The cheapest city breaks

If you're planning a city break anytime soon, check out these cheap destinations.

Vilnius in Lithuania is the cheapest city for a short-break this spring, according to the latest Post Office Travel Money City Costs Barometer.

Post Office Money compiled the report by creating a ‘basket’ of 12 typical holiday spends including:

• A cup of coffee
• Bottle of beer/lager (330ml local brand)
• Coca-Cola/ Pepsi (330ml bottle/can)
• Glass of wine (175ml house)
• Three course evening meal for two with bottle of house wine
• Return bus or train transfer from airport to city centre
• 48-hour travel card
• Sightseeing city bus tour
• Visit to top tourist heritage attraction
• Visit to top museum
• Visit to top art gallery
• Two nights’ three-star accommodation for two adults

It found UK travellers heading to the Lithuanian capital could enjoy a two-night trip for just over £100.

The cheapest city breaks

Here’s what a typical holiday basket cost for each of the 28 cities surveyed, starting with the cheapest.

Prices have plummeted in three quarters of the cities looked at in the annual survey.

Post Office Money says this is thanks to an increasingly powerful pound which means city holidaymakers will have up to 22% more to spend than a year ago. This equates to around £90 extra on a £500 transaction.

The newest Eurozone member Lithuania topped the Post Office Money survey after registering a 15% fall year-on-year in the cost of a holiday basket in Vilnius.

The city has pushed last year’s number one Budapest (£119.77) into second cheapest destination for city travellers.

At £100.04 prices in Vilnius were well under half those of traditional city hotspots Paris (£261.39), Rome (£276.83) and Amsterdam (£288.66).

For the third consecutive year Stockholm is Europe’s most expensive city, though prices for UK visitors are down over 14%.

The most expensive cities out of the whole survey are Boston (£385.33) and New York (£370.56). Sterling is currently worth 9.4% less against the dollar year-on-year, but Post Office Money says price falls in both cities help to bridge the gap.

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Eastern European cities dominate

For the seventh year running Eastern European cities offer the best value for bargain hunters, taking seven of the top 10 places in the survey.

After Vilnius and Budapest comes Riga (£120.39), which recorded the largest drop in prices of 18.8% allowing the destination to surge ahead of Lisbon and Prague, from sixth place to third.

Completing the Baltic trio along with Vilinus and Riga is Estonian capital Tallinn (£131.28), which recorded a fall of 11.5% in prices to secure fourth place.

But challenging the stranglehold of Eastern European cities for value is Athens (£131.35). The city is new to the survey and enters the fray in an impressive fifth position. The low cost of eating out (£29.15 for two) makes the city the cheapest in Western Europe, snatching the positon from Lisbon which drops to eighth place.

Dubrovnik has risen from eighth position to sixth this year off the back of low meal costs. At £33.52 for two, these are down 30%. Together with a stronger pound, costs are 13.4% lower.

Prague (£141.24) has fallen to seventh position as accommodation and sightseeing costs creep up. But the Czech capital is still cheapest for meals and drinks. A meal out costs just £23.94 for two, while a bottle of beer is £1.13 and you can get a coffee or Coca-Cola for £1.08.

Two newcomers to the survey Krakow (£144.96) and Strasbourg (£169.60) complete the top ten.

Strasbourg shows it’s possible to have an affordable trip in France. It has a holiday basket which is over a third cheaper than capital Paris.

City costs at a glance

Here’s how the holiday basket costs differed on accommodation, getting around and sightseeing.

Accommodation

Riga offers the cheapest rate for a two-night stay in a three-star city centre hotel during April at £36 - under half the cost of 20 other cities.

The same type of accommodation in Copenhagen (£145), Rome (£155) and Amsterdam (£174) will set you back over four times more.

Tallinn (£42), Vilnius (£47), Budapest (£51), Athens (£54) and Dubrovnik (£55) also offered affordable stays for two nights.

Getting around

48-hour travel cards which can cut the cost of getting around were cheapest in Riga and Tallinn where they were well under £4.

In contrast a travel card in Venice costs over £22.

Sightseeing bus tours ranged from £8-£20 in most European cities but cost as little as £6 in Dubrovnik or as much as £29 in London.

Airport to city centre transfers cost £2 or less in Krakow, Vilnius, Riga and Prague but up to £17.53 in Stockholm.

Culture costs

Copenhagen was the best value city for culture costs as its top heritage attractions, museums and art gallery are free.

Entry to three cultural attractions was also cheap in Vilnius (£3.47), Riga (£7.56), Krakow (£8.54) and Dublin (£8.60).

New York (£45) and Amsterdam (£33.63) charged the most to visit their cultural treasures.

What about flights?

One of the flaws in this survey is that flights are not included in the holiday basket cost.

This means if you’re picking a destination which is further away, or one which isn’t a regular tourist spot, you may end up paying more.

To ensure you get the best deal on your trip read: How to get a cheap flight.

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