KL among top five cheapest cities to visit

The iconic Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur

If you are a foreigner and planning to travel to Malaysia, have I got good news for you.

According to TripAdvisor's latest edition of its TripIndex published on Wednesday, Kuala Lumpur is among the top five cheapest cities in the world to visit.

A night out in the Malaysian capital that includes a four-star hotel room, taxi fare, a cocktail and dinner will set you back US$194.43 on average.

TripIndex found Hanoi ($84.89) to be the most affordable city, followed by Beijing ($159.05) and Bangkok ($161.90).

Budapest is the cheapest European destination on the list, where a night out in the Hungarian capital will set you back $193.78 on average, making it slightly cheaper Kuala Lumpur.

The TripIndex compares the price of a night out in the most popular tourist destinations around the world for the summer of 2012.

The average costs mentioned cover two cocktails, dinner for two at a restaurant, taxi fares and a night for two at a hotel.

European cities are the most expensive, with London coming in at $500 ($361.64 for accommodation and $82.61 for dinner), followed by Norwegian capital Oslo ($499.91), Zurich in Switzerland ($485.82) and Paris.

A night out in Paris, which this week MasterCard forecast as the second most popular city for tourists in the world after London, costs a total of $480.76, broken down in the following way: tourists shell out $306.71 on average for a room in a four-star hotel, $15.06 for a taxi fare (for a 1.8 mile ride), $57.44 for a cocktail for two in the bar of a five-star hotel and $101.55 for dinner (two main courses and one bottle of wine).

In North America, popular tourist destination New York is the most expensive city and sixth most expensive on the overall list at $456.50 ($341.63 for accommodation, $15 for a cab ride, $32 for two cocktails and $67.87 for dinner), while Las Vegas offers the best value at a total cost of $263.


Source: The Star..KL among top five cheapest cities to visit