Sunny Beach in Bulgaria and Marmaris in Turkey are two of the cheapest European holiday destinations, new research shows.
It comes at a time when many would-be holidaymakers are holding out for a last-minute deal where their hard-earned spending money will offer the best value.
As families increasingly struggle with the cost-of-living squeeze, amplified by rising prices at the petrol pumps and skyrocketing energy bills, many will want to consider which destinations could be the cheapest to holiday in.
Now research from Post Office Travel Money suggests that Sunny Beach and Marmaris are the cheapest out of 16 resorts studied across Europe.
Using the Post Office’s Beach Barometer, which is based on a basket of 12 items, including a family meal, drinks, sun cream and beach items, both destinations top the leaderboard with a spend of £86.
Although local prices have doubled in Marmaris compared with 2019, the huge collapse in the Turkish lira has reduced the impact for British travellers, while Sunny Beach has only seen prices rise by 8 per cent.
By comparison, the most expensive on the list was Ibiza, with an average spend of £186.47, followed by Puglia in Italy, at £185.81.
Below, we list the cheapest European destinations for travellers this summer.
The Beach Barometer’s cheapest destinations
- Sunny Beach, Bulgaria – £85.63
- Marmaris, Turkey – £86.07
- Algarve, Portugal – £108.47
- Funchal, Madeira – £125.23
- Costa del Sol, Spain – £127.33
- Corfu, Greece – £133.78
- Majorca, Spain – £138.81
- Kos, Greece – £140.28
- Rhodes, Greece – £143.00
- Lanzarote, Spain – £143.41
- Paphos, Cyprus – £144.57
- Porec, Croatia – £154.75
- Sliema, Malta – £156.27
- Crete, Greece – £161.86
- Puglia, Italy – £185.81
- Ibiza, Spain – £186.47
Elevated prices
Out of the 16 resorts in the survey, prices have risen in 12 destinations since the summer of 2019, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The main causes of this are higher prices for food and drink in resorts, and the fall in sterling.
Even though prices in Marmaris and Sunny Beach have risen in recent years, they were still more than 20 per cent lower than the cheapest eurozone resort – Portugal’s Algarve (£108) – and about half the price of the two most expensive resorts – Puglia and Ibiza (£186).
Prices in Puglia and Ibiza are actually down on 2019, as well as in Majorca (with a £139 Beach Barometer reading), while the biggest increase was in Crete (£162, up 38 per cent), followed by double-digit rises in the Costa del Sol (£127, up 23 per cent), the Algarve (£108, up 12 per cent) and Porec (£155, up 11 per cent).
Nick Boden, head of Post Office Travel Money, said sterling’s recent fall against European currencies and ongoing uncertainty about how it will perform in the short term means that “keeping a tight rein on spending will be crucial for families this summer to avoid busting the holiday budget”.
“We found big price variations in the 16 destinations, particularly across 13 eurozone resorts,” he said.
“This makes it doubly important for holidaymakers to do their homework and budget carefully to cover costs in the holiday resort they are visiting.
“We also found prices can vary dramatically between resorts in the same country, with countries like Greece showing Beach Barometer costs 17 per cent lower in Corfu than Crete.”
Prices across Spain’s resorts also differ hugely. The Costa del Sol was cheapest at £127, with Majorca next at £139, then Lanzarote at £143 and Ibiza at £186.
Budget discipline
The Post Office’s Family Holiday Report showed that more than three-quarters (76 per cent) of those planning trips abroad exceed their budgets by £243 based on the average budget of £644.
More than nine in 10 people said they spent an average of £282 eating out, buying drinks in bars and restaurants and shop-bought food and drink.
Beyond this “pester power”, where children pressure their parents for food, drink, other items and days out, sets families back nearly £162, with theme park visits (£50), ice cream (£35) and pedalo rides (£29) being among the main culprits.
Holiday firm Tui, which collaborated on the research, said the firm was experiencing “strong demand” for holidays in affordable locations, with Turkey bookings up 60 per cent versus 2019, and the Algarve up a third.
“In addition, we’ve seen a trend towards customers booking our all-inclusive offerings in these destinations, which allow customers to budget more effectively when it comes to the total cost of their holiday, as they can work out what they have to spend in destination on any extra meals out, activities or items they might want to buy.”
What difference does currency make?
Earlier in July, the pound had weakened against 19 major travel currencies and only strengthened against 11.
Sterling was 1 per cent stronger against the euro year-on-year in mid-July, but 13.3 per cent weaker against the US dollar on the same basis.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given its huge fall, the Turkish lira was the weakest against the pound, with sterling buyers getting 65 per cent more lira for every pound in July this year compared to the same time last year.
