Holiday Costs Barometer 2018

  • Bulgaria remains the best value for resort prices
  • The Algarve is again the cheapest Eurozone destination

The 12th annual Holiday Costs Barometer, which compares prices in 18 of Europe’s most popular beach resorts, reveals big differences in the cost of tourist staples - especially meals and drinks. The prices researched by Post Office Travel Money in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria were less than half those in two-thirds of the other resorts surveyed!

Key findings include:

  • Bulgaria’s Sunny Beach is the best value destination for the fifth year running. Prices for the nine barometer items are at least 36% lower than in any of the Eurozone destinations surveyed, making the Black Sea resort a great choice for bargain hunters
  • Marmaris in Turkey is the resort where the pound will stretch furthest compared with a year ago because sterling has surged in value against the Turkish lira, making prices 20% lower than in 2017
  • The Algarve is again the cheapest Eurozone destination, although Spain’s Costa del Sol is snapping at its heels
  • Do your holiday homework and check prices before booking. Resort swapping to cheaper resorts within Spain, Portugal, Greece and Croatia could save you money.

Compare prices of travel essentials in 18 European beach resorts

 

POST OFFICE MONEY HOLIDAY COSTS BAROMETER
  SUNNY BEACH
Bulgaria		 MARMARIS
Turkey		 ALGARVE
Portugal		 COSTA DEL SOL
Spain
Cup of coffee
cafe/bar		 £.0.71 £1.40 £0.62 £1.25
Bottle of local beer/lager
cafe/bar		 £.071 £2.21 £.0.98 £2.23
Bottle/can of coca cola
cafe/bar		 £.0.95 £1.30 £1.16 £1.69
Glass of wine
cafe/bar		 £1.19 £2.23 £1.11 £2.23
1.5 litre still mineral water bottle
supermarket		 £0.38 £0.24 £0.18 £0.35
Sunscreen
SPF 15, international brand		 £.2.38 £6.68 £4.45 £4.41
Insect repellent
supermarket		 £2.38 £1.86 £5.16 £2.76
2 course lunch for 2 people
(no drinks)		 £8.56 £9.31 £15.88 £16.05
3 course evening meal for 2
(including a bottle of house wine)		 £26.18 £31.65 £38.70 £40.58
TOTAL COSTS £43.44 £56.88 £68.24 £71.55


See the full Holiday Costs Barometer report here..

Our best rates are available online

You can purchase euros over the counter at more than 10,000 Post Office branches. Remember too that euros can be ordered on our website for same day ‘click and collect’ at almost 3,000 branches as well as for home delivery or next day collection at any of our 11,600 branches. In addition, over 4,000 Post Office branches offer Turkish lira over the counter while Croatian kuna and Bulgarian lev are among 30 currencies available on demand at over 1,600 branches.

Manage your holiday money with our new Travel Money Card

The new Post Office Travel Money Card is a great way to manage your travel money abroad. You can:

  • Load your spending money in advance (in up to 13 currencies) when the rates are best and use abroad just as you would a debit card, with contactless available in millions of locations worldwide. 
  • Monitor your balance on the go via the app and as the multi-currency Travel Money Card is not linked to a bank account there is no risk of overspending - and no non-sterling transaction charges. 

 

 

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