This summer in the Med, hotel rates were as high as the mercury — they still are. In Italy, where a five-star crashpad in May 2019 cost on average $516.62 per night, according to CoStar data.
That same room this year? An average of $923.22 — a price hike of almost 80%. And it isn’t just in hot spots like Sardinia where you’re likely to suffer sticker shock: France’s average rate hike over the same period was 67%.
Getting there’s no less of a wallet-emptier, either: over the last year, the Consumer Price Index for airline tickets increased 25%, the largest leap since the Fed started tracking it in 1989. It all makes an indulgent trip in the Med seem out of reach to any but the wealthiest one-percenters — but fret not, as we’ve got some savvy strategies to sidestep that price-gouging and still book a luxe getaway. Up for sail If you want to score an affordable high-end vacation, keep an eye on cruise lines, which are offering impressive deals on some of their fanciest ships.
Veranda cabins on small ship specialist Azamara start at $250 per person per day in the Med for August sailings, lower than the same voyages five years ago pre-pandemic. On those trips, you can hit ports like the holy island of Patmos or Mykonos, so much harder for larger ships to reach thanks to the winds. Atlas Ocean Voyages is best known for its Antarctica expertise, but has repositioned two of its ships, World Voyager and World Traveller, to the Med for the summer after testing the idea .