Tourism is always associated with experience, but in some countries, even basic needs such as breakfast, taxi rides or room rental can become a financial burden for many tourists.
In the rankings of the most expensive tourist destinations on the planet, Switzerland almost always holds the top position, famous for its high living standards, quality service system and prices among the most expensive.
According to The Greek Herald, the average travel cost here can be up to 241 euros per day, equivalent to about 7.4 million VND. Cities like Zurich or Geneva regularly appear in the rankings of places with the highest living costs in the world.
Not only luxury hotels or restaurants, even taxis in Switzerland are enough to shock many people. There was a case where tourists had to pay a bill of more than 338 USD, equivalent to nearly 8.9 million VND, for a taxi trip lasting about an hour. The reason comes from very high labor costs and strict regulations on service standards and wages.
Meanwhile, research from The Forex Complex shows that Iceland is famous as the most expensive destination for American tourists in 2025.
The average cost for a day of travel here exceeds 400 USD, equivalent to about 10.5 million VND.
Many tourists shared that they have to bring food from home to reduce costs.
Singapore is also a familiar name in the group of the most "painful" places in Asia.
This island nation has been voted the most expensive city in the world many times. With a high living standard, expensive rent and not cheap food costs, many tourists have to carefully calculate each expense.
Some Chinese tourists have shared on social networks that they have to limit eating or choose cheap convenience stores to save money when traveling to Singapore.
In Northern Europe, Norway also makes many tourists "grimace" because of prices.
Oslo is considered the most expensive destination in Europe for a weekend vacation in 2025, with a total cost of more than 20 million VND for two nights of stay, according to a report from The Post Office Travel Money.
A three-course dinner for two in Oslo costs about 173 euros, or about 5.3 million VND. Even drinks are unbelievably high: a glass of beer or a glass of wine can cost up to several hundred thousand VND.
Not only Europe, the Caribbean region also has famous luxury destinations. Barbados is considered the country with the highest average daily travel costs in the world, about 344 USD per day (i.e., about 9 million VND), according to Times Of India.
With beautiful beaches and a high-class resort system, this place mainly targets groups of customers with large payment capacity.
According to tourism experts, the reason why these destinations are expensive comes from many factors. First of all, the high average income leads to a sharp increase in labor and service costs. In addition, special geographical conditions, resource scarcity or high-end tourism development strategies also push up prices.
However, traveling to these places is not completely out of reach if you know how to calculate reasonably. Many tourists choose public transport instead of taxis, cooking themselves with food bought at supermarkets or traveling in low seasons to reduce costs.
In the context of strong global tourism recovery, "expensive paradises" continue to attract millions of tourists every year. Because for many people, the price to pay is sometimes also part of the experience.
