Saint Helena sounds like it ought to be eye-wateringly expensive, because it’s one of the most remote inhabited islands on Earth. The surprise is that, once you’ve got there, it isn’t. We spent a week in a guest house in April 2025, and the island part came to about £1,130 (the flights are another story, and a much bigger one!).
Accommodation: about £900 for 7 days
We stayed in a guest house for 7 days and it cost about £900 in total. That’s the biggest single cost on the island and the one worth booking early, because there are only a few places to stay and the plane brings a limited number of visitors each week. We were about 3 miles’ drive outside Jamestown, which sounds close, until you learn it’s about 1 mile as the crow flies and half a mile straight up.
Food and drink: about £30 a day
Food was a little cheaper than at home, though it varied a lot from place to place. If you eat out twice a day you can easily get by on £30 a day, which over 7 days is about £210. My best example was a sirloin steak and chips for under £20, which was roughly twice the price I’d paid in Namibia and South Africa, and half what I’d expect in the UK. Many of the restaurants need booking in advance, and some close early, so ask your host in the first 24 hours.
Getting around: taxis, not a hire car
We didn’t hire a car, and honestly I’m not even sure you can (it wasn’t worth finding out). Taxis cost £6 to £7 each way, so a typical trip from our guest house into town was £7. For about £14 a round trip, that saved a very steep 60-minute walk, and I was very glad of it!
The £20 you must bring in cash
There’s a £20 landing fee, and you pay it in cash when you arrive. The only easy place for a visitor to get cash is the bank desk at the airport, which is open only when the weekly plane lands, so bring pounds sterling with you. I’ve covered this in more detail in my post on how to get to Saint Helena from the UK.
Adding it up
| Cost | Amount |
|---|---|
| Guest house, 7 days | about £900 |
| Food and drink, 7 days at about £30 | about £210 |
| Landing fee (cash) | £20 |
| On the island, before taxis | about £1,130 |
| Taxi, one round trip to town | about £14 |
Flights are where the money really goes. Booked through a travel agent, the Johannesburg to Saint Helena return was £660 and London to Cape Town to Johannesburg was £450, so the flights alone cost nearly as much as 1 week of everything else put together.
So, is Saint Helena expensive? The flights are, but the week itself cost less than I’d feared, and the best thing I bought all week was a £7 taxi ride up a hill.