How much does it cost to travel to Medan? (2026)
Budget, mid-range and luxury daily estimates for Medan, in USD and IDR.
Daily and weekly costs
| Tier | Per day (USD) | Per day (IDR) | 7 days (USD) | 7 days (IDR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BudgetHostel bed, cheap meals, public transport | $30 | IDR 490,000 | $210 | IDR 3,500,000 |
| Mid-rangeThree-star hotel, restaurants, some taxis | $65 | IDR 1,100,000 | $455 | IDR 7,500,000 |
| LuxuryFour- or five-star hotel, dining out | $140 | IDR 2,300,000 | $980 | IDR 16,000,000 |
Every amount in this table is an estimateestimate, derived from the World Bank price level for Indonesia rather than quoted by any seller.
How this is calculated
A US baseline of 90, 210 and 450 USD a day for the three tiers is multiplied by the price level of Indonesia (0.2865054088466246, World Bank 2025) and by a city-size factor of 1.1, then rounded to the nearest 5 dollars. Local amounts use the World Bank exchange rate of 16477.8651797836 IDR to the dollar, rounded to two significant digits.
These are modeled estimates, not quoted prices. Read the full formula on the methodology page.
Sample prices in Medan
Typical prices, every one an estimateestimate rather than a quoted price.
Budget guesthouse room, per night
estimate for a simple private room
$12
Cheap local meal (rice dish with side)
estimate for a basic sit-down meal
$3
Mid-range restaurant meal
estimate for a fuller meal at a sit-down restaurant
$8
Local transport ride (bus or ride-hailing motorbike)
estimate for a short in-city trip
$1
Coffee at a café
estimate for a standard cup
$2
Entrance fee to a city attraction
estimate for a museum or historic site
$2
Prepaid SIM card with data
estimate for a basic data package
$5
Where the money goes
The $30 budget tier in Medan typically covers a simple room, street food or affordable restaurant meals, and local transport such as buses or ride-hailing motorbikes. Moving up to the $65 mid-range tier adds more comfortable lodging, a wider choice of restaurants, and occasional paid attractions, while the $140 luxury tier allows for higher-end accommodation, more frequent dining out, and private transport. Over a full week, these differences compound into totals of $210, $455 and $980 for budget, mid-range and luxury travelers respectively.
Travelers aiming to keep costs down should consider visiting during the off-season months of October, November and December, which are described as the cheapest and quietest time of year in Medan. All prices listed here are estimates meant to give a general sense of spending patterns rather than exact figures for any specific traveler.
Cheapest months by climate demand: Oct, Nov and Dec.
Keep reading
More on Medan
Sources
- GeoNames city database — CC BY 4.0, fetched September 14, 2026
- World Bank price level and exchange rate — CC BY 4.0, data year 2025
AI-written interpretation reviewed against the data above — claude-sonnet-5, generated September 21, 2026. Every number on this page comes from a dataset named here; the formulas are public.