The best-value family destinations for 2025
Every year, the Post Office Travel Money Family Holiday Report reveals the places in Europe where UK families get best value.
This year’s report1, created with travel operator TUI, compares how much 10 holiday essentials cost in 16 destinations. They include drinks, snacks, lunch, dinner and suncream.
Marmaris in Türkiye (Turkey) is cheapest this time, beating Sunny Beach in Bulgaria. Both are much better value than places that use the euro.
According to our consumer research2, nearly eight in 10 families plan to go abroad this year. But about the same number spent too much last time, going 42% over their budgets. Food, drinks and treats for kids were big reasons why.
Our report helps you plan by showing what things cost before you go. Here, we’ve shared the key findings and the 10 cheapest places. It includes the Children’s Beach Barometer3, showing how much beach fun can add to your costs.
You can download the report for the full price breakdowns and totals for all destinations.
Key findings
- Marmaris came out cheapest, even though prices there rose by over 10% since last summer
- Sunny Beach in Bulgaria is now the second cheapest. Even though its prices are up 17%, it’s still almost 10% cheaper than the closest Eurozone resort
- The Algarve in Portugal (3rd) is still the cheapest place in the Eurozone, but prices went up by 15%
- Paphos in Cyprus (4th) is closing in on the Algarve, with total basket costs just under £1 more
- Majorca (15th) had the biggest price rise, with costs going up by 21%
- Crete (7th) saw the sharpest price drop, by almost 8%. It’s moved up to seventh in the rankings
- Lanzarote (5th) also got a bit cheaper, with costs falling by 2%
- Ibiza (16th) is still the most expensive place in the survey. A holiday basket there costs £242.79, almost twice as much as in Marmaris
- Prices went up in 13 out of the 16 European resorts checked. This reflects a broad trend of higher local costs
- Families spent an average of £202 on kids’ beach extras alone, a key factor driving holiday overspending
