48 destinations in this category
Cracovia · Poland
An intact old town, eastern European prices and a good base for day trips. You eat well for very little.
Heads up: Auschwitz-Birkenau needs advance booking and is an emotionally heavy day. Don't slot it in as filler.
Oporto · Portugal
Compact, walkable, and the best balance of price and food quality in Europe. Frequent flights from Spain.
Heads up: It's a city of steep hills. With small children or bad knees, expect to use the metro more than planned.
Budapest · Hungary
Thermal baths, imposing architecture and contained prices. Works as well in winter as in spring.
Heads up: High summer is very hot and the city has little shade. Skip July and August if you can.
Praga · Czechia
A compact, walkable historic centre with still-reasonable prices away from the main square.
Heads up: The centre is very crowded and priced accordingly. Walk three streets out and everything halves.
Nápoles · Italy
The best food in Italy at the lowest price, and a base for Pompeii and the Amalfi coast by train.
Heads up: It's a chaotic city and you need to watch your pockets. Not the best first trip to Italy.
Costa de Lisboa · Portugal
City and beach without changing base: Cascais and Costa da Caparica are half an hour from the centre.
Heads up: The Atlantic has strong swell and cold water. With kids, pick the sheltered beaches at Cascais.
Ámsterdam · Netherlands
A compact city best covered by bike, with a density of museums that's hard to match.
Heads up: Accommodation is expensive and scarce; book far ahead or sleep in Haarlem or Utrecht.
Atenas · Greece
The Acropolis and a walkable historic centre, at prices below western Europe.
Heads up: July and August frequently pass 38 degrees and the centre has no shade.
Belgrado · Serbia
A capital with nightlife on Danube barges and very low prices for what it offers.
Heads up: Not in the EU: check your mobile data coverage and travel insurance.
Berlín · Germany
The most affordable capital in western Europe, with 20th-century history everywhere and real neighbourhood life.
Heads up: It's very spread out: choose your accommodation area carefully or you'll spend the trip on the metro.
Bratislava · Slovakia
A small, very cheap capital an hour from Vienna by train, which works well as an add-on.
Heads up: It's a one-day city. If you stay longer, the interest is in the High Tatras, not the capital.
Brujas y Gante · Belgium
Intact medieval old towns, half an hour by train from Brussels and from each other.
Heads up: Bruges fills with day trips between 11am and 5pm; stay overnight and you'll have it nearly empty.
Bucarest y Transilvania · Romania
Among the cheapest in the European Union, with medieval Saxon towns and the Carpathians nearby.
Heads up: Road distances are long and slow; don't try to see the whole country in a week.
Ciudad del Vaticano · Vatican City
The Vatican Museums and St Peter's Basilica hold one of the world's greatest art collections.
Heads up: Book a timed ticket or you'll lose hours queuing. There's a dress code: shoulders and knees covered.
Copenhague · Denmark
Design, urban cycling and a food scene that reshaped European cooking.
Heads up: Expensive across the board. The harbour baths and parks are free and among the best things it has.
Costa Azul · France
Nice, Antibes and Menton combine sea, food and hilltop villages a short train ride apart.
Heads up: July and August are saturated and prices spike; beaches are pebble, not sand.
Dublín y el oeste · Ireland
Dublin as an entry point and the cliffs and peninsulas of the west as the real reason to go.
Heads up: It rains a lot year-round and Dublin accommodation is pricey; rent a car for the west.
Estambul · Türkiye
A city across two continents, with first-rate heritage and prices well below the European average.
Heads up: It's enormous and traffic is chaotic: plan days by district and use the tram and ferries.
Estocolmo y archipiélago · Sweden
A city spread across fourteen islands, with an archipelago of thousands of islets a ferry away.
Heads up: Summer is very short: outside June to August the archipelago ferries barely run.
Londres · United Kingdom
The major museums are free, which offsets part of what everything else costs.
Heads up: The most expensive city here for accommodation. Sleep outside Zone 1 and use the Tube.
Luxemburgo · Luxembourg
An old town above a dramatic gorge, and free public transport across the entire country.
Heads up: Expensive for accommodation and food, and seen in two days: fit it inside a wider route.
Malta · Malta
A small island with fortified cities, very clear water and everything under an hour by bus.
Heads up: There's very little sand: most swimming is off rock platforms. Check the beaches before booking.
Mónaco · Monaco
A tiny principality you can walk across, with the harbour, the casino and the oceanographic museum as highlights.
Heads up: Everything is geared to luxury. Many visit on a day trip from Nice, 25 minutes away by train.
París · France
World-class museums, districts that feel genuinely different from each other, and a metro that makes a car pointless.
Heads up: Queues at the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower eat half a day unless you book a timed ticket.
Riga · Latvia
Some of Europe's finest Art Nouveau architecture, with sandy beaches at Jurmala half an hour away.
Heads up: The central market and some nightlife areas cater to stag tourism; the rest of the city is another thing entirely.
San Marino · San Marino
Fortresses on a peak with views to the Adriatic, easy to combine with Rimini and Bologna.
Heads up: It's a half-day visit and fills with coastal day trips in summer: go early or at dusk.
Sarajevo y Mostar · Bosnia and Herzegovina
A crossroads of cultures visible in the architecture and the food, at some of the lowest prices on the continent.
Heads up: Some rural areas have marked uncleared minefields: stay on marked trails.
