A recent survey of 42 countries by Post Office Money has revealed the world’s best-value holiday destinations. The 10th annual World Holiday Costs Barometer compares the prices of a batch of eight typical tourist buys – a meal for two with wine, various drinks, sun cream and insect repellent. Year-on-year costs in many European destinations have crept up, but there are still bargains to be had. Eight of the ten best-value destinations in the world this year are filled by European destinations. From most to least expensive, here is how some of Europe's top destinations fared.

A cup of coffee doesn’t come cheap in chic Nice. A meal à deux also pushes up the total for this glamorous city in the south of France. That said, you can stock up on sun cream and glug mineral water – essentials in sun-drenched Nice – without feeling the pinch. Artists and aristocrats have been drawn to the Côte d’Azur for centuries. You’ll understand the enduring allure as you gaze out to sea – the crystalline clarity of the light really is something special. 

The sparkling Med will draw you close, whether for a swim, a sunbathe or a sashay along the famous Promenade des Anglais. If you can drag yourself away from the coast, take a stroll through the tangle of streets in Vieux Nice. The total cost for tourist essentials here is £106.45.

A fair bit less expensive than Nice, daily costs in Sorrento can still sting. The Italians don’t charge as much for vino, birra and caffè, but overall prices are still high. Granted, Sorrento isn’t known as a budget destination. This popular resort town perched above the Bay of Naples is, however, the perfect gateway to the Amalfi Coast.

Sorrento has a handful of places to visit – the Duomo with its triple-tiered bell tower, the centro storico and a clutch of museums – but it’s best as a relaxing base and springboard for local exploring. The idyllic islands of Capri, Ischia and Procida are within easy reach. Hydrofoils and trains connect Sorrento with the appealing coastal towns of Amalfi and Positano, and the archaeological sites of Herculaeum and Pompeii.

Sliema is Malta’s main shopping area and traditionally the haunt of the Maltese upper classes. Its exclusive air is reflected in the high prices of daily tourist essentials. A cup of coffee for the equivalent of £1.37 is pretty reasonable, though, and a lot cheaper than other destinations further up the list.

A short boat ride from Valletta, Sliema has grown from a small fishing village into Malta’s main commercial centre. There are shops galore, concentrated in the archipelago’s largest mall, The Point. Restaurants dish up delicious seafood and café culture and nightlife are booming. For more elemental pleasures, head for the ‘Roman baths’, a series of pools cut into the limestone coast.

With its abundance of accommodation, prices on Corfu tend to be slightly lower than on other Ionian islands. Even so, sample costs are almost on a par with stylish Sliema. Surprisingly enough, Corfu boasts the Post Office list’s second most expensive cup of coffee and bottle of beer.

While you might conjure up images of sun-baked beaches, Corfu actually gets soaked by spasmodic torrential rains from around September to June. This deluge creates one of Greece’s greenest islands, dense with olive groves and woodland. Avoid the overdeveloped patches near Corfu Town and head for the lush interior. Unspoiled beaches also await – try Gardénos and Íssos along the sandy west coast.

Good value comes naturally to the Hungarian capital. Offering two cities – Buda and Pest – for the price of one, it’s a grand-looking place packed with things to do. Ride the funicular up to the Vár (Castle District) and over the Danube in Pest visit the monumental Great Synagogue. Sightseeing fatigue can be cured with an afternoon soak in one of the city’s many thermal baths. Spend the evening in a kert or ‘ruin pub’, derelict spaces that have been reinvented as unique drinking dens.

Budapest delivers with low-price essentials – £1.55 for an all-important beer – and moderate restaurant bills. Hungarian wine is one to watch and for the equivalent of £3.09 you can sample a glass. As the Hungarian government is sceptical about adopting the euro, you’ll be paying up in forint.

What was once an ancient Roman town is now the largest tourist resort in Istria, northwest Croatia. Poreč is swamped with holidaymakers in the summer months, but normal service pretty much resumes outside peak season. Then, you’ll find a likeable port town perched on the Adriatic coast, well connected with the rest of Istria.

