Summer holidays: is it cheaper to go to the UK, France or Spain? | Consumer

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 flights to mainland Europe has decreased since 2019. It found that the average cost of a summer holiday flight from the UK to mainland Europe this August – booked in March this year – was £92 compared with £182 in 2019. When Which? compared six routes from London Stansted to destinations including Venice and Barcelona, it found all six were “significantly cheaper” in 2022.

That may help to bring a holiday in the sun a little further within reach.

However, as Rory Boland, the editor of Which? Travel, says: “It might not be a surprise if we see some individuals and families reconsidering their plans to go abroad after airlines cancelled hundreds of flights and consumers faced widespread disruption at airports.”

As ever, it is not a straightforward picture.

Guardian Money decided to do its own price test, based on a family of four. We priced up trips to three different seaside destinations: Brixham in Devon, Le Touquet in northern France, and the Málaga area of Spain.

We found comparable properties in Brixham and Le Touquet for almost exactly the same price (£765 and £778 for the week respectively).

With fuel prices at the pump so high, the distance you will be driving has become an important factor when working out the cost of a trip. In our price test you would pay more for driving from London to Devon and back than you would to get to northern France and then home.

Fortunately, there are lots of websites that can help you budget for this part of your trip. The RAC’s online mileage and fuel calculator can help you work out how much a UK journey will cost in terms of fuel. For those going further afield, sites such as ViaMichelin let motorists type in their destination in France, Spain or wherever, and will suggest a route and calculate the estimated fuel cost for the journey, plus the cost of any road tolls.

There are also lots of websites that will help you find the cheapest petrol stations along your route, such as plein-moins-cher.fr (which covers France) and fuelflash.eu.

Holidaying in the UK

“With raging inflation, most UK holidays are more expensive due to higher energy costs in the hotel or cottage you might be staying in, as well as higher catering costs making food and drink more expensive when eating in a restaurant,” says Paul Charles, the chief executive of the travel consultancy the PC Agency.

He adds that there is also strong demand for UK holidays, and has been since the pandemic began, which is pushing up prices. “However, you have to balance the higher UK cost with the fact you usually will have cheaper travel costs and no flight to book.”

Which? says you may be able to save money by checking out “lesser-known” locations. It asked members to rate seaside towns and says those with an average hotel rate of £100 a night or less included Llandudno in north Wales, Filey in North Yorkshire, Lynmouth in Devon, Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland, and Tynemouth in North Tyneside.