Cheapest Countries to Visit in March

March is when Thailand's peak season ends and the discounting starts. The Andaman coast has had clear seas since November, and rates at Phuket, Krabi and Koh Lanta ease through the month as the hot season sets in. The north is both the bargain and the trade: Thailand's crop and forest burning season is at its worst in February and March, and Chiang Mai's air goes with it. Packages average about Rs 35,000 per person over a full year and March sits at the cheaper end of that. Flights are short from every Indian metro, and entry rules for Indian passports have eased in recent years, so check what currently applies.

Bali in March is the tail of the wet season, which is exactly why it is cheap. Rain arrives in short afternoon bursts rather than all day, and villas in Ubud and Canggu sell at their lowest rates of the year. One date to check before booking: Nyepi, the Balinese day of silence, usually falls in March and moves each year. For 24 hours nobody leaves their accommodation, the roads and beaches are empty, and Bali's airport closes completely. Indonesia packages average about Rs 42,000 per person over a year, Bali about Rs 64,000, and March pulls both down.

Cambodia's high season runs November to February, and March is when it breaks. Siem Reap guesthouse and Angkor tour rates soften as afternoon temperatures climb past the mid thirties, and the temples are noticeably emptier by mid month. Start at sunrise and keep afternoons free and it is a comfortable trip. There is no direct flight from India, so you connect through Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur or Singapore. Cambodia's e-visa fee sits in the region of USD 30 plus processing, and it is worth confirming on the official government portal rather than a third party site.

Uzbekistan's own peak is April to May and September to October, so March undercuts it. Hotel rates in Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva sit at shoulder season levels and the Registan is walkable without a crowd. What you trade is warmth: highs in the mid teens, cold evenings and a fair chance of rain. Navruz, around the spring equinox on 20 or 21 March, is the one week the country is busy and also the best week to be there. Delhi to Tashkent is direct and under three hours, and Uzbekistan has kept entry straightforward for Indian passports in recent years, so check the current rules and any e-visa fee before you budget.

Laos costs the least per day of anything on this list, and March is its cheapest month for a reason worth knowing. The dry season is ending, the Mekong is low, the countryside is brown rather than green, and agricultural burning across the north means Luang Prabang can sit under heavy smoke for weeks. If air quality matters to you, look at the southern loop around Pakse and the Bolaven Plateau instead. A guesthouse room, a bowl of noodles and a shared minivan all cost less than the same day in an Indian hill town. There is no direct flight, so you route through Bangkok or Hanoi.

March is Vietnam's calm month. Tet in January or February pushes domestic prices and crowds up hard, the summer domestic season has not started, and the weather works in all three regions at once: dry in Hanoi and Ha Long, dry in Hoi An and Da Nang, dry in the south. That combination does not repeat later in the year. Vietnam is inexpensive whatever the month, so the March gain here is the fare out of India rather than a discount on the ground. Sleeper trains and buses between cities are cheap enough that a two week route costs little more than a one week one.

Malaysia's March draw is the east coast. Resorts and ferries to the Perhentians and Redang shut through the November to February monsoon and reopen around March, so early in the season you get the islands at opening rates and without the July crowd. Weather in that first month is a gamble. On the peninsula, Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Langkawi cost much the same all year, and Malaysia's real cheapness is on the ground: hawker food, a good rail and bus network, and hotel rates well below Singapore's, two hours down the road.

Baku's high season is summer, so March buys the same city for less. Hotel rates in and around the old city are at winter levels, Gobustan's petroglyphs need no queue, and a day trip to the mud volcanoes is easy to arrange. The trade is weather: highs around 11 to 13 degrees, a hard wind off the Caspian, and short daylight early in the month. Novruz around 20 to 21 March is a multi-day public holiday when Azerbaijanis travel domestically and Baku rates firm up for about a week, so book either side of it. Delhi and Mumbai are roughly five hours out.

Sri Lanka is on this list because a week there is cheap in absolute terms, not because March makes it cheaper. March is the end of the dry run on the south and west coasts, which is when Mirissa, Unawatuna and Galle charge their highest rates of the year. The cheaper March move is the other coast: Trincomalee and Arugam Bay sit between their seasons, so rooms cost a fraction of the south's, though the sea is less reliable. Colombo is a short flight from Chennai, Bengaluru or Kochi, and buses, trains and rice and curry meals cost close to Indian prices.

Known For : Gardens by the Bay Universal Studios Singapore Marina Bay Sands

Singapore is the most expensive country on this list to spend a day in, and March is the last cheap window before it stops being cheap at all. From the middle of April through June, Indian school holidays make Singapore one of the busiest family routes out of India, and both fares and hotel rates show it. In March exams are on, nobody is flying, and the same trip costs meaningfully less. Packages average about Rs 57,000 per person over a year. Hawker centres, an EZ-Link card and the free stretches of Gardens by the Bay keep the daily spend down.

Best Time: February to September

273 Singapore Attractions

Nepal is the cheapest trip an Indian passport can make in any month, and March is the month it costs most. Spring trekking season opens, so Everest Base Camp and Annapurna lodges fill and rates along the trails rise, rhododendrons or not. Kathmandu and Pokhara themselves stay cheap. Packages average about Rs 22,000 per person over a year, the lowest figure on this page, and March pushes that up rather than down. No visa is needed under the India-Nepal treaty, and the Nepali rupee is pegged to the Indian rupee, so there is no exchange shock either way.

Jordan in March is at its best and priced accordingly. Spring here is short, Petra and Wadi Rum are comfortable rather than punishing, and hotels in Wadi Musa know it, so March rates run above January's. The March saving on Jordan is the fare out of India, not the cost on the ground. The one real lever is the Jordan Pass, which bundles Petra entry with the tourist visa fee if you buy it before you fly and stay the minimum nights; the terms change, so read the official site rather than a blog. Amman is about five hours from Delhi, and a five day Petra, Wadi Rum and Dead Sea loop is the efficient shape.

Bhutan's dry spring starts in early March, which makes March one of Bhutan's dearer months rather than a cheaper one. Budget the Sustainable Development Fee first. bhutan.travel currently puts it at Nu 1,200 per person per night for Indian nationals travelling on a passport or voter ID, half for children aged 6 to under 12 and free below that, payable with the permit. Six nights for two adults is Nu 14,400 before flights, rooms or guide. Packages average about Rs 36,000 per person over a year. These rules change, so confirm on bhutan.travel before committing.