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Travelling to certain destinations can put a hole in one’s pocket. DayBreakHotels carried out research to find out the most expensive city in the world to be a tourist.
The platform researched seven major tourism spots around the world (Paris, New York, Milan, London, Rome, Dubai, and Berlin) and ranked them based on the cost of amenities like hotel rooms, beers, sightseeing and eating out.
The table below shows the average cost of each amenity by the city and the total cost overall.
| City | Average cost of a single hotel room | Average cost of airport transfers | Average cost of tourist attractions | Average cost of fine dining | Average cost of mid-range meal | Average cost of cheap meal | Average cost of a beer | Total cost |
| Rome | £211.80 | £21.91 | £5.22 | £63.00 | £20.22 | £7.27 | £4.48 | £333.90 |
| Berlin | £137.10 | £28.91 | £0.00 | £137.20 | £24.40 | £12.23 | £3.14 | £342.98 |
| Dubai | £198.00 | £17.51 | £6.02 | £62 | £42.70 | £13.45 | £9.00 | £348.68 |
| London | £246.60 | £32.17 | £12.72 | £96.20 | £16.80 | £10 | £4.08 | £418.57 |
| Milan | £253.00 | £16.82 | £4.13 | £118 | £32.80 | £14.00 | £4.48 | £443.23 |
| New York | £292.70 | £34.65 | £10.09 | £141.20 | £42.40 | £8.90 | £6.50 | £536.344 |
| Paris | £375.90 | £24.68 | £10.20 | £192.80 | £24.26 | £17.09 | £6.27 | £651.20 |
In conclusion, Rome came out on top as the cheapest city surveyed, with hotels, tourist attractions and eating out affordable across the board, compared to other cities.
Hotels within one mile of Rome’s central train station – Stazione Termini – cost an affordable average of just GBP 211.80 per night; which is over GBP 100 cheaper than hotels near the Gare du Nord in Paris, which can cost upwards of GBP 375.90 per night.
Rome’s most popular tourist attractions are also hugely affordable; as despite paying to enter the Colosseum or the Vatican, you can see popular sights like the Trevi Fountain and Pantheon for free.
For keen sightseers looking to travel on a budget, Berlin is also a winner. Berlin is by far the cheapest city when it comes to attractions, as most tourists’ top picks – including the Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag Building, East Side Gallery, and war memorials – can be experienced free of charge.
Berlin is also the cheapest city to travel to when it comes to hotel stays and beers. The city’s score was greatly impacted by the steep cost of fine dining; so should tourists avoid the fancy restaurants, they’re in for an extremely affordable trip to Berlin.
At the other end of the scale, DayBreakHotels found Paris to be by far the most expensive city to travel to, with hotels and eating out costs more than in any other city surveyed. The top five fine dining restaurants in Paris cost an average of GBP 192.80 per head (more than in Rome and Dubai combined). The three-Michelin-starred Epicure restaurant in Paris offers a set menu which costs diners a staggering GBP 342 each. In Dubai, fine dining costs just GBP 62 per person on average.
Even the cheapest restaurant options in Paris cost approximately GBP 17.09 for a meal, meaning travellers on a budget will be hard pushed to find a culinary bargain. Cheap eats in Paris are GBP10 more expensive than in Rome, which came out on top for inexpensive food. A quick bite in a top-rated affordable restaurant in Italy’s capital will cost tourists as little as GBP 7.25.
DayBreakHotels’ chief marketing officer, Matteo Cellini, said: “Our research paints a really interesting picture of the tourism landscape in these popular international cities. Paris is incredibly popular, yet is by far the least affordable when it comes to staying somewhere central and eating out. Those travelling to Paris would do well to stay nearer the edge of the city and self-catering, perhaps visiting a fancy hotel for the day or treating themselves to one or two high-end meals.”
