LONDON, June 14 — A night out in London that includes a hotel room, taxi fare, a cocktail and dinner will set you back US$518.01 (RM1,605) on average, while one in Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital city, costs only US$141.12, according to TripAdvisor’s latest edition of its TripIndex, published yesterday. 

If you’re strapped for cash, choose Asia over Europe for a cheap night out. — Picture courtesy of shutterstock.comA night in a four-star hotel costs on average US$361.64 in the Olympic host city compared to US$84.89 in Hanoi, the most affordable city in the list.

Tourists in Asia get the best deal for a night out. Hanoi, the cheapest city in the list, is followed by Beijing in China (US$159.05 for a night out) and Bangkok in Thailand (US$161.90).

Budapest is the cheapest European destination on the list, where it broke the top five. A night out in the Hungarian capital will set you back US$193.78 on average, making it slightly cheaper than the next city on the list, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia (US$194.43).

European cities are the most expensive, with London coming in at over five hundred dollars (US$361.64 for accommodation and US$82.61 for dinner), followed by Norwegian capital Oslo (US$499.91), Zurich in Switzerland (US$485.82) and Paris.

A night out in Paris, which this week MasterCard forecast as the second most popular city for tourists in the world after London, costs a total of US$480.76, broken down in the following way: tourists shell out US$306.71 on average for a room in a four-star hotel, US$15.06 for a taxi fare (for a 1.8-mile ride), US$57.44 for a cocktail for two in the bar of a five-star hotel and US$101.55 for dinner (two main courses and one bottle of wine).

In North America, popular tourist destination New York is the most expensive city and sixth most expensive on the overall list at US$456.50 (US$341.63 for accommodation, US$15 for a cab ride, US$32 for two cocktails and US$67.87 for dinner), while Las Vegas offers the best value at a total cost of US$263.

The TripIndex compares the price of a night out in the most popular tourist destinations around the world for the summer of 2012. The average costs mentioned cover two cocktails, dinner for two at a restaurant, taxi fares and a night for two at a hotel. — AFP-Relaxnews