By comparison, entry to Dubrovnik’s star attractions costs almost nine times as much, at £63.22. This is because entry to its leading museums and galleries is free, while the charge for its top heritage attraction, Kilmainham Gaol, is just £7. However, Dublin is still a good option for a cultural break, emerging from this year’s survey as the city with the lowest price tag for cultural sightseeing.

The same applies for Belfast (£562), where accommodation has risen from £221 to £392, although its barometer total is 6% cheaper than Dublin, across the border. At £561, London has seen a big price rise, mostly because the cost of two nights’ accommodation has trebled to an average of £361 since it was last surveyed in 2021. London and Belfast both rated among the 10 most expensive cities in the survey. As this year’s barometer shows, there are wide variations in costs between cities and people who are prepared to swap destination can make their pounds stretch much further by choosing a cheaper capital like Lisbon or Vilnius.” London and Belfast both rated among the 10 most expensive cities in the surveyĬloser to home, Cardiff (£387) rates as best value of the four UK capitals, more than 27% cheaper than Edinburgh (£535). “We also advise checking costs for meals, drinks and sightseeing before booking, as these are items that most city-break tourists will incur. Laura Plunkett, head of travel money at the Post Office, said: “The increased price of accommodation could add hundreds of pounds to the overall cost of a holiday, so travellers need to budget carefully for this. However, the cost comparison found that the weaker pound and surging hotel prices mean tourists will need to choose their destinations carefully or face paying up to 76% more than last year. Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, was the second best-value European location according to the survey.

The research found that British tourists can also bag a city break bargain by choosing Riga (£285), Zagreb (£330), Budapest (£331) or Warsaw (£331) in eastern Europe, or Portugal’s second city Porto (£325) or Lille (£332) in western Europe. Two other past winners – Krakow (£251) and Athens (£262) – were also singled out for good value. Vilnius (£226), rated top city by the Post Office in 20, was a close runner-up to Lisbon – just 25p more expensive for the barometer items.

As a result, prices in the Portuguese capital were less than one-third of those in Venice (£687) and Amsterdam (£727), Europe’s most expensive cities. Two nights in a three-star hotel averaged £121, only 5.2% up on 2022, compared with rises of over 30% in every other city surveyed. It is the second time in the survey’s history that a city in western Europe has beaten an eastern European city to first place.Īt £225, Lisbon’s barometer cost was just 2% higher than last summer. The barometer’s ranking is produced by an analysis of 12 typical tourist costs, including an evening meal for two with wine, drinks, two nights’ three-star accommodation, sightseeing and city transport.

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