Bulgaria & Turkey prove most affordable in latest holiday report

The Post Office has revealed the findings of its most recent Family Holiday Report, which compares prices on numerous items across 16 popular holiday destinations.

A summer's day on the Turquoise Coast in Turkey - © Roxana - Fotolia.com

The report's Beach Barometer compared the prices of 12 items, including sun cream, insect repellent, buckets and spades, inflatable lilos, a three-course family meal, and specific alcoholic to see which offered the best value.

This year's Beach Barometer, produced in partnership with TUI, shows that Sunny Beach in Bulgaria (£85.63 for all 12 items) and Marmaris in Turkey (£86.07) are, yet again, two of the most affordable destinations for families to go on holiday.

This finding is interesting as they are both outside of the Eurozone and there's a 20% increase in prices between those two places and the European destination in third place, the Algarve in Portugal (£108.47).

Overall and unsurprisingly, costs have risen since 2019 with the following destinations seeing the biggest percentage increase: Crete (37.7% to £161.86), the Algarve (11.9% to £108.47), Costa del Sol (22.6% to £127.33), Porec, Croatia (10.5% to £154.75) and Marmaris (10.6% to £86.07).

However, these figures aren't black and white, as fluctuations in currencies have helped to level things out. Ibiza (£186.47) proved to be the most expensive.

The top 10 best value family holiday destinations:

Position	Destination	Costs
1	Sunny Beach, Bulgaria	£85.63
2	Marmaris, Turkey	£86.07
3	Algarve, Portugal	£108.47
4	Funchal, Madeira	£125.23
5	Costa del Sol, Spain	£127.33
6	Corfu, Greece	£133.78
7	Majorca, Balearic Islands	£138.81
8	Kos, Greece	£140.28
9	Rhodes, Greece	£143.00
10	Lanzarote, Canary Islands	£143.41

The above report was published in July 2022.

Ready to book your 2022 escape? Check out the latest deals on holidays, flights and more to the above great value destinations today.

Post Office's Holiday Money Report 2022 reveals best value destinations

The release of the Post Office's annual Holiday Money Report 2022 makes for interesting reading, especially if you're looking to make your money go a little bit further this year.

The Worldwide Holiday Costs Barometer, whose findings are based on surveys carried out in 36 destinations, gives a detailed breakdown of the average prices for a number of everyday items such as a cup of coffee, a bottle of beer and suncream.

Interestingly, if perhaps not surprisingly, many major holiday destinations have seen a drop in prices, which is good news for holidaymakers.

This year, Turkey and Bulgaria are the overall winners when it comes to offering great value. In Marmaris, prices are down nearly 37%, which has propelled it ahead of the previous title holder, Sunny Beach in Bulgaria.

Meanwhile, within the Eurozone, the Algarve in Portugal remains cheapest and sits in third place behind Sunny Beach, although ranking some 25% cheaper than the Costa del Sol which is in sixth place.

As for long-haul destinations, Cape Town in South Africa is the most affordable with prices there down some 1.6%, although the inevitable hike in fuel costs that will affect the price of flights may offset any on-the-ground benefits.

As for where's pricey, Reykjavik in Iceland takes the top spot, followed closely by Barbados and Dubai, which have all seen price increases of over 20%. The cost of living has also increased in Sri Lanka (26%) and Mexico, especially Cancun, which is up 22%.

The top 10 best value destinations are as follows:

Position	Destination	Costs
1	Marmaris, Turkey	£26.13
2	Sunny Beach, Bulgaria	£26.19
3	Algarve, Portugal	£44.39
4	Cape Town, South Africa	£53.23
5	Paphos, Cyprus	£56.44
6	Costa del Sol, Spain	£59.56
7	Mombassa, Kenya	£61.30
8	Funchal, Madeira	£64.05
9	Sliema, Malta	£65.35
10	Orlando, USA	£67.01