Nine of the most expensive holiday destinations
Expensive is a relative term, especially if one lives in pricey Hong Kong, but these places come close – a Big Mac Meal costs HK$112 in Zurich and a banana on Bora Bora an eye-watering US$14
The challenge in compiling a list of the world’s most expensive travel destinations is finding ways to shock readers who live in one of the world’s priciest cities. For instance, a HK$2,000 meal for two in Zurich won’t seem especially steep to anyone who has eaten in SoHo recently. In Oslo, drinkers routinely pay the equivalent of HK$90 for a beer; a figure unlikely to raise too many eyebrows in Lan Kwai Fong. Here then, in no particular order, are nine holiday spots that will either max out your credit cards or sound temptingly affordable.
1 Switzerland
No cost of living countdown could fail to include the extortionately expensive central European nation. A Big Mac Meal in Zurich converts to HK$108, compared with HK$30 to HK$35 in Hong Kong, and a 5km taxi ride (SoHo to Causeway Bay) comes in at a nosebleed-inducing HK$246. Some residents recommend taking advantage of Swiss rail passes (free travel after 7pm) to get out of the country altogether and head instead to neighbouring Austria or Italy for dinner. Don’t be tempted by Liechtenstein, though. Online commentators reckon prices in the tiny principality are even higher than those in Switzerland and it says a lot that in this part of the world, Germany is seen as the inexpensive option.
2 Tahiti and Bora Bora
