Best and worst value European spots for the 2022 school summer break revealed

If British holidaymakers want the best prices on a school summer break in Europe, they should make a beeline for Sunny Beach in Bulgaria, an annual report has revealed.

In a ranking of 16 popular European resorts, it was found to be the place where Brits will see their pounds stretch furthest, while the Turkish resort of Marmaris comes second, due to the collapse of the Turkish lira.

Algarve in Portugal slides in at third, while the most expensive place in the list is Ibiza.

The collapse of the Turkish lira saw Marmaris in southwest Turkey claim a close second with 12 items costing £86.07  

The ranking was revealed in Post Office Travel Money’s annual Family Holiday Report, produced in partnership with Tui.

The study compared the cost of 12 everyday tourist items in the 16 European destinations to produce a ‘Beach Barometer’. 

The price for the basket of 12 typical items – a bucket and spade set, an inflatable lilo, a mask and snorkel set, suncream, insect repellent, ice cream, a half-day sun lounger rental, a pedalo or banana boat ride, a bottle of beer in a bar, a Coca-Cola in a bar, a glass of wine and a three-course family meal including alcoholic beverages – cost researchers just £85.63 in Sunny Beach.

In Marmaris, in southwest Turkey, those items racked up an £86.07 bill. 

Following a price increase of 11.9 per cent since July 2019, Portugal’s Algarve claimed third place at £108.47

In fourth place in the Beach Barometer ranking is Funchal in Madeira, where prices are £125.23

At the other end of the scale, Ibiza was found to be the most expensive European spot, with a cost of £186.47 on the barometer

Following a price increase of 11.9 per cent since July 2019, Portugal’s Algarve claimed third place with £108.47, while in fourth place is Funchal in Madeira, where prices are £125.23.

The rest of the top ten is made up of Costa del Sol (fifth, £127.33), Corfu (sixth, £133.78), Majorca (seventh, £138.81), Kos (eighth, £140.28), Rhodes (ninth, £143), and Lanzarote (tenth, £143.41). 

At the other end of the scale, Ibiza’s basket was £186.47 on the barometer, followed by Puglia, Italy, at £185.81.

However, prices have fallen in both Ibiza and Puglia since 2019, by 4.9 per cent and 5.2 per cent respectively.

The biggest price increase was seen in Crete, where a 37.7 per cent rise in prices resulted in a basket cost of £161.86.

The report shows that prices have risen in three-quarters of the 16 European destinations as a result of higher resort charges for meals and drinks and sterling’s fall in value.

The Post Office Travel Money’s annual Family Holiday Report ranked European cities based on the price for a basket of 12 typical beach holiday items

The average rise across those that saw increases was 13.3 per cent.

British tourists are suffering a recent tumble in the value of the pound, currently trading at 1.17 euros after reaching a 2022 high of 1.21 euros in April.

Commenting on the findings 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 coming weeks means that keeping a tight rein on resort spending will be crucial for families this summer to avoid busting the holiday budget.

‘We found big price variations in the 16 destinations surveyed, particularly across 13 Eurozone resorts. 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 that prices can vary dramatically between resorts in the same country. In Greece, for example, barometer costs were 17 per cent lower in Corfu than in Crete.’

The report also revealed that almost three-in-five (59 per cent) families are planning trips abroad this year but over three-quarters (76 per cent) of them bust their budget by almost 38 per cent on their last holiday, spending £243 extra on the average budget of £644 they had set.