Eastern Europe offers the best city break bargains
UK tourists planning a city break trip this spring will find the best bargains in Eastern Europe, according to the new City Costs Barometer from Post Office Travel Money. Led by the historic Baltic city of Riga, eastern capitals took the top five places in the annual cost comparison survey of 19 leading city break destinations by the UK’s largest provider of holiday currency.
A strengthening UK pound will make over half the cities surveyed by the Post Office much cheaper this year. This includes popular eurozone choices like Rome (-9.7 per cent) and Berlin (-six per cent). Tallinn, capital city of Estonia, its newest member, is the eurozone’s best buy. But, at £142.04 for 11 city break essentials, Tallinn was 23.6 per cent more expensive than its Baltic neighbour Riga (£114.92).
The Post Office barometer compared costs for typical city break purchases including meals, drinks, accommodation, sightseeing and transport. Stockholm, most expensive in the survey with items totalling £31364, was almost three times the cost of Riga.
A break in the Latvian capital, tipped as a city to watch in the recent Post Office Holiday Money Report, was less than half the price of eight cities surveyed, including city break favourites Paris, Amsterdam and New York. Riga also rated as the best buy for culture-vultures. Visits to its top heritage attraction, museum and art gallery were just one-seventh of the entry charges in Amsterdam, Boston or Barcelona.
Thrifty tourists can also make big savings by heading to Dublin, one of the Eurozone’s best value cities for the second year running. Its barometer total was 12.3 per cent lower than in 2010 (£160.78) and the Irish capital is another city where culture comes cheap. Entry is free to both the National Museum and National Gallery.
Sarah Munro, Post Office Head of Travel Money, said: "Dublin is a top ten choice again this year with price falls for every item surveyed. In the past the Irish capital has been criticised for high hotel, meal and drinks prices but this year’s barometer findings make it a bargain break, with prices almost as low as in Eastern Europe.
"These price falls are good news for people planning city breaks this spring. However, wide variations in costs between competing cities mean that tourists really do need to do their homework before booking. They should also avoid buying currency at the airport where they will get a poor rate and use a credit card like the Post Office Credit Card that offers 0 per cent commission for purchases overseas."
Edinburgh, surveyed for the first time this year, finished in the top half of the barometer table, three places higher than London. Prices in the Scottish capital were 14.5 per cent lower than in London, which was more expensive for almost all of the items surveyed. Meal costs, however, were 25 per cent higher in Edinburgh.
City comparisons at a glance:
Eurozone: Wide price variations persist between member states. Tallinn and Lisbon were more than 40 per cent cheaper than Paris, the highest-priced Eurozone city surveyed.
Scandinavia: Post Office sales of Scandinavian currencies are up this year - by 32 per cent for the Danish kroner and 15 per cent for the Swedish kroner4. Choosing Copenhagen over Stockholm will save 18 per cent, according to the barometer.
Eastern Europe: Prague, last year’s best buy, takes the runner up spot in this year’s City Costs Barometer. However, Budapest, 11.9 per cent cheaper than last year, because of falling prices and a rising sterling exchange rate, is edging closer.
USA: Although prices fell marginally by one per cent compared with Spring 2010, New York was 17.6 per cent more expensive than Boston, where transport and hotel costs are lower.
Currencies for the cities featured in the Post Office City Costs Barometer are among 30 available on demand at 1,600 larger Post Office branches. An additional 2,600 branches stock US dollars while more than 8,500 branches offer euros over the counter. In total over 70 currencies can be pre-ordered at almost 12,000 Post Office branches or online at postoffice.co.uk for next day branch or home delivery.