Edinburgh is gearing up again for a superb Hogmanay and the city has more pubs per square mile than Dublin. But, move further south, to Leeds for the cheapest pint at £2.40.
The Scottish capital (above) boasts 104 pubs per square mile compared to Dublin’s 55 and Cardiff’s 39.
But, says hotel bookings site Hotel Direct, the cheapest place to buy a pint is Leeds, averaging at £2.40. Birmingham is close on its tail at £2.58. Even London, though renowned for high prices, turns out cheaper than many of its counterparts (most notably Dublin), coming in at £3.68 a pint as compared to the Irish capital’s £4.41.
The research of eight major cities to find the best place to party this New Year’s Eve found the most expensive to be London. Taxis are charging an average £7.30 per mile. Public transport may be free between 11.45pm and 4.30am, but the £10 entry fee for fireworks (the only city to charge and the first time this has happened) and highest average club entry of £32 reaffirmed London’s reputation as pricey.
Birmingham stands proud as the cheapest place for a hotel room (averaging at £82 for a room over New Year’s Eve), in comparison to Edinburgh’s £283 per night price tag. Of all the cities compared, Hotel Direct found it was just Belfast that had lost its spark, with no official council-run fireworks event this New Year’s Eve.
For more details see the NYE 2014: Where’s the Party At? guide, which allows potential NYE revellers to plan their next trip. Hotel Direct MD, Mark Wilson, said: “We’re all for encouraging people to have a great time at New Year but have found in the past that the majority of our bookings have come in for destinations outside the British Isles, such as Paris and New York.
“However, we wanted to showcase the wide variety of events happening this side of the Channel and instigate a bit of inter-city rivalry. We were really interested to see that certain myths, such as Dublin having the most pubs per square mile, could be so easily busted. I was also surprised that in a climate of cuts, the majority of the cities all offered free fireworks. With the addition of tourist tips per city, we hope the guide encourages people to try something a little different this year!”
Hotel Direct is also offering a promotional code giving customers 10% off all bookings made over the New Year up to and including the 15th January.
