The Post Office Travel Money Cost of Culture report examined the cost of top attractions in 17 cities, as suggested by the local tourist boards, for August 2016. According to the Post Office, which polled more than 2,000 UK adults in April, around 46% of Brits take regular city break holidays.
Of these, 44% said the key reason for visiting a city was for a cultural break, and almost half (46%) said that good museums and galleries were a destination decider. The report found that overall, Warsaw was the cheapest, as a result of both currency fluctuations in the last year and price changes implemented by the attractions themselves.
This is despite sterling buying nearly 16% fewer Polish zloty than the same time a year ago. Last year Dublin was the cheapest destination, while Warsaw was in fourth place. Visits to Warsaw’s top six attractions in August 2016, which included the ballet, opera, a concert, museum, a gallery and a heritage attraction, cost a total of £64.52, 40% less than in 2015.
These prices were the lowest since 2008, when the first survey was conducted. At that time, the same six cultural attractions in Warsaw cost £75.28 – 17% more. Overall, prices were down in five of the 10 cities that the Post Office surveyed compared with 2008, including London, Berlin and Paris. Despite this, Warsaw’s total of under £65 was still less than a quarter of the top six sights in the most expensive cities surveyed for 2016, including Barcelona (where they cost a total of £276.71 each) and New York (£303.94).
Bargain Budapest
Second on the list – both this year and last – was Budapest, where the top six cultural attractions cost £78.06.
A year ago these same attractions cost 16% more (£92.91). Prices in Budapest are also now at their lowest since 2008. It now costs £8.54 to see a Hungarian National Ballet performance – less than a quarter of the cost of a ballet performance in August last year. Last year’s top contender, Dublin, this year ranked third, with visits to the top six attractions costing £119.77 – this is despite its top museum and art gallery being free to enter.
Its ballet, opera and music performances mean overall its cultural attractions are 55% pricier than last year. Most expensive on the list for its cultural attractions was New York, for the second year running. The total to visit the top cultural sites in New York in 2016 – that’s the American Museum of Natural History; the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Statue of Liberty; New York City Ballet; Metropolitan Opera; and New York Philharmonic – has dropped to £303.94. This is £187 (38%) less than in August 2015.
Paris price fall
Prices are similarly down 9% in Paris, with the French capital ranking ninth on the list out of the 17, and the six top attractions (the Louvre; Musee d’Orsay; Notre Dame; Theatre du Chatelet; Paris Opera and Paris Orchestra) costing £228.21. London ranked 15th, third from the bottom, despite its top museum and art gallery (the British Museum and National Gallery) being free.
Overall, a visit to the capital’s top cultural attractions is 11% lower than last year. Andrew Brown of Post Office Travel Money said: “This means arts lovers can get to see a world-renowned orchestra or a top opera or dance company at very reasonable prices, despite the falling value of sterling.”
