The cheapest last-minute summer holiday destinations

Here's where you can get the best value for money on a last-minute summer holiday.

If you’ve left organising your summer holiday to the last minute – don’t panic.

We’ve rounded up the destinations where you can get the most value for your money when it comes to hotels in the UK and abroad, currency exchange and holiday spending.

So all you’ve got to do is take your pick and find the most affordable way to get there!

Hotels in the UK

You could save money by staying in the UK instead of going abroad this year. But while this may reduce your travel costs, the cost of accommodation could still be high.

Top10.com has found the cheapest hotels out of the UK’s seaside resorts, Heritage Cities and most popular destinations based on one night's stay in August.

A trip to Skegness is the cheapest seaside option at £59 a night compared to Newquay where on average a room will cost £204 a night.

But if it’s a Heritage City break you’re after Salisbury and Durham are cheapest, costing an average of £88 per night, compared to £195 in Oxford.

Of the top holiday destinations in the UK, London is unsurprisingly the most expensive with a room costing an average of £278 a night, whereas Blackpool is the cheapest of the most popular destinations with hotels charging an average of £59 a night.

Below are tables showing the full results.

Top 10 cheapest UK seaside hotels

Rank	Seaside town	Region	Average hotel room cost per night
1	Skegness	East	£59
2	Blackpool	North West	£59
3	Bridlington	North East	£63
4	Morecombe	North West	£64
5	Clacton-on-Sea	East	£68
6	Great Yarmouth	East	£69
7	Cleethorpes	East	£71
8	Weston-Super-Mare	South West	£72
9	Colwyn Bay	Wales	£72
10	Ilfracombe	South West	£75

Source: Top10.com

Based one night's stay at 3* and 4* hotels between Friday 8th and Saturday 9th August 2014

Top 10 most expensive UK seaside hotels

Rank	Seaside town	Region	Average hotel room cost per night
1	Newquay	South West	£204
2	Brighton	South East	£160
3	St Andrews	Scotland	£159
4	St Ives	South West	£150
5	Southsea	South Coast	£124
6	Cromer	East	£120
7	Bournemouth	South Coast	£117
8	Swanage	South Coast	£116
9	Littlehampton	South Coast	£113
10	Ryde	South Coast (Isle of Wight)	£112

Source: Top10.com

Based one night's stay at 3* and 4* hotels between Friday 8th and Saturday 9th August 2014

The cheapest and most expensive hotels in popular UK holiday destinations

Destination	Average hotel room cost per night
Blackpool	£59
The Peak District	£93
Snowdonia National Park	£96
The Cairngorms National Park	£96
The Jurassic Coast (Devon)	£99
The Lake District	£100
Exmoor	£102
The New Forest	£117
Cornwall	£121
York	£124
The Cotswolds	£131
Brighton	£160
Bath	£173
London	£278

Source: Top10.com

Based one night's stay at 3* and 4* hotels between Friday 8th and Saturday 9th August 2014

The cheapest and most expensive hotels in UK Heritage Cities

City	Average hotel room cost per night
Durham	£88
Salisbury	£88
Exeter	£89
Canterbury	£103
Lincoln	£112
York	£124
Stratford Upon Avon	£131
Chester	£131
Cambridge	£143
Bath	£173
Oxford	£195

Source: Top10.com

Based one night's stay at 3* and 4* hotels between Friday 8th and Saturday 9th August 2014

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Hotels abroad

If you're hankering after a trip abroad, accommodation is still likely to use up a large percentage of your holiday budget. So it’s worth finding out which destinations offer the cheapest deals and seeing if you can find an affordable way of getting there to save money.

Hotel comparison website Trivago has analysed the average price of one night’s stay in hotels across the world to find the cheapest and most expensive during July and August.

It found the cheapest hotels can be found in Kodaikanal in India, which on average will set you back £27 a night during July and August. Velden in Austria was found to be the most expensive place to stay during July and August with the price of a room costing on average £252 a night.

Below are the full results.

