Yahoo Finance The cheapest and most expensive UK date nights
Brits looking for love or a budget-friendly date, should head to the West Midlands, where Stoke-on-Trent takes the crown as the cheapest night out in the UK.
Analysis by Tombola that in contrast to London, Stoke-on-Trent claims the award for the cheapest UK city for dating.
Romance is in the air, with a day and night in the city costing just £92. That’s 61% cheaper than it is in London. While the city may not, typically, be considered romantic when compared to other UK cities, there’s no denying it’s great value.
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Stoke-on-Trent is home to the cheapest hotel stay, as well as one of the best dinner date options. Plus, you can spend the day at their best budget-friendly attraction, Westport Lakeand, and take in the lush surroundings.
Midlands city Leicester takes second place for the cheapest British city for dating. A day and night for two costs as little as £112; £100 less than Preston and Norwich. Their budget-friendly attraction, Social Climbing, is also one of the cheapest options.
Nottingham, Plymouth and Kingston upon Hull are the third, fourth and fifth cheapest cities forlove-costing £120, £122 and £124 respectively.
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However, it’s bad news for romantics in the capital and Lancashire. London and Preston are the most expensive cities for dating.
In London, you can expect to spend £240 for one day and night. This includes a visit to the most popular budget-friendly attraction – The National Gallery – a meal for two, cinema tickets and a taxi back to your hotel.
Similarly, going on a date in Preston will see you dig deep into your pockets, costing £211 for one day and night in the city. However, Preston does offer one of the cheapest attractions –The Lanes.
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Surprisingly, three Northern cities make up the top five priciest dating cites. Norwich, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sheffield are third, fourth and fifth most expensive cities to date.
The priciest dinner dates are in Brighton and Newcastle. While Brighton is not the most expensive city for dating – placing eighth priciest overall in the UK – it is home to the most extravagant meal for two. Sitting down for a main meal in the city’s most popular restaurant will set you back £43. That’s almost half of the entire cost of a one-night stay in Stoke-on-Trent
Newcastle, once named the number one place to visit by Rough Guides largely due to its restaurant scene, boasts the second most expensive option for a meal for two. Dinner for two-minus drinks-will cost you an average of £38.
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Surprisingly, London does not make it in the top five most expensive restaurants – despite coming first as the costliest city for dating. In London, you can dine out for just £25 in the most popular budget-friendly restaurant votedon TripAdvisor.
With the average date costing Brits £154 across the UK, how much are they willing to spend on romance?For those who are looking for a partner, it’s said to take the average Brit nine dates to meet “the one”. If that is the case, Londoners could potentially spend a staggering £2,160 in the search for love.
To put it in perspective, that’s 6% of the average wage in the capital spent on dating alone.
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Those who live in Preston can also expect to spend £1,899 in the pursuit of love, or 8% of the average wage in the city.
At the other end of the scale, however, romantics in Stoke-on-Trent can expect to spend £828 over the course of nine dates – considerably less than Londoners.
Jen Kaarlo, a relationship expert, said dating is a “serious investment – in both time and money”.
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In general, people are spending more on dating as we are looking for more genuine connections, she explained.
“I once went on a first date where we both spent around £100 to £150 that day/evening and it ended up being the best date I’ve ever been on. That’s not to suggest money spent on a date correlates to enjoyment, however.
