Kolkata: Most expensive city for travellers

Kolkata, better known as the City of Joy, has been ranked as the most expensive destination for travellers, followed by Mumbai and New Delhi, according to a survey.

The 'City of Joy' took the top spot from 'City of Dreams' Mumbai as the most expensive city this year with a total cost of Rs 10,115 while a night out for two costs Rs 6,406 in Ahmedabad.

Kolkata was 1.5 times more expensive than Ahmedabad, a survey by travel portal TripAdvisor said.

Click on NEXT for more...

The country's financial hub Mumbai, which is at the second position among eight metro cities, was ranked the most expensive last year by TripAdvisor.

When it came to hotels, Mumbai was the most expensive, with room rent as high as Rs 7,580 while Pune had the least rates of Rs 5,230, but when it came to taxi ride, fares in Mumbai were the least at Rs 84 for return taxi fare, which means two taxi journeys of two km each, while in Chennai it costs Rs 230.

Click on NEXT for more...

Dinner was costliest in the national capital and costs Rs 2,767 for two, which included two courses and a bottle of wine, while in Ahmedabad it costs just Rs 593.

Beer was cheapest in Delhi and costliest in Hyderabad.

According to Nikhil Ganju, country manager of TripAdvisor India, "TripIndex is a useful reference for travellers to plan their trip budgets. It helps them estimate how far their money will take them when travelling to any of the main metro cities in the country, whether for leisure or work."

For the survey, hotel prices were the average one night rate at a four-star hotel found on TripAdvisor in each destination between June 1 and August 31.

Click on NEXT for more...

The rankings under TripIndex are based on expenses that two people would have to incur for staying one night in metro cities.

Various factors including cost of accommodation, drinks and dinner were taken into account.

New Delhi is at the third spot, followed by Hyderabad (4th), Bangalore (5th), Chennai (6th) and Pune (7th).

Click on NEXT for more...

The "most budget friendly city", as per the survey, is Ahmedabad.

Going by TripAdvisor, while it costs Rs 10,115 for a night's stay for two travellers in Kolkata, the same was just Rs 6,406 in Ahmedabad.

Click on NEXT for more...

In Mumbai, it would cost about Rs 10,074 and in Delhi, the expense would be Rs 9,728 per night, it added.

The estimates have taken into account the cost of a room for two at a four-star hotel.

"The TripIndex 2013 total costs have shown a decline across all cities with Chennai seeing the highest percentage of fall of 35 per cent from Rs 12,530 last year to Rs 8,122 this year," TripAdvisor said in a statement.

Click on NEXT for more...

In terms of regions, East has emerged as the most expensive region -- with TripIndex showing a cost of Rs 10,115 -- followed by North (Rs 9,728), South (Rs 8,449) and West (Rs 8,076), it added.

"Hotel room rate prices have declined across the board in all cities with an average 17 per cent drop from last year," TripAdvisor noted.