World's priciest and cheapest cities named

Pricey ... if you're looking for a cheap holiday, don't head to Paris. Photo: AFP

To save a few dollars on your next trip, stay clear of cities like Paris, London and New York and look towards Asia.
Those are the findings of a study released last week by a major travel website that calculated the cost of visits to the world's top 50 tourist destinations.
The first 'TripIndex' by the website TripAdvisor ranked the cities by calculating some basic traveller expenses: the average cost of one night in a four-star hotel, an eight-kilometre taxi ride, a large cheese pizza and a dry martini.

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The most expensive international city was Paris, with a one-day total of $US429 ($A401) in expenses, followed by Zurich ($US379), London ($US373), Tokyo ($US371) and New York ($US367).
The least expensive international city was Bangkok, Thailand, with those expenses totaling $US112, with Beijing ($US120), Egypt's Sharm El Sheikh ($US128) and Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur ($US134) also among the cheapest.
Hotel and taxi costs were key factors in determining the cheapest destinations.
One night in a four-star hotel in Bangkok was just $US86 – compared to over $US300 in six of the ten most expensive world destinations.
While an eight-kilometre taxi journey costs under $US5 in six of the ten cheapest destinations, the same journey costs around $US40 in the likes of Zurich and Tokyo.
Despite what many locals might expect, the only Australian destination on the list, Sydney, fell close to the middle, with an average tourist's day expected to cost about $US190. This put Sydney 24th on the list, behind cities like Singapore, Rome and Barcelona.
The 50 cities included in the survey were selected based on the places with the largest number of tourist arrivals.
A similar survey earlier this month named Brisbane as Australia's most expensive city for tourists, based on the prices of the most common items purchased at hotels. Melbourne was second most expensive with Sydney third.
Best value international cities
1. Bangkok
2. Beijing
3. Sharm El Sheikh
4. Kuala Lumpur
5. Sofia
6. Budapest
7. Auckland
8. Marrakesh
9. Warsaw
10. Dubai
Most expensive international cities
1. Paris
2. Zurich
3. London
4. Tokyo
5. New York City
6. Rio de Janeiro
7. Moscow
8. Kiev
9. Amsterdam
10. Stockholm


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