Car hire costs can take a big chunk of holiday savings for bargain loving Brits

One of the best ways to beat the January blues is to book a cheap break away.

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If you are planning  a holiday abroad to beat winter blues make sure you check car hire prices as they can vary by 245 % depending on where you go.If you are planning  a holiday abroad to beat winter blues make sure you check car hire prices as they can vary by 245 % depending on where you go.
If you are planning a holiday abroad to beat winter blues make sure you check car hire prices as they can vary by 245 % depending on where you go.

But while many Brits are bagging cheap deals abroad at this time of year, they could find themselves getting stung with extortionate car hire costs.

The cost can vary from as much as 245 per cent depending on where you are in the world.

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TravelSupermarket have analysed car hire costs for the exact same categories of car, across the same dates to establish which countries and regions are the most cost-friendly when it comes to renting a car.

By analysing 19 popular holiday hotspots and UK cities, the price comparison site has been able to pinpoint which countries enable Brits to get around on the cheap in 2018.

The findings include:

Greece is the most expensive place to hire a car at £32.29 per day, while Cyprus is the cheapest at just £9.37.

United Kingdom is only the 13th most expensive place of those analysed, at an average cost of £13.60 a day

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London Bridge is the costliest train station to hire a car from

Through analysis of data for cars in the Compact, Economy and Mini categories (including cars such as the Ford Focus and the Fiat 500) in December, the research pinpoints exactly where countries all over the world fall on the car hire cost ladder looking at the average cost per day.

Starting with Greece as the most expensive Iceland comes second at£30.37, Canada is third at £26.73 and France is fourth at £25.03. Germany is in fifth place at £21.71 and sixth place goes to South Africa at £17.83.

Morocco is seventh at £16.48 and eighth place goes to Australia at £14.82. Coming in nineth place is Turkey at £14.54 and Poland is 10th at £14.34.

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The cost in the 10th lowest countries are as follows: Italy (£14.14 ) Portugal (£13.71) UK (£13.60 ) Croatia (£13.06) Spain (£12.31 ) Ireland (£10.90 )

United Arab Emirates (£10.13 )New Zealand (£9.51 ) Cyprus (£9.37 )

Costing 237% more per day than the UK, Greece was found to be the most expensive place to hire a car, at an average cost of £32.29 per day. This was closely followed by Iceland at £30.37 and Canada at £27.73 while popular European hotspots France and Germany round out the top five with costs of £25.03 and £21.71 respectively.

Britain was 13th most expensive on the list of countries analysed with an average cost of £13.60 and only six countries were found to have a lower average daily hire price than the UK. Cyprus comes in cheapest at £9.37 and New Zealand just behind as the least expensive non-European option at £9.51.

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Spain, a firm holiday favourite for many Brits was found to be in the top five cheapest options, only costing an average of £12.31 per day, less than half the daily cost for car hire in France.

Interestingly, the United States, a summer holiday favourite was not amongst the most popular destinations for Brits looking to hire a car this month.

The study also took a closer look at domestic costs and the price of hiring a car within the UK.

Londonderry is the most expensive place in the UK to hire a car, beating out London by over 7%.

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Hiring a car in the Northern Irish city will set Brits back £16.12 compared to £14.97 for the capital. This is clear contrast to England’s second biggest city, Birmingham, where the cost of hiring a car is just shy of a tenner at £9.82.

And the cost of hiring a car at a train station also varies widely in the UK.

London Bridge was found to be the most expensive option at just under £30, £10 more expensive than London’s King Cross (£19.86) and £12 more expensive than London St Pancras (£17.19).

The cheapest station analysed in in the capital was found to be London Paddington at £12.90 with only four other stations across the UK coming in a cheaper price (Cardiff Central, Birmingham Central, Glasgow Central and Belfast Central).

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TravelSupermarket’s spokesman, Emma Grimster, said: “Hiring a car either abroad, or in the UK can give you great flexibility to explore a new area, or reach new destinations.

“Wherever you plan to hire a car, it is always worth planning ahead and booking your vehicle in advance of your departure. Not only will you get a better price than on arrival in the vast majority of cases, you will also have peace of mind that your car type of choice is confirmed and available.”

“The good news is that our data shows there are some great bargains to be had in the likes of Spain, Cyprus and even the UK if you plan it right.”

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