Summer holidays: is it cheaper go to the UK, France or Spain?
Rising costs for accommodation, travel and eating out mean a UK holiday is no longer the bargain break it was – but has the balance shifted in favour of going abroad? Research by Guardian Money suggests that for some British holidaymakers, taking a trip overseas will not come at a premium.
Our snapshot of holidays in the UK, France and Spain found that for a family travelling from London, a trip across the Channel could come in at less than a break in Devon. Flying to Spain would cost considerably more but the promise of better weather will be worth the money for some.
Prices for UK stays have been going up but figures suggest that the typical cost of summer holiday accommodation in France and Spain has risen at a faster rate.
Data given to us by the comparison website Trivago shows that the average price of accommodation – covering hotels and self-catering options such as cottages – in France during June to August this year is £126 a night, compared with £106 during the same period in 2019. That is an increase of almost 19%. In Spain the average price is up by 16% – from £106 to £123 a night. However, in Málaga on the Costa del Sol, average prices have leapt 34%.
Those numbers don’t make the figure for the UK look so bad: a typical increase of 12% – from £98 in 2019 to £110 this summer – according to Trivago, which lists millions of accommodation options on its site.
Separate data provided to Guardian Money by the hotel tech provider allora.ai shows that average UK hotel prices for the summer of 2022 are up about 10% on last summer as hoteliers grapple with the same cost of living issues that households are dealing with.
While accommodation costs have clearly gone up, the consumer body Which? found that the average cost of
Read more on theguardian.com