Tallin · Estonia
A very well preserved walled medieval town, Baltic prices and everything within walking distance.
Heads up: The old town takes a day; if you stay longer, combine it with Riga or the Estonian islands.
Tiflis y el Cáucaso · Georgia
High mountains, a winemaking tradition thousands of years old and very low prices, with growing direct flights from Europe.
Heads up: Mountain roads are rough and close in winter; for Kazbegi and Svaneti use a local driver.
Tirana · Albania
A capital in full transformation, very cheap, with quick access to both coast and mountains.
Heads up: Crossing the road is a contact sport and taxis rarely use meters: agree the price first.
Viena · Austria
Palaces, museums and a café culture that's a plan in itself. Excellent public transport.
Heads up: December Christmas markets fill it up and raise prices; January is far cheaper.
Vilna · Lithuania
Eastern Europe's largest baroque old town, with very low prices and little mass tourism.
Heads up: Worth adding the Hill of Crosses and Trakai, both under two hours away.
Marrakech · Morocco
Three hours from Spain for a complete change of scene, with a medina that's a maze and very low prices. A good base for trips to the Atlas or the desert.
Heads up: Haggling is the norm in the medina and the persistence of sellers wears you down. July and August frequently pass 40 degrees.
Nueva York · United States
The city you already know from films, and which still surprises. Walkable and well connected by subway, with world-class museums and districts that feel entirely different from each other.
Heads up: Among the most expensive places in the world for accommodation. Shop prices exclude tax, and tipping is expected in restaurants.
Vietnam · Vietnam
Among the cheapest travel anywhere with solid infrastructure, and with real variety in one trip: Ha Long Bay, colonial towns, rice terraces and beaches.
Heads up: The country is long and narrow, and the climate differs sharply between north and south on the same dates. Check forecasts by region before fixing a route.
Kioto · Japan
Traditional Japan in a manageable city: temples, gardens and wooden districts you can cover on foot or by bike.
Heads up: Cherry blossom and autumn leaf seasons send prices up and fill the temples. If you go then, book accommodation months ahead.
Egipto · Egypt
Pyramids, temples and a Nile cruise that remains one of the most striking trips you can take.
Heads up: Commercial hassle in tourist areas is constant and tiring. In summer the south easily passes 45 degrees.
Costa de Sicilia · Italy
Combines clear-water beaches with Greek temples, baroque towns and the best food in southern Italy. The Syracuse and Cefalù areas are the most balanced.
Heads up: The island is large and inland roads are slow; don't try to cover it all in a week. In August the heat frequently passes 38 degrees.
Roma · Italy
Two thousand years of history piled into a walkable centre, with the Colosseum, the Forum and the Vatican within strolling distance of each other.
Heads up: Colosseum and Vatican Museums tickets sell out: buy them weeks ahead with a time slot. And July and August pass 35 degrees with no shade.
Toscana · Italy
Florence and Siena as bases, with walled villages, vineyards and hill roads in between that are part of the point. Few places combine art, landscape and food this well.
Heads up: Without a car you're limited to the cities. And many historic centres are restricted traffic zones with automatic camera fines: ask at your accommodation before driving in.
Barcelona · Spain
One of the few large European cities with a genuine urban beach, and a concentration of modernist architecture that exists nowhere else.
Heads up: The Sagrada Família and Park Güell sell out days ahead. The centre is heavily crowded in summer, and there are pickpockets on Las Ramblas and the metro.
Sevilla, Córdoba y Granada · Spain
The three cities of the Andalusi legacy are linked by high-speed rail in under an hour each, so you can see all three in one trip without driving.
Heads up: In July and August the Guadalquivir valley routinely passes 40 degrees. And the Alhambra has a daily cap: without a ticket bought ahead, you don't get in.
San Sebastián y costa vasca · Spain
La Concha is among Europe's best urban beaches, and the area packs in a density of good cooking that's hard to match, from pintxos bars to fine dining.
Heads up: One of the priciest areas in Spain for accommodation, especially in August and during the film festival. Cantabrian water sits around 20 degrees even in summer.
Venecia · Italy
It resembles no other city: no cars, canals instead of streets, and a density of art that surprises even when you know what's there.
Heads up: An access fee applies to day visitors on certain dates; check whether it affects you and book it before going. Sleep in the city if you can: after six in the evening it empties out and changes completely.
Madrid · Spain
Three world-class museums within ten minutes' walk of each other, enormous parks and a street life that runs late.
Heads up: In July and August it passes 38 degrees and many neighbourhood businesses close for holidays. The Prado and Reina Sofía have free entry windows at the end of the day.
Valencia · Spain
Combines a historic centre, an urban beach and the Turia gardens — nine kilometres of park in a diverted riverbed. Very easy with children.
Heads up: During Las Fallas in March the city transforms and prices spike. It's spectacular, but it isn't a quiet trip.
Dubái · United Arab Emirates
A vertical city with desert half an hour away, and a good stopover base on long trips to Asia. Urban beaches with warm water in midwinter.
Heads up: From May to September the heat is extreme and life happens under air conditioning. There are local dress and public conduct rules worth knowing before you go.
Colombia · Colombia
Caribbean coast, mountain range and colonial cities in one trip, at low prices and with one of the best ratios of what you see to what you spend.
Heads up: Safety varies a lot by region and by neighbourhood within the same city. Check official sources before travelling and avoid overnight road journeys.