The cost of a winter sun holiday does not end with flights and a hotel. Meals, drinks and other everyday purchases can add to the bill. Post Office Travel Money has compared those costs across 24 destinations in its 2026 Winter Sun Holiday Costs Barometer. Its results show a wide gap between the cheapest and most expensive places surveyed.
The Post Office priced the same eight purchases in every destination. They include a coffee, local beer, soft drink, glass of wine, bottled water, suncream and insect repellent. The eighth purchase is a three-course dinner for two with a bottle of wine. Prices came from tourist offices where possible, with online research used elsewhere. The totals were converted into pounds for the original ranking. The euro figures below are approximate conversions using the European Central Bank’s reference rate for 28 September 2026.
Cape Town takes first place, with the eight purchases costing around €67.89 in total. Mombasa, Kenya, follows at €74.21, putting two African destinations at the top of the ranking. Tokyo is third at €77.82, although it offers a different kind of winter break from a warm beach destination. The top ten also includes places in Asia, Europe and the Caribbean.
The ten cheapest destinations in the Post Office’s published table are:
- Cape Town, South Africa: €67.89
- Mombasa, Kenya: €74.21
- Tokyo, Japan: €77.82
- Colombo, Sri Lanka: €87.18
- Phuket, Thailand: €89.05
- Algarve, Portugal: €96.00
- Costa del Sol, Spain: €97.43
- Tenerife, Canary Islands: €101.95
- Punta Cana, Dominican Republic: €104.59
- Penang, Malaysia: €104.67
The gap between the two ends of the ranking is substantial. In Scarborough, Tobago, the same basket costs approximately €168.04. That is €100.15 more than in Cape Town for the eight purchases combined. It does not mean every meal or drink in Tobago costs more than twice as much. Visitors may spend differently depending on where they eat and shop, but the basket shows how much these selected costs can vary.
Asian destinations fill three of the top five places. Tokyo is the cheapest Asian destination in the survey, ahead of Colombo and Phuket. Its high position may surprise travellers looking specifically for warmth. Tokyo is a city break with a distinct winter season, rather than a tropical beach destination. Its place in the ranking reflects the cost of the purchases surveyed, not how suitable the weather is for sunbathing.
The Algarve is the cheapest European destination surveyed and ranks sixth overall. Spain’s Costa del Sol follows in seventh place, with Tenerife in eighth. These places offer European travellers alternatives to the longer journeys needed to reach the top five. Their winter weather varies, however. The Algarve and Costa del Sol generally offer mild conditions, while Tenerife is known for warmer winter weather.
Punta Cana is the only Caribbean destination in the top ten. The Post Office places it just ahead of Penang, with around eight euro cents separating their converted basket totals. At the expensive end of the survey, Scarborough is followed by St George’s, Grenada, at approximately €155.83. Funchal, Madeira, is next at approximately €151.11. Those figures cover the same eight purchases as the top-ten list.
For someone booking from Belgium, the basket is only one part of the budget. The euro amounts are conversions of prices collected for a UK survey, rather than prices collected separately for Belgian travellers. Flights, hotels, local transport and activities are not included. A long-haul destination with cheaper meals and drinks could still cost more for the whole trip than a European destination lower down the ranking. Travel dates and the length of the stay will also affect that comparison.