In terms of costs, Poreč hovers around the middle of the list. A meal for two offers great value, but you’ll have to cough up for soft drinks, mineral water and beer. The town’s star attraction is the 6th-century Basilica of Euphrasius. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the basilica is renowned for its dazzling mosaics and only charges 40 kuna (less than £5) for entry.

Another town of two halves, Paphos provides a touristy centre in its lower town (Kato Paphos), buoyed up by some big-hitting archaeological sites. The contrasting old centre, Ktima Paphos, about two miles north, looks down on the teeming harbour area from its hillside location. Whether it’s down to the mosaics, castles, monasteries or churches – or simply the 300 days of sunshine per year – Paphos draws in the crowds, particularly from the UK.

The popularity of Paphos no doubt has something to do with costs, too. Neither wildly expensive nor dirt cheap, a holiday here shouldn’t break the bank. Tucking into lunch or dinner – traditional meze, perhaps, fresh seafood or moussaka – won’t set you back too much. You’ll pay a premium for that morning coffee, though.

Sitting pretty halfway up the best-value rankings is this sizeable resort on Turkey’s Turquoise Coast. Popular, rather than pretty, might be the first word that springs to mind. But with its harbour, castle and seafront promenade, Marmaris is no eyesore, even if it is overdeveloped. The holiday crowd tips over a quarter of a million in the summer, thronging Bar Street’s clubs and bars and hitting the pebbly beach.

Marmaris scores well on basic buys but you’re likely to spend slightly more on a meal here than in Paphos, Cyprus. Save your pennies for a boat trip along the coast, taking in caves, quiet coves or the fabled Cleopatra’s Isle (Sedir Island), with its distinctive white-sand beach and ancient theatre ruins.

The series of resort towns strung out along Spain’s southern ‘sunshine coast’ offer great beaches, great weather and great value. The Costa del Sol may be the butt of many jokes, but the hordes keep coming back. And sometimes they stay put – hundreds of thousands of foreigners now call the Costa del Sol home.

Costs here are relatively low. In Nice you’d be charged around 2.5 times more for a glass of wine or bottle of beer. Cheap booze certainly flows, but almost all of the sample costs here are on the moderate side. It’s only when you choose to line your stomach with a meal out that expenses start to creep up.

Charles Bridge, the Astronomical Clock, Prague Castle, the Old Town Square. The Czech capital boasts many cherished sights, but it’s the city’s world-famous beer that is most beloved. Declared the best in the world, top names such as Urquell and Budvar are now joined by a flurry of exciting regional beers and new microbreweries. Unsurprisingly, it’s the cheap beer that brings Prague’s shopping-basket total right down. Other costs aren’t such all-out bargains, but a hearty meal for two for £31.06 is quite good going.

Still a favourite for stag and hen dos, Prague now competes with other eastern and northeastern European cities on that front. It welcomes visitors all year long – packed out in the baking summer months, less crowded in the biting winters when snow creates an even more fairy-tale tableau.

One of Europe’s cheapest destinations, Portugal represents excellent value for money. Its southernmost reach, the Algarve, offers golden Blue Flag beaches, family-friendly resorts and assorted watersports. Along the Atlantic side there are quieter, wilder spots and further east the coast is dotted with blissful barrier islands. Roman ruins, historic villages and blooming countryside can be found inland.

Fresh seafood, and dishes featuring the ubiquitous bacalhau (dried salt cod), and Portuguese wines from the Douro valley or Alentejo are the order of the day. Eating out for only £15 a head seems almost too good to be true. The word is out – surely Portugal won’t remain such a snip for long. Book your break before the price hike. Read our guide to Portugal here.

Bulgaria’s Sunny Beach is not only top of the Europe list but also takes the worldwide best-value crown for the first time. Locals and foreign visitors are drawn to the miles of sandy beaches of the Black Sea coast and the near-guaranteed long, sunny days. Summer is not just for sunbathing – it’s music festival time, too. Development has blighted some stretches of the coastline but there are still quieter spots to explore. Irakli Beach, for example, is only a couple of miles away from Sunny Beach and protected from any building work.

With the eight daily staples ringing in at 14% cheaper than the Algarve, and over 64% less than Nice, Sunny Beach is the clear winner in the Post Office’s report. For a great value family-friendly beach holiday or hedonistic escape, Sunny Beach gets full marks.