Most expensive holiday country

The lure of gulping down beer and chomping on chocolate has helped make Belgium the overseas place we are most likely to lavish cash.

Britons spend £103 each day there - more than anywhere else in the world, new figures show. However, our average two-day trips to the European city suggest we do not waste much time clocking up bills.

Britons' most expensive trips overall are, unsurprisingly, Down Under. We get through an average £1,601 there in less than 45 days.

But many stay with friends or relatives, reducing daily spending to a modest £37 in Australia and £34 in New Zealand. Some of the costliest trips are to the US, where an average £886 is spent on a two-week trip. Cheaper day trips abroad can be found in parts of Asia where you could get away with spending just £27. Overall, Britons spent an average of £46 per day and £465 on each overseas visit in 2003, the Office for National Statistics found.