At 96p per litre for diesel, Andorra is also the only destination surveyed that offers a sub-£1 litre price for the fuel also known as “derv”. This is nearly 16 per cent lower than in 2011 and 32 per cent cheaper than the British diesel price of £1.42.
Other areas are looking good for motorists, too. Luxembourg and Spain both join Andorra in offering the lowest-priced fuel among 16 countries surveyed. At £1.18 a litre in Luxembourg and £1.20 in Spain, filling up with unleaded petrol for a 1,000-mile journey costs more than £12 less than a year ago, and you may well cover many more miles than that. In July 2011 a 1,000-mile journey, after filling up in Luxembourg, would have set you back £191, compared with £178 today. Other unleaded prices include £1.23 in Austria, £1.27 in Switzerland and £1.43 in Germany.
But the news for motorists travelling to Italy is not so good. Last year it was one of the cheaper places to fill up but rising prices have made it the most expensive eurozone country for motoring. Drivers can expect to pay 7p more for a litre of diesel (now £1.41), which means that 1,000 miles will cost £213.45, £10.65 more than a year ago. Unleaded petrol has risen by four pence a litre to £1.51.
Of the 1,119 motorists surveyed by Post Office Travel Money, three in five had driven in France and more than a quarter in Belgium, hardly surprising as they are the countries where most drivers cross from Britain to mainland Europe. Unfortunately, though, they remain among the most expensive places to fill up.
With a litre of unleaded costing £1.46 in France, it now makes sense to fill up in the UK before leaving for the Continent, with unleaded 11p-12p a litre cheaper on this side of the Channel.
However, the opposite is true if you have a diesel car, since the cost in Britain is 11p a litre more expensive than in France, and 12p more than in Belgium.
“A good tip is to fill up before leaving if you’re travelling to France or Belgium in a petrol car, then divert into Luxembourg if you’re travelling south through eastern France or detour into Andorra en route to Spain,” says Andrew Brown, who is the head of Travel Money at Post Office. “But if you’re driving a diesel, fill up as soon as you arrive on the Continent.”
Fuel costs over a five-year period don’t present such a rosy picture, however. Although sterling has driven prices down for British motorists this summer, the cost of motoring has grown by up to 69 per cent since 2007, when Post Office Travel Money first conducted its survey.
So the fact that only eight per cent of those surveyed say they have been deterred from driving to Europe by fuel prices, just goes to show how much we love our Continental motoring holidays.
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About David Williams
David is an award-winning motoring journalist.
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