Many people have the same summer goal: to get away from it all on a relaxing vacation. That high demand means a lot of destinations cost top dollar, but there are still a number of hot spots where you can find good value.
TripAdvisor just revealed the top 10 most affordable cities to travel to this summer in the U.S. To determine the winners, the travel planning and booking site conducted a study comparing the cost of a three-night vacation during the summer travel period of June to September in 39 key tourist cities around the world. The rankings are all based on a two-person vacation, including a four-star hotel for three nights, a visit to three attractions, lunch each day, an Uber or taxi to and from dinner each day, plus the cost of dinner.
The winner? New Orleans! The Big Easy boasted the most affordable lunch prices ($31 per day) and came out to an average travel cost of $1,148. That's in stark contrast to the most expensive destination, Orlando, which averaged a $37 lunch and $2,217 total trip cost.
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New Orleans isn't the only Southern city to make the list. More than half of the least expensive U.S. destinations during summer are in the region, with Houston, Texas, coming in at No. 2 ($1,190); Atlanta, Georgia, at No. 4 ($1,296); and Dallas, Texas, at No. 5 ($1,315).
“Southern cities offer the least expensive prices for a summer getaway. A three-day trip to the region costs about $1,250 on average, which is almost $600 less than a three-day trip to the Western cities evaluated in the study,” said Brooke Ferencsik, senior director of communications for TripAdvisor, in a statement. “Hotels represent a significant portion of the travel budget and savvy travelers who book their accommodations in one of the least expensive U.S. cities can save 30 percent on average compared to hotel prices in the most expensive U.S. destinations.”
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In fact, Las Vegas was the only non-Southern city to make the top five, coming in at No. 3. Sin City offers the least expensive U.S. hotel rates at around $190 per night.
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Check out the top 10 U.S. and international cities for summer travel value:
United States
- New Orleans
- Houston
- Las Vegas
- Atlanta
- Dallas
- Miami
- Washington, D.C.
- Philadelphia
- San Diego
- Minneapolis
International
- Hanoi, Vietnam
- Mumbai, India
- Cape Town, South Africa
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Bangkok, Thailand
- Moscow, Russia
- Bali, Indonesia
- Madrid, Spain
- Berlin, Germany
- Vienna, Austria
And here are the most expensive cities:
United States
- Orlando
- Honolulu
- Seattle
- Boston
- New York
- Los Angeles
- San Francisco
- Denver
- Portland, Oregon
- Chicago
International
- New York
- Tokyo, Japan
- London, U.K.
- Cancun, Mexico
- Paris, France
- Singapore
- Hong Kong, China
- Sydney, Australia
- Rome, Italy
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil