Zurich, Switzerland, is the most expensive place on Earth for tourists, according to research by airport transfer company Hoppa.
And the cheapest of 84 cities rated is Sofia in Bulgaria. The survey threw up quite a few surprises.
According to the study, it will cost an average £170.43 (about US$213 or A$277) per person for one night’s stay, including meals, drink and entertainment, in Zurich. In Bulgaria, the average is just £38.21.
Also at the bargain end of the scale are Cairo (£39.09), Cartegena in Colombia (£39.70), Bucharest, Romania (£43.87) and Antalya, Turkey (£43.97).
At the expensive end, Zurich was followed by New York (£157.29), Copenhagen (£150.72), Oslo (£147.36) and Stockholm (£131.14).
Breaking it down, New York was the dearest place to stay in a hotel, and Sunny Beach, Bulgaria the cheapest.
When it comes to a beer, the cheapest place was Manila in the Philippines (38p a pint), compared to £6.39 in Doha, Qatar. Other cheap drinking places were Siem Reap, Cambodia; Beijing; Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon); and Caracas, Venezuela. Dear beers were found in Oslo, Dubai, Paris and Singapore.
The cheapest coffee was in Kiev, Ukraine, and the dearest in Copenhgen; and the bargain burger was in Manila, with the most expensive in Venice.
When it comes to transport, Cairo cabs are cheap, but those in Auckland and Helsinki are not.
The details of the extensive price survey are here.
Of course,anybody who has been to any of these places would recognise these as conservative estimates. I’ve found that it’s easy to spend a lot of money in very cheap places.
