The Most Expensive Destination in the Mediterranean Has Just Been Revealed

The Spanish holiday island of Ibiza is the most expensive destination in the Mediterranean, a new study has revealed. The Holiday Costs Barometer 2017, carried out by the UK’s Post Office, compared different European beach resorts on a range of different costs, analysing the price of everything from a bottle of beer to a three-course dinner for two. The results showed that Ibiza is more expensive than even well-established high-end resorts on the French Riviera and Italy’s Amalfi Coast.

The report compared the price of a basket of ‘typical holiday purchases’: a cup of coffee, a glass of wine, insect repellant, a bottle of beer, a can of cola, a bottle of water, a UK newspaper, a three-course dinner for two and a two-course lunch for two.

The price in Ibiza came to £131.02 (€149) compared to £118.51 (€135) in Sorrento, Italy, and £116.64 (€132.71) in Nice, France.

The report showed that Ibiza is considerably more expensive that nearby resorts such as its Balearic Island neighbour, Mallorca, where the average price of the holiday essentials came to just £88.98 (€101).

On the other end of the scale, Spain’s cheapest resorts are found on the Costa del Sol, according to the report. The stretch of Spain’s southern coast that is home to the city of Málaga and resorts like Torremolinos, Benalmádena and Marbella was the most reasonable place in Spain when it came to holiday essentials – just £60.65 (€69).

And if you’re looking for the ultimate cheap break, the Mediterranean’s cheapest resorts are found in Bulgaria – holiday essentials in Sunny Beach cost just £37.33 (€42.47), including £0.70 (€0.80) for a bottle of beer and £5.58 (€6.35) for lunch for two people.

The cheapest resorts in western Europe are found in Portugal’s Algarve, with holiday essentials cost £58.38 (€66.42). When broken down, that meant that lunch for two on the Algarve was just £13.10 (€14.90) compared to £29.70 (€33.79) in Ibiza.