurants / cafes in town, but the most popular activity is defiantly surfing and drinking.

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