Hidden Holiday Costs UK Travellers Forget to Budget For

Here is what to put in the budget before you commit, starting with the one that is new this year.

Tourist levies now include the UK

Overnight visitor levies used to be something you paid in Venice or Barcelona. Not any more.

Edinburgh went first. Its visitor levy is 5% of the accommodation cost, capped at five consecutive nights, and applies to stays from 24 July 2026. It was applied to advance bookings made from 1 October 2025, so a stay booked well before the start date can still carry it.

Several other Scottish councils have approved schemes with later start dates:

Wales takes a different approach: a flat charge of 75p per person per night for hostel shared rooms and tent pitches, and £1.30 for everything else. Cardiff starts on 1 April 2027, with other councils deciding separately. Stays of 32 or more nights on a single booking are exempt, as are under-18s in tents or shared hostel rooms.

England has none in force. The government published its response to the visitor levy consultation on 10 September 2026, proposing a percentage-based charge with a cap for mayoral strategic authorities, but that needs legislation first.

On a four-night Edinburgh break at £160 a night, the levy adds £32. Not ruinous, and not something most people have allowed for.

Air passenger duty is already in your fare

APD is charged per departing passenger and the airline collects it. It is inside the ticket price rather than added at checkout, but it is worth knowing how much of a long-haul fare is tax, particularly if you are comparing a package with booking separately.

The reduced rate is the lowest class of travel on the aircraft, so it is what most holidaymakers pay. A family of four flying to Florida is carrying £424 of duty in the reduced rate, before the airline has charged for anything.

Useful exemptions: children under two without their own seat, in any class, and children under 16 travelling in the lowest class of travel pay nothing. Transit and connecting passengers are exempt, as are departures from the Scottish Highlands and Islands. Direct long-haul departures from Northern Ireland are set at £0.

The rates rise with RPI on 1 April 2027, so a trip booked now for next summer will carry slightly more.

The airport, before you board

• Checked baggage, which on a low-cost carrier can approach the price of the seat, and costs noticeably more if you add it at the airport rather than online.
• Seat selection, which is optional until you are travelling with children and would rather not be seated apart from them.
• Airport parking, which is the single largest of these for a family, and which is far cheaper booked weeks ahead than on the day.
• Drop-off charges, now standard at most UK airports, typically a few pounds for a short stop.
• Fast track and lounges, which are genuinely optional.

One practical note on liquids: the rules now vary by airport. Most still require containers of 100ml or less, some allow up to two litres, and the transparent bag is no longer universal. Check the airport you are actually flying from rather than assuming.

Health cover: free, and not enough on its own

The UK Global Health Insurance Card is free, lasts up to five years, and gives you state healthcare in the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and, with conditions, Switzerland. It covers treatment that cannot reasonably wait until you get home, including care for pre-existing conditions and routine maternity care.

Two things it does not do. It does not make treatment free: it gets you treated on the same basis as a local resident, and where they pay a contribution, so do you, and that contribution is not refundable. And it never covers repatriation, which is the expensive part.

Travel insurance is the other half. The Foreign Office's own worked examples give a sense of scale: a broken leg in Spain has cost travellers £25,000 and up, a quad bike accident in Greece £80,000, and hospital treatment in the United States £150,000. Note also that travelling somewhere the Foreign Office advises against may invalidate a policy entirely.

Driving Abroad

No International Driving Permit is needed for the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein with a UK photocard licence. If you do need one elsewhere it costs £5.50 from a PayPoint outlet.

Take the V5C for your own car and your insurance certificate. A hired or leased vehicle needs a VE103. And you need a UK sticker unless your number plate already carries the UK identifier with the Union flag, with Spain, Cyprus and Malta requiring one regardless.

Coming home: allowances into Great Britain

If you are bringing anything back, these are the limits before duty and VAT become payable.

• Alcohol: 42 litres of beer and 18 litres of still wine, plus either 4 litres of spirits over 22% or 9 litres of drinks up to 22%. Sparkling wine, fortified wine and cider currently count in the 9-litre category.
• Tobacco, one of: 200 cigarettes, 100 cigarillos, 50 cigars, 250g of tobacco, or 200 sticks for heated devices.
• Other goods and gifts: £390, or £270 if you arrive by private plane or boat.

You cannot pool allowances with a travelling companion, there are no alcohol or tobacco allowances at all under 17, and going over means paying on everything in that category rather than just the excess. Northern Ireland's rules differ and are considerably lower from outside the EU.

One that catches people every summer: because of animal disease outbreaks, most meat and all dairy products cannot be brought into Great Britain from the EU. That includes cheese, butter, yoghurt, milk and cured meats. Fish, poultry, eggs and honey are allowed, as are fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds. Failing to declare banned food can mean a fine of up to £5,000.

What to add to the Budget

1. Any tourist levy at the destination, including UK cities.
2. Baggage, seat selection and airport parking, priced now rather than at the airport.
3. Travel insurance for everyone travelling, bought when you book rather than before you fly.
4. Card fees on foreign spending, as a line of their own.
5. Transfers at both ends, which are easy to forget when the flight and hotel are booked separately.
6. Resort fees, city taxes paid on arrival in cash, and sun lounger charges, all of which are common and rarely quoted up front.

Put all of it into our holiday budget planner at the point you are still choosing between options. A trip that looks £200 cheaper on the headline price often is not, and the extras are much easier to compare before you have paid a deposit.