Most Affordable - And Most Expensive - Cities For A Night Out

Bargain hunters rejoice. Las Vegas is the most affordable city in the United States for domestic travelers, coming in at about $263 per night, according to the new TripAdvisor TripIndex 2012 listing.

The TripIndex looks at 15 popular U.S. cities and key destinations from 48 of the 50 countries that receive the largest number of international visitor arrivals, according to World Tourism Organization statistics. The index compares the cost of a night out for two people during the upcoming summer travel season, including four-star hotel accommodations, a two-course dinner with a bottle of wine, two cocktails and roundtrip taxi transportation.

Brooke Ferencsik, director of communications for TripAdvisor, said the company creates the list each year as a tool to help travelers prepare.

TripIndex is a useful resource to help travelers see how far their dollar will go, make budget-appropriate trip choices and offer inspiration for those considering a city trip this summer, he said. For American travelers planning city trips, it's important to have an understanding of the day-to-day destination expenses.

Ferencsik said that hotel costs were the pivotal factor in determining the most and least expensive cities on the TripIndex. The cheapest four-star hotel room globally, for instance, is Bangkok at $81 per night, while rates in London are almost four times the cost at $362 per night, according to TripAdvisor.

Below is a full breakdown of the results.

Cheap Escapes

For domestic travelers, the South is once again the top region for a deal, featuring four of the top five surveyed cities: Dallas ($283), New Orleans ($283), Atlanta ($290) and Orlando ($309).

Asia, meanwhile, remains the best bargain for international travel, with six of the top 10 destinations on the list of Best Value International Cities. Of the cities surveyed by TripAdvisor, Hanoi was the best bargain at $141 per night. Beijing ($159) and Bangkok ($162) were close behind, with Kuala Lumpur ($194), Taipei ($204) and Jakarta ($205) also in the top 10.

Those looking for a cheap European vacation may want to head to the Eastern Bloc. Budapest will cost just $194 a night, while Warsaw ($199) and Sofia, Bulgaria ($207) were also relative steals.

Expensive Escapes

On the flip side, New York narrowly edged out Boston as the costliest city in the U.S., with a TripIndex total of $457 compared to Beantown's $450. San Francisco ($429), Washington, D.C. ($414), and Honolulu ($398) rounded out the top five as the most expensive cities in the U.S. for a night away.

Spendthrifts may want to avoid Western Europe. According to TripAdvisor's TripIndex, London is the most expensive city in the world for a night out at $518, nearly $20 more than second-place Oslo at $500.

The list of Most Expensive International Cities is full of European capitals such as Paris ($481), Stockholm ($472), Moscow ($429) and Copenhagen ($427). Sydney ($392) and Singapore ($374) round out the top 10, proving that it's not all roses for Asia (and Down Under).

MOST EXPENSIVE CITIES:

1 London $518

2 Oslo $500

3 Zurich $486

4 Paris $481

5 Stockholm $472

6 New York $457

7 Moscow $429

8 Copenhagen $427

9 Sydney $392

10 Singapore $375

BEST VALUE CITIES: