from Daily Mail

A trip to the coast has long been a British favourite but unlike previous generations, families are no longer content with a picnic lunch and a towel unfurled on the beach.
Today, the good old-fashioned family seaside holiday ends up burning a hole in the pockets of most parents.

Families shell out an average of almost ?80 per child on unplanned items – such as buckets and spades, ice creams and other treats – on a typical beach holiday.

More than 5 per cent spend as much as ?200 after giving in to children’s ‘pester power’, and only 13 per cent resisted demands for extras.

Looking at a range of items including buckets and spades, icecreams and pedalo hire, Bulgaria was the least expensive of the 13 destinations surveyed, with the items costing ?47.93.

The same items in Brighton cost ?65.49, putting the English resort in seventh place.

The same items cost as much as ?96.28 in the Vendee region of France – the most expensive destination.

Portugal, at ?34.31, was cheapest for dining out, based on a three-course meal for two adults and two children in a tourist-class restaurant, including a bottle of house wine and soft drinks. Brighton was seventh in this list, at ?54.10, and Italy the most expensive, at ?98.04.

Post Office Travel Money head Sarah Munro said: ‘Paying out extra for kids’ ‘must haves’ could bust the holiday budget – so the clear message must be to pack the suitcase carefully.’

*The title has been changed by Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency)

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