How far will your long-haul spending money go?
Each year, the Post Office Travel Money Long Haul Holiday Report highlights the top destinations where UK holidaymakers can get the best value for their money. And this time, Cape Town in South Africa has topped the list, overtaking the likes of Hoi An, Vietnam and Tokyo in Japan.
The research compared 32 far-flung destinations worldwide. We looked at the costs of common holiday items like a cup of coffee, a bottle of water, suncream and a three-course meal for two. Then we compared the totals to find out which destinations offer the best value.
Here, we’ve highlighted the key findings from our report, plus shared the top 10 long haul destinations offering great value for money. To dive deeper into the details, simply download the full report.
Key findings
- Cape Town, South Africa is now the top best-value destination surveyed. Thanks to falling local prices and a weaker South African rand, British holidaymakers are seeing costs drop by 12% compared to last year
- Tokyo, Japan has climbed to second place, with a 13.5% fall in costs. Meanwhile, last year’s best-value destination, Hoi An in Vietnam, has slipped to third place, after seeing prices rise by over 21%
- Another Far Eastern destination, Bali, Indonesia, holds steady in 4th place, despite prices being down 8% from last year
- Holidaymakers can expect to pay 14% more in Mombasa in Kenya than they did last year, partly down to the rising value of the Kenyan shilling. But the Kenyan resort remains good value for money, despite slipping from 2nd to 5th place
- Two new holiday hotspots have broken into the top 10 this year. Santiago, Chile, is now in 9th place, benefiting from a fall in the peso, while Montego Bay, Jamaica, secured the 10th spot
- Out of the 10 best-value spots, prices have dropped in eight. Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, saw the biggest fall, with prices down by 16.4% due to a weaker Egyptian pound
- Costs are also down by 14.8% in Colombo, Sri Lanka, which is now in 8th place. Delhi in India, has seen a slight dip of 1%, keeping its 6th place spot
- This year, three more Australian destinations, Sydney, Cairns and Melbourne, joined Darwin on our survey. While all four rank among the 10 most expensive destinations, Sydney has emerged as the most expensive destination in this year’s survey
- Although prices have gone up, many places have also seen year-on-year price reductions, largely thanks to a stronger British pound. This means Britons can expect to pay less for their winter holidays in more than half of the destinations surveyed
Top 10 best value long haul destinations
The destinations that came out cheapest overall for the holiday items we surveyed this year were:
| Destination | Total cost | % rise/fall since 2023 |
| 1. Cape Town, South Africa (3) | £52.66 | -12.0% |
| 2. Tokyo, Japan (5) | £64.07 | -13.5% |
| 3. Hoi An, Vietnam (1) | £64.80 | +21.1% |
| 4. Bali, Indonesia (-) | £67.70 | -7.9% |
| 5. Mombasa, Kenya (2) | £68.53 | +13.8% |
| 6. Delhi, India (-) | £74.90 | -1.0% |
| 7. Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt (8) | £76.47 | -16.4% |
| 8. Colombo, Sri Lanka (10) | £78.14 | -14.8% |
| 9. Santiago, Chile (14) | £88.92 | -14.3% |
| 10. Montego Bay, Jamaica (12) | £93.74 | -9.4% |
Figures in brackets show the positions in our 2023 survey.