From parking costs to the price of fish and chips or an ice cream – a classic day out or a longer stay at a one UK seaside spot could cost you a lot. New research has compared several of the most popular UK summer destinations, totting up the cost of deckchair hire, a ’99’ ice cream, and a fish and chips meal – and one city came out top as the ‘most expensive’.
The research showed that £100 in this seaside destination will ‘only last just over 2 days’, according to figures from the new UK Seaside Affordability Index. The data has revealed huge differences around the coast, when it comes to spending your money. When taking into account everything you need for a perfect beach day out, all the basic items cost £38.20 per day in this particular city.
New research from NoDepositRewards.org compares the price of a classic day out at the beach for destinations across the UK.
The data looked at all-day parking (the current local council rates), average cost of a ’99’ ice cream, a large fish and chips meal (local chippy prices) and deckchair hire (full-day rate).
Research was carried out with the aim to see how long £100 would last for a trip to the seaside.
Brighton was shown to be the most expensive seaside spot in the country, according to the study. All-day parking came to a cost of £18, an ice cream classic was priced at £2.70. In comparison, in the cheapest place, Swansea, parking for the day is just £3 and an ice cream is £1.65.
Fish and chips in Brighton will set you back £11.50, but it’s not the priciest spot for the classic British take away – as in Bamburgh in Northumberland a fish and chip meal costs £14.88.
Deckchair hire in Brighton will probably cost you £6 for the day – so all in all the ‘seaside basket’ cost for a day in this seaside resort is a whopping £38.20 a day for all the typical sunny day items needed.
Coming in second was Cornish town St Ives, named as the ‘second priciest seaside destination in the UK’. St Ives was the second most expensive place, with people spending an average of £25.30 a day.
In St Ives, people will spend around £10 to park in the area all day, £12.50 on a large fish and chips and just over £2.50 on an ice cream.
Swansea was named as the least expensive seaside destination with all the same items costing about £16.71 per day.
Mason Jones, data expert at NoDepositRewards.org, said: “Families are budgeting harder than ever for summer 2025.
“Our Seaside Index shows you can triple the number of beach days simply by choosing a different stretch of coast.
“With parking now topping local cost charts, the North and Wales clearly win on value.”
