The cheapest city breaks in Europe
Ranked by what a day actually costs on a budget: a hostel or cheap room, local transport, food and the main sights, before flights. Riga is the best value we cover at around 50 EUR a day; Oslo is the priciest at about 90 EUR. All figures are indicative, per person per day, and reviewed yearly.
| # | City | Budget / day | Mid / day | Best value months |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riga Latvia Budget guide | 50 EUR | 100 EUR | May, Jun, Jul |
| 2 | Prague Czech Republic Budget guide | 55 EUR | 110 EUR | Apr, May, Jun |
| 3 | Granada Spain Budget guide | 55 EUR | 100 EUR | Apr, May, Jun |
| 4 | Porto Portugal Budget guide | 60 EUR | 110 EUR | May, Jun, Sep |
| 5 | Bruges Belgium Budget guide | 65 EUR | 130 EUR | Apr, May, Jun |
| 6 | Dubrovnik Croatia Budget guide | 65 EUR | 130 EUR | May, Jun, Sep |
| 7 | Vienna Austria Budget guide | 70 EUR | 140 EUR | Apr, May, Jun |
| 8 | Barcelona Spain Budget guide | 70 EUR | 150 EUR | Apr, May, Jun |
| 9 | Dublin Ireland Budget guide | 70 EUR | 140 EUR | May, Jun, Jul |
| 10 | Amsterdam Netherlands Budget guide | 80 EUR | 160 EUR | Apr, May, Jun |
| 11 | Paris France Budget guide | 80 EUR | 170 EUR | Apr, May, Jun |
| 12 | Copenhagen Denmark Budget guide | 90 EUR | 180 EUR | May, Jun, Jul |
| 13 | Oslo Norway Budget guide | 90 EUR | 180 EUR | May, Jun, Jul |
Budget is the on-a-budget daily figure: a hostel or cheap room, local transport, market and street food, and free or low-cost sights. Mid is a comfortable three-star trip. New cities join the ranking as they are published, and each city links to its full budget guide.
Quick questions, straight answers
QWhat is the cheapest city break in Europe?
Riga, Latvia. Around 50 EUR a day per person covers a hostel bed or a cheap room, local transport, street food and the main free sights, before flights. A walled old town, a whole Art Nouveau quarter and a market in Zeppelin hangars, five bases that each tell a different Riga story.
QHow much does a cheap city break cost for a weekend?
On a budget, two days in the cheapest cities here runs from about 100 EUR per person, excluding flights. That is a dorm or budget room, buses and metros, market and street food, and the sights that are free or a few euros. Doubling the daily figure in the table below gives a rough two-day cost for any city.
QWhich are the cheapest cities to visit in Europe?
The five cheapest city breaks we cover, by daily budget, are Riga, Prague, Granada, Porto, Bruges. Central and eastern European capitals and the Baltics undercut the western capitals and the Nordics, which sit at the expensive end.
QWhen is the cheapest time to take a city break?
The shoulder seasons, roughly April to early June and September to October, are the sweet spot: fares and rooms drop from the summer and Christmas peaks while the weather still holds. Avoid July and August in the south and the week around Christmas and New Year everywhere, when prices climb the most.