The cheapest holiday destinations

Find out where you can pick up a bargain holiday this summer!

Portugal and Spain are the cheapest places to visit this summer, following dramatic reductions in prices by local retailers and restaurant owners and the strengthening of the pound against the Euro.

The Post Office has found that a typical basket of goods will cost you 41% less in Portugal and 39% less in Spain this summer than it would have cost you last year.

Meanwhile, the cost of buying the same basket in Egypt and the USA has risen by more than 35%.

The table below shows how much a typical basket of goods costs in various popular destinations, compared to this time last year.

The research follows news that the prices on thousands of holidays look set to be slashed, after Thomas Cook posted a profit warning and one of Europe’s biggest travel operators, TUI Travel, announced sales were down 8%. The company still has 650,000 flights and holidays left to sell to UK consumers this year, with price reductions likely to be introduced over the coming weeks.

The travel industry is blaming the drop in demand for foreign holidays on the travel chaos caused by the volcanic ash cloud, sunny local weather and consumer anxiety about tax rises, public spending cuts and the economy.

The biggest price cuts look set to happen after the August Bank Holiday weekend, but even now, last-minute holidaymakers to Greece, Majorca, and Ibiza can find discounts of up to 40%.

Other top destinations tipped for bargain-hunters include eastern Mediterranean spots such as Paphos, Crete, Zante and Turkey, where a typical family holiday costs £232 less than last year, according to The Co-Operative Travel.

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