A survey carried out by M&S Money shows that it is cheaper for the British to go abroad for a beach holiday than stay at home.

Research from M&S Money revealed that a holiday at home in London is 25% more expensive than the average beach holiday abroad. However, more than half of the British chose to stay at home this summer.

The cost of a week in London for those who want to celebrate the Olympics will set the British back £1,631 compared to an average £1,298 for a sun, sea and sand holiday.

The research, that compared the cost of a week in 9 popular beach holiday destinations against a week in London, found that Alicante in Spain offered the best valur at £927 for a week. All other locations making up the top five were within Europe, including Marseille in France, Gouves in Crete, Bodrum in Turkey, Faro in Portugal and Split in Croatia.

di-ve.com ran a similar request as that made for the survey on www.opodo.co.uk, booking a flight to Malta, 7 nights at a hotel and 8 days car hire, besides 7 dinners and lunches and an activity. An average stay in Malta turned out to cost £1,100, putting Malta at par with the cost of a holiday in Bordum in Turkey, Faro in Portugal and Split in Croatia.

A UK holiday is 8th on the list at £1,631, due to relatively high accomodation costs and the large amount of spending money needed;  just under £600 for a week.

The survey by M&S Holidays was taken amoung 2,000 adults that shows that holidaymakers are budgeting an average of £41 spending money per person per day or £287 per week. The study says that for the 10 holidays studied, people are underestimating the amount of spending money needed per person by an average £50, with holidaymakers budgeting £318 per week, compared to the £368 required.