That spell of unseasonable warmth in the UK is so far gone that you can’t even remember what it felt like to sweat out half your body-weight while sat at your desk.
The traditional July rain has arrived, and you’ve realised that, actually, no one’s forcing you to stay on this miserable island all summer.
Eventually Brexit might ruin all that too, potentially shitting all over those cheap EU flights you’ve got so accustomed to. But for now, there are plenty of European destinations which – once you get there – will be very affordable.
The Post Office’s Holiday Costs Barometer has provided handy details of all the most important parts of a trip abroad other than the basics like flights and accommodation.
Looking at 19 European beach resorts – all but one in the EU – the barometer provides the amounts you can expect to spend on necessities like coffee, beer, wine, soft drinks, meals and even a newspaper from back home, so you can keep up on the week’s depressing events while sat on your sun-lounger.
The cheapest – by quite some distance – is Bulgaria’s Sunny Beach, where you can pick up a beer for 70p and a three-course dinner for two will set you back less than £20.
In addition to the food and drink essentials, there’s a noticeable gap when it comes to how much you’ll have to fork out for sun cream and insect repellent – both of which can prove invaluable depending on where you’re staying.
It might be better, for example, to stock up on the former at home if you’re off to the Costa Blanca (where it typically costs £12.40) or Ibiza (£15.72). Meanwhile, if you’re looking to keep insects at bay, your cheapest options are Crete (£1.92) and Zante (£2.18) while Ibiza (£7.43) and Sorrento (£6.99) are the most expensive.
The best value beach resorts, based on combined prices for a cup of coffee, bottle of beer/lager, Coca Cola/Pepsi, glass of wine, bottle of water, suncream, insect repellent, UK newspaper, three-course dinner for two and two-course lunch for two:
Sunny Beach (Bulgaria) - £37.33
Algarve (Portugal) - £58.38
Costa del Sol (Spain) - £60.65
Marmaris (Turkey) - £68.13
Paphos (Cyprus) - £74.32
Costa Blanca (Spain) - £75.56
Porec (Croatia) - £79.08
Limassol (Cyprus) - £79.89
Crete (Greece) - £81.84
Zante (Greece) - £82.36
Kefalonia (Greece) - £84.29
Mallorca (Spain) - £88.98
Corfu (Greece) - £90.05
Sliema (Malta) - £95.31
Lisbon coast (Portugal) - £99.33
Zadar (Croatia) - £108.89
Nice (France) - £116.64
Sorrento (Italy) - £118.51
Ibiza (Spain) - £131.02
