The best bargain destination for an autumn mini-break

Updated
Woman in Paris with Eiffel Tower in the background
Woman in Paris with Eiffel Tower in the background



Autumn is a key mini-break season. The school holidays are over, and singletons and couples without children are free to make the most of cheaper prices and quieter hotels. Not everywhere is such a bargain, however, and a new study has tracked down the most and least expensive European cities to stay in this autumn.

Most expensive

Hotel Info found that the priciest destination in Europe is London, where the average night in a hotel costs £144.53. This is up 7.35% from a year ago, and demonstrates the fact that being such a huge tourist and business destination means there's never really a quiet time for a London bargain.

Further afield, the second priciest place to stay is Copenhagen, which is £120.87 a night. This is actually down 2.48% since last year, but goes to show why Copenhagen is considered such an expensive destination (even before you see the astronomical cost of beer). Stockholm was in third place, at £113.40. This is up 2.41% from last year, and demonstrates why Stockholm is unlikely to lose its reputation for expense in the near future either.
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Fifth place was taken by Paris, where a night costs an average of £111.87. Travellers may be surprised not to see it closer to the top of the list (last year it was in second place after London) but Brits in Paris have benefited hugely from currency fluctuations that saw the price fall 10.1% in a year.

Bargains

Bargains down the bottom of the list cost half of these pricey destinations. Madrid holds the title of the cheapest destination in the study - with a night costing £57.78: this is a 15.08% drop since last year. Second placed Vienna costs £64.55 a night - down 11.93%.

Warsaw comes in third, and is unique in the list of cheapest destination in having seen a price increase over the past year (up 3.11% to £64.95 a night). The rest of the top five are made up of Rome (at £67.73) and Moscow (at £69.90). Moscow has seen an astonishing price fall - down 35.66% in a year. The experts at Hotel Info credited the drop in the oil price and Ukraine sanctions for a change in mood that has depressed prices.

Cheaper than the UK

Separate research shows that all these great destinations are cheaper than even affordable British cities including Coventry (£74.75) and Birmingham (£73.66).

This means that if you are staying for three nights, it may be worth considering travelling further.

If you picked Madrid (the cheapest destination) instead of London for a three-night break, you would spend £260.25 less on your accommodation. Skyscanner.net shows that at the time of writing, return flights are available at £152 for two people if you fly out on Friday 13 November and back on Monday 16th. It would mean that a trip to Madrid would work out £108.25 cheaper than a London break - even after flights were included.

It seems, therefore, that while the exchange rate is in our favour, there's never been a better excuse for a mini break overseas this autumn.

When to Take Mini Break Holidays
When to Take Mini Break Holidays



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