Hey Tourists: Boston's (Only Slightly) Less Expensive Than NYC

Illustration by I Love Dust

Newton-based travel site TripAdvisor just released their latest findings on cheap cities around the world, and don’t tell the tourists, but Boston is apparently the second most expensive city for travelers in the U.S. What’s more, compared with other international cities, your stay in Boston will be just about as expensive as staying in Moscow or Rio (if you factor out the airfare, of course).

TripAdvisor found that the average Boston visitor would spend $342.51 a day on hotels, food, taxis, and drinks, which is only about $25 less than in New York City, the most expensive on the list. The site based its estimates on what they consider to be a typical visit, you know, one that involves a five-star hotel and a pizza, a martini, and then a five mile cab ride home. The $25 difference between New York and Boston comes mainly from the hotel cost — Boston has more expensive cabs while New York has more expensive drinks. But we’d rather pay the extra $4 for a five-mile taxi ride in Boston than an $18 martini in New York any day. A cab, at least, you can share.

Here are the complete findings for the U.S.: