A three-course dinner for two with house wine costs £39.26 in Cape Town. That same meal in Scarborough, Tobago runs £119.26. The £80 difference is not a rounding error — it is the clearest single illustration of how far sterling can stretch, or shrink, depending on where you book.
Post Office Travel Money‘s 2026 Winter Sun Holiday Costs Barometer ranks 24 destinations by a fixed basket of eight everyday items: filter coffee, local beer, cola, wine, water, sun cream, insect repellent and a three-course dinner for two with wine. Prices are converted into sterling using September exchange rates. Flights and accommodation are excluded. The barometer measures what you spend at the destination — not what it costs to get there or sleep there.
Where Your Pound Goes Furthest
Exchange-rate shifts have reshuffled the value rankings since March, opening up opportunities for travellers willing to look beyond familiar favourites.
Prices fell in eight of the 24 destinations surveyed, according to the barometer. Cape Town’s basket dropped 9.7% since March; Punta Cana’s fell 11.1%. These are meaningful movements — the kind that make a real difference across a week of meals, drinks and sundries.
The top five destinations by basket cost:
- Cape Town, South Africa — £58.24 (dinner for two: £39.26; basket down 9.7%)
- Mombasa, Kenya — £63.66 (dinner for two: £42.78; the pound has reportedly strengthened against the Kenyan shilling)
- Tokyo, Japan — £66.76 (dinner for two: £48.50; basket up 7.7% but still the lowest-cost Asian destination surveyed)
- Colombo, Sri Lanka — £74.79
- Phuket, Thailand — £76.39 (basket up just 1.8%)
Tokyo warrants a brief caveat: it is a winter city break, not a beach escape, and sits in this survey as a value comparison rather than a conventional sun destination. That said, the numbers speak clearly — it remains the most affordable Asian option in the ranking.
For travellers who want warmth without a long-haul flight, the European shortlist is solid. The Algarve (£82.35), Costa del Sol (£83.58) and Tenerife (£87.46) are the three cheapest European options surveyed — familiar, reachable and genuinely competitive on everyday costs. At the other end of the table, Scarborough, Tobago’s basket of £144.15 is 38% more expensive than Punta Cana’s, making it the priciest destination in the entire survey. For a sense of how basket costs compare in another region, see what rural Germany offers holidaymakers on a budget.
Read the Small Print
The basket ranking is a useful starting point — but it is not a complete picture of what your holiday will cost.
The barometer’s lowest score does not guarantee the cheapest holiday overall. Cape Town leads on everyday spending; flights from the UK to South Africa are a separate calculation entirely. Before assuming the ranking translates directly to your bank balance, cross-reference:
- airfares
- accommodation
- airport transfers
- travel insurance
The data rewards comparison over habit. Winter sun destinations that felt affordable three years ago may have shifted — and the barometer is a practical tool for spotting where genuine value now sits.
