By Stephen Hughes

are three times dearer…READ MORE TO FIND OUT WHY.

British holidaymakers are finding prices up to three times higher in cities in the Eurozone than in those outside it, research has shown.

In an analysis of the price of holiday essentials in a dozen European cities, the Post Office found that items ranging from drinks and postcards to airport transfers and hotel rooms in Budapest, Warsaw and Prague cost about a third of those in cities such as Athens.

Eastern European cities have always been cheaper than their Eurozone counterparts, but the strength of the euro has exacerbated this, the report found. Since last March the pound has fallen by nearly 17 per cent against the euro to €1.02 (at the tourist exchange rate).

British tourists, meanwhile, will get more for their money in Warsaw and Budapest than a year ago, as sterling has strengthened against the zloty and forint. Compared with the Polish zloty, sterling has strengthened by more than 10 per cent.