Cambridge is the third most expensive city in Britain to spend a bank holiday weekend.

TripAdvisor’s TripIndex looked at the price of a three-night break in twenty UK cities over the upcoming August bank holiday weekend.

Three nights in the city including hotel, lunch, taxis, dinner and attraction for the three day weekend will cost you £1,147.69 or £336.70 per day.

Sheffield offers the best value UK city break over the August bank holiday weekend at £173.97 per day, according to TripIndex UK Cities, an annual TripAdvisor cost comparison study.

TripIndex UK Cities compared the cost of a three-night break over the August bank holiday in the 20 most popular UK cities, taking into account typical costs for two people.

These include; a four-star hotel for three nights, a visit to four highly rated attractions, lunch each day, a taxi to and from dinner each day, plus the cost of dinner itself.

The study found that a three night (four day) trip for two in Sheffield will only set you back an average of £614, less than half the price of a break in the UK’s most expensive destination which will come as no surprise, is London. An average weekend break in the capital comes in at an eye-watering average of £1,331 – that’s almost £380 per day.

Stark North/South divide – North still best for a bargain.

The results of the 2015 TripIndex UK Cities report reveals a clear north/south divide when comparing overall costs. Sheffield, Liverpool, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Leeds, Chester and Glasgow all feature in the top ten best value cities, finishing first, second, third, sixth, seventh and eighth respectively. By contrast, six of the ten most expensive cities are situated in the South of England – London, Cambridge, Bath, Brighton, Bristol and Oxford.

However, when it comes down to the cost of individual items, there are some instances where the south triumphs over the north for value. For example, visiting an attraction in Oxford is cheaper than any other UK city – the four best rated attractions in Oxford on TripAdvisor are all free of charge. And, while London is the most expensive city overall, it’s actually the cheapest destination for lunch at £18 for two.

Eating out – a pricey lunch doesn’t always equal a pricey dinner. The results of the TripIndex UK Cities report show that it’s not always possible to judge the cost of dinner based on the price of lunch, and vice versa – Chester and London are both examples of this.

Interestingly, while London is the best value destination for a spot of lunch at £18, the capital is the most expensive for dinner, coming in at £71 for two. The opposite is true for Chester – the Cheshire city is revealed as third best value destination for dinner at £55 but takes the title of priciest destination for lunch coming in at £25 for two.

When it comes to hotel prices across the 20 cities, Edinburgh has the most expensive average rate for a four-star hotel room, coming in at £232. For the price of one night in a hotel in Edinburgh, travellers can have almost three nights in a Sheffield hotel. However, while the price of a hotel room in Edinburgh during the month of August is far beyond that of any of the other 19 cities, this is largely due to hotels in the Scottish capital increasing their prices for the annual Edinburgh Festival which comes to a close over the bank holiday weekend.

Interestingly, it’s not London which takes the title of second most expensive city to stay overnight. This year’s results show it is in fact Cambridge, with an average hotel rate of £199. London comes in third place at £181 per night.

“For travellers planning a UK break over the upcoming bank holiday weekend, heading north will generally offer the best value for a three-night break. However, as the TripIndex UK Cities report shows, this is not always the case so travellers should always try to plan ahead. Researching dinner options ahead of time, checking advance ticket deals for local attractions, and comparing hotel prices using the PriceFinder tool on TripAdvisor are all great ways to bag and book a great deal in the UK,” commented TripAdvisor spokesman, James Kay.