Top 10 cheapest hotels abroad

Rank	Country	Area	Average hotel room cost per night
1	India	Kodaikanal	£27
2	India	Calangute	£29
3	Thailand	Krabi	£32
4	India	Manali	£33
5	Bulgaria	Ravda	£33
6	Malaysia	Johor Bahru	£33
7	Thailand	Chiang Mai	£36
8	Indonesia	Malang	£37
9	India	Mount Abu	£37
10	Thailand	Rayong	£37

Source: Trivago

All prices are the average price per night during July and August 2014

Top 10 most expensive hotels abroad

Rank	Country	Area	Average hotel room cost per night
1	Austria	Velden	£252
2	Turkey	Belek	£224
3	Switzerland	Ascona	£215
4	Corsica, France	Porto-Vecchio	£209
5	Switzerland	Montreux	£206
6	USA	Boston	£195
7	Greece	Mykonos Town	£194
8	USA	New York City	£186
9	Switzerland	Locarno	£183
10	Switzerland	Lugano	£182

Source: Trivago

All prices are the average price per night during July and August 2014

If you’re looking online it’s worth checking a few different websites, and always reading the reviews before booking anything to make sure the hotel actually exists and looks how it was described!

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Holiday currency

Another way to gauge where you can grab a last-minute holiday bargain is by checking currency rates and how much bang you can get for your buck!

Right now your pounds will go furthest in Indonesia, followed by Jamaica and Turkey, according to data from Moneycorp.

Top 10 cheapest currencies

Rank	Country	Yearly increase*
1	Indonesia	33.30%
2	Jamaica	28.03%
3	Turkey	25.48%
4	South Africa	23.32%
5	Costa Rica	23.11%
6	Dominican Republic	19.71%
7	Russia	18.51%
8	Thailand	18.37%
9	Egypt	17.20%
10	East Caribbean	16.79%
11	Canada	16.60%
12	China	16.24%
13	Japan	16.23%

Source: Moneycorp

*Between 10th July 2013 and 10th July 2014

Getting your holiday money before you go away is also vital as most banks will charge you over the odds to withdraw cash from foreign cash machines or pay for foreign transactions on your card.

Check out The best credit cards to use on your travels and The best debit cards to use abroad.

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Holiday spending

Another element of your last-minute holiday plans to carefully consider is how expensive things are once you get there!

The cost of buying food, drinks and other items while you’re on holiday can really add up.

The Post Office has found the cheapest and most expensive destinations based on a basket of eight typical holiday purchases including a cup of coffee, a bottle of local beer, a can of Coca-Cola, a glass of wine, 1.5ml of bottled water, 200ml of sun cream, an English tabloid newspaper, insect repellent, a two-course lunch for two (excluding drinks) and a three-course meal with wine for two people.

When looking at spending alone, Bulgaria’s Sunny Beach is the cheapest destination with typical holiday purchases costing £44.05 altogether. In contrast holidaymakers in Sorrento, Italy pay over twice as much at £102 for the same items.

Below are the full results.

Top 10 cheapest holiday resorts

Rank	Destination	Resort	Total cost of holiday basket
1	Bulgaria	Sunny Beach	£43.26
2	Turkey	Marmaris	£54.11
3	Spain	Costa del Sol	£54.88
4	Spain	Costa Blanca	£55.18
5	Portugal	Algarve	£56.44
6	Cyprus	Paphos	£62.35
7	Greece	Crete	£66.47
8	Croatia	Istria	£71.86
9	USA	Orlando	£76.21
10	Greece	Corfu	£77.34

Source: Post Office

Prices relate to exchange rates in April 2014.

Top 10 most expensive holiday resorts

Rank	Destination	Resort	Total cost of holiday basket
1	Italy	Sorrento	£102.00
2	Italy	Tuscany	£100.52
3	Ibiza	Various	£97.23
4	France	Nice	£96.33
5	Turkey	Bodrum	£95.58
6	Lanzarote	Puerto del Carmen	£86.84
7	Malta	Sliema	£82.63
8	Croatia	Split	£80.57
9	Menorca	Ciutadella	£79.84
10	Majorca	Palma	£77.45

Source: Post Office

Prices relate to exchange rates in April 2014.

Wherever you end up going read How to avoid blowing your holiday budget to ensure you manage your money effectively once you’re on your trip.

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