Britain's most expensive staycation spots

You might think you are doing the right thing by cutting back and opting for a staycation. However, new figures from the Office for National Statistics show that if you pick the wrong place in the UK for a break - and take the traditional options when it comes to accommodation and attractions - you could end up spending more than you would on a bargain trip overseas.
%VIRTUAL-ArticleSidebar-holidays%
The researchers identified the places in the UK where people tended to spend the most on a day-trip. This was topped by Cardiff at £50.09 per day, followed by the Isle of Anglesey at £48.92 and Brighton and Hove at £46.49.

The top ten
Cardiff (£50.09)
Isle of Anglesey (£48.92)
Brighton and Hove (£46.49)
Greater London (£38.04)
Cornwall (£36.95)
Dorset (£36.61)
Powys (£35.96)
York (£35.67)
Cumbria (£35.12)
East Sussex (£34.50)

The full cost

These figures don't even include the cost of travel and accommodation, which make a trip even more expensive. Take Cardiff, for example; Trivago says that the average cost of hotel accommodation is £85 a night. If you assume two people travelled from London by train, you could add £186.80 for two off-peak return tickets, plus the average daily spend, and a week would set you back £1,490.26. For less than that, OnTheBeach.co.uk shows you can get seven nights all-inclusive in a four star hotel in Tenerife (for £1,196.4 for two).

In London, meanwhile, accommodation is even more expensive. Hotels.com says the average four star room would set you back £128 a night. Add in the daily costs and the price of a train ticket for two from Manchester at £82.40 each, and you're looking at £1,593.36 for a week for two people. For that money you could take three people to Tenerife.

Stay here for less

Of course, as the ONS research itself points out, tourism is vital for these 'hot spots', so before we snap up some bargain trips to the sun, it's worth bearing in mind there are plenty of ways to make your staycation much cheaper. You could consider finding a camping spot on the outskirts, and commuting into your chosen holiday spot. In destinations like Anglesey you can find some wonderful options at the heart of the action.

In bigger cities you can look into airbnb for cheap rooms to rent, or use a site like homeswap to exchange your property with someone in your chosen destination and get your accommodation for free.

Before you travel, you can also seek out cheap or free activities and attractions - or special online offers. If you mix in attractions you have to pay for with days on the beach or freebies, you can easily bring your spend down to a small fraction of the average.

With any of these options, you can self-cater, which dramatically brings down the daily cost of a trip, so all you need to factor in is your journey to the destination, the weekly groceries, and a few attractions for your stay - and two of you could spend an exciting week of staycationing for a fraction of the ONS average.

But what do you think? Will you be staycationing this year, or are you tempted to hunt down a cheap break in the sun?