Updated 23 July 2026
What a holiday actually costs, by destination
Every figure below is an index against the EU average of 100. Lower is cheaper. A country at 90 costs roughly 10% less than the EU average for the same basket, before you factor in the exchange rate.
Cheapest overall
Türkiye
46.8 against an EU average of 100, or 53% below average.
Cheapest for a drink
Italy
Alcohol at 83.9, 16% below the EU average.
Dearest for a drink
Türkiye
Alcohol at 202.6, 103% above the EU average, despite being cheap in most other respects.
Cost index by destination
Eurostat price level indices for 2024, EU27 = 100. Sorted cheapest first on overall cost of living.
| Destination | Overall cost of living | Restaurants and hotels | Alcoholic beverages | Food and soft drinks | Local transport |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Türkiye | 46.8 | 68.9 | 202.6 | 76.7 | 63.5 |
| Bulgaria | 56.9 | 53.2 | 107.4 | 88.8 | 57.2 |
| Croatia | 73.3 | 95.4 | 125.6 | 103.7 | 87.0 |
| Greece | 83.0 | 86.4 | 154.0 | 105.8 | 89.5 |
| Portugal | 85.0 | 75.5 | 109.1 | 101.5 | 80.6 |
| Spain | 90.7 | 83.9 | 90.5 | 95.2 | 81.5 |
| Malta | 93.1 | 88.7 | 125.3 | 112.2 | 89.8 |
| Cyprus | 95.1 | 89.0 | 119.2 | 104.7 | 97.3 |
| Italy | 98.1 | 106.9 | 83.9 | 101.7 | 84.8 |
| France | 107.9 | 110.0 | 102.3 | 110.1 | 116.3 |
What the pound is worth today
European Central Bank reference rates for 23 July 2026. These move daily, and a few percent either way changes a family's spending money by more than most people expect.
| Currency | Per £1 | Where you will use it |
|---|---|---|
| EUR | 1.1721 | Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy, Croatia, Cyprus, Malta, France |
| PLN | 5.0716 | Poland |
| TRY | 63.0700 | Türkiye |
| USD | 1.3352 | United States and USD-priced resorts |
Common questions
Which European holiday destination is cheapest overall?
On Eurostat's 2024 price level indices, Türkiye is the cheapest of the main European holiday destinations at 46.8 against an EU average of 100, and France the most expensive at 107.9.
Where is a beer cheapest on holiday?
Among the main holiday destinations, alcohol is cheapest in Italy at 83.9 against an EU average of 100, and most expensive in Türkiye at 202.6. Türkiye surprises people: it is a cheap destination overall but taxes alcohol heavily.
How much spending money do I need for a week abroad?
Start from what you would spend on a comparable week at home, then scale it by the destination's price level on this page. A country at 90 costs roughly 10% less than the EU average for the same basket, before exchange-rate differences.
What is the pound worth right now?
As of 23 July 2026, £1 buys 1.1721 euro and 63.07 Turkish lira, using European Central Bank reference rates.
Use this data
Free to reuse with attribution. The full dataset is machine-readable at /data/costs.json.
Cite as: Compare the Heat, “Holiday Cost Index”, updated 23 July 2026. Available at https://comparetheheat.com/cost-of-a-holiday/
Method and sources. Price levels are Eurostat price level indices
(prc_ppp_ind, 2024, EU27 = 100), which measure what a comparable basket costs in each
country. Exchange rates are European Central Bank reference rates, republished via Frankfurter,
for 23 July 2026. Index figures are official; any cash figures shown are estimates derived by applying
a country's index to a single observed reference price, and are rounded. Prices vary within a
country, and a beachfront bar is not a back-street one.