Sofia, Bulgaria, Rated Top European Bargain City for US Vacationers

Sofia has been ranked the most affordable European city for US travelers by TripAdvisor, a travel review website based in Newton.

The firm has based its list on what it calls a TripIndex, which takes into account foreign currency exchange rates, hotel fees, the cost of a pizza, a dry martini, and a taxi ride.

The index shows how much it would cost for an American to spend a day in a particular destination and all destinations are ranked by value.

Sofia has emerged as the cheapest European detination for US travelers with a tally of USD 136.

Asia has been named the most affordable continent, claiming four of the top ten cheapest cities for American travelers. In first place is Bangkok. It has a TripIndex tally of 2.

In the United States, Las Vegas represented the best bargain on the TripIndex scale. Its TripIndex score is 4.

TripIndex is based on the current exchange rate and applies to travel between June and August 2011 with hotel prices based on the average cost of a four star hotel found on TripAdvisor, via multiple partner booking sites.

"Value against the dollar is one of the most important considerations for American travelers planning international trips," said Karen Drake, senior director of communications for TripAdvisor. "TripIndex offers a useful means of setting realistic budget expectations and reveals some outstanding destination deals."