Majorca has topped a list of the best value-for-money destinations for self-caterers.

The price-comparison table, published by Post Office Travel Money, found that a basket of 20 supermarket-bought household items for a one-week family holiday cost only £56.67 on the Spanish island, which can be easily reached from major UK airports such as Stansted.

This compares with £104.29 for the same basket in Cyprus.

The Portuguese Algarve was found to be only slightly more expensive than Majorca at £57.78. Spain’s Costa Blanca was the third cheapest destination of the 12 holiday regions surveyed, with the basket costing £65.31, followed by Minorca at £66.71.

The second most expensive destination after Cyprus was Corfu at £100.31, while the items cost £89.08 in Brighton.

The table also compared prices of individual food items and revealed that a self-catering family of four on the island of Gozo in the Mediterranean only had to pay £3.55 to buy bread for a week, while holidaymakers in Tuscany had to pay nearly four times that amount at £13.25.

Self-caterers in Portugal paid less than half for cheese than those in Cyprus, and those holidaying in Corfu had to pay three times more for butter than those in Majorca.

Some of the most expensive beer was found in Brighton, while holidaymakers in Italy paid twice as much for pizza as those in Portugal, and milk was found to be four times more expensive in Cyprus than in Majorca.

Copyright Press Association 2012

Holidaymakers who think twice about trip destinations could be rewarded with savings of up to £450, research suggests.

A survey carried out by Post Office Travel Money revealed that although people perceive countries like Spain and Turkey to be best value, money actually goes a lot further in countries such as Portugal and Bulgaria.

Based on a one-week summer break for two, including the cost of meals and drinks out, Bulgaria was a better deal than Spain, offering this package for £955 compared to a bill of £1,088.

Meanwhile, Croatia emerged as a surprisingly dear destination with a one week holiday likely to cost two people a hefty £1,361.

The same length of stay would cost just £904 in Portugal.

Many of the holidaymakers surveyed wrongly believed that heading to Turkey or Spain from the airport was their best bet, with only 15% in the know about the benefits of vacations in Bulgaria, whose capital Sofia is easily accessible from Stansted or Heathrow.

Andrew Brown, head of Post Office Travel Money said: “We always advise people to take all holiday costs into account when choosing a destination and this research shows why that is so important.

“In tough times, it is hard to stay loyal when there are big savings to be made by swapping to a destination that is over a third cheaper.”

Passengers can once again fly to Iceland from London Stansted after Wow Air and Iceland Express introduced services to Reykjavik – the country’s capital.

Britons who fancy a holiday in the island country – which takes approximately three hours to fly to from the UK – could use one of many bus services to Stansted to ensure they get to the airport on time without having to worry about navigating through traffic.

Stansted’s airline, route and marketing manager, Paul Haynes, said: “We’re delighted Iceland Express has returned to Stansted and welcome Wow Air onto our network.

“Iceland has always been a popular destination and these new services are not only great news for Iceland’s tourist industry but will be a boost for Icelanders looking for convenient connections to London and wider East of England for both business and leisure travel.

“With afternoon and evening departures the services offer flexibility to passengers and we wish both airlines every success with their new Stansted connections.”

For those not in the know, Iceland is situated in the North Atlantic Ocean and is renowned for its geysers, glaciers, whale watching, geothermal Blue Lagoon and erupting volcano Eyjafjallajökull.

The news of the new flight service to Iceland comes after it was revealed by BAA that the popularity of southern European countries such as Spain and Greece as holiday destinations is on the decline.

In May, the number of passengers flying from Heathrow to Greece fell by 11.3% compared to a year ago, while passengers to and from Portugal and Italy fell by 11.4% and 9.2% respectively. A 2.5% decline was recorded in passengers flying to and from Spain for a holiday.

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Falling car hire and villa rental prices across Europe could convince more people to opt for self-catering holidays, a survey has suggested.

It is thought that because it can now cost up to 40% less to rent a car in some European destinations than it did two years ago, an increasing number of people will opt for self-catering holidays rather than expensive hotel breaks.

A study by TravelSupermarket revealed that car hire rates across popular European holiday destinations such as Malaga, Alicante, Murcia, Palma, Tenerife and Faro have fallen considerably since 2010, with bargains to be had this Easter, Whit week and in August.

Holidaymakers can save up to 26% on car hire during Whit week across eight European destinations, while prices have fallen by 34% in Spain since 2010. In Malaga, for example, it costs £63.89 to rent a small car for eight days, which equates to less than £8 per day.

Self-catering holidays in Greece could become considerably cheaper as villa rental prices could fall by as much as 20%.

Holidaymakers can save even more money by leaving the car at home prior to departure and taking a bus to the airport, before hiring a car when they get to their destination.

Experts say that prices have fallen considerably because people are booking their holidays later than usual to get the best deals and because of economic uncertainty in eurozone countries such as Spain, Portugal and Italy.

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Beleaguered eurozone countries with struggling economies are likely to benefit from the high numbers of British tourists this year, a survey has shown.

Flights are likely to embark from Stansted, Luton and Heathrow airports for destinations such as Spain, where 11% of Britons will spend their holidays this year, and Italy and Portugal, to where 3% and 2% of British tourists will travel respectively.

However, the research from TravelSupermarket shows that there has not been a sharp rise in the number of visitors from the UK to North African countries following the Arab Spring in 2011. And this trend looks set to continue throughout this year, as most Britons remain reluctant to take a holiday to the potentially volatile region.

Of the 5,000 British adults questioned in the poll, just 2% went to Egypt in 2011. This drops to just 1% when respondents were asked whether they would be going there in 2012. Holidays to places like Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey taken by Britons are also set to decrease over the next 12 months.

Other destinations around the world are likely to benefit from the drop off of UK visitors to North Africa, such as Sri Lanka, Mexico, Malaysia and Argentina. Meanwhile, 30% of Britons are planning a domestic holiday this year, compared with 40% who holidayed at home in 2011.

Copyright © Press Association 2012

Britons are finding trips to traditional holiday destinations such as Portugal and Spain increasingly affordable, according to a Post Office Travel Money survey.

There has been a 49% fall in the prices of trips to Portugal in the last year, pushing the country into first place in a list of the cheapest destinations for typical holiday spending items.

The items – including a three-course meal, suncream and drinks – cost just £32.84 in Portugal, with Spain the next-cheapest nation at £36.68.

Of the 10 countries surveyed – accessible from airports such as Heathrow and Gatwick – the most expensive was Malaysia at £47.68.

The survey also revealed that foreign currencies against which the pound had fallen the most in the last 12 months were those of Malaysia, Australia, Thailand and South Africa.

On the other hand, British holidaymakers are now enjoying much better exchange rates for Croatia,Hungary, Bulgaria and others in the eurozone.

Post Office Travel Money head Sarah Munro said: “Over the past two years popular resorts in the (Portuguese) Algarve and the (Spanish) Costas suffered badly from a drop in UK visitors, put off by the prospect of higher costs because of the weak pound.

“Restaurants and bars responded by slashing prices in a battle for business and competition between the two, together with an improving exchange rate, has resulted in a price crash in Portugal and Spain.”

Copyright Press Association 2011