June in Galway, anyone?
Traveling to Europe should be on everyone’s bucket list — but it can easily get bumped down below some other more affordable bucket list items when money is tight. A trip to a European country can end up costing tens of thousands of dollars, and not even for a first-class experience.
Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to experience the history, culture, and mouth-watering cuisines of Europe without breaking the bank. Even better, you can do so without settling for a one-star hotel with some, shall we say, unsettling reviews on TripAdvisor.
Here’s the secret to spending less without sacrificing comfort and a little luxury: Skip the unimaginably expensive cities like London, Venice, and Paris that attract all the crowds and have reasons to jack up pricing on everything from trips to a public bathroom to meals remotely close to a tourist attraction. Instead, opt for hidden treasures like Zagreb, Galway, and Corfu, among other highly affordable European cities.
If you’re trying to plan a budget-friendly vacation in Europe, the foundation for a successful trip is picking the most affordable European cities. And we promise you, just because they’re not as popular doesn’t mean they’re any less appealing. In fact, we might argue that a trip to one of these cities would be more enriching than to one where you’ll spend half your time, energy, and money competing with other tourists instead of taking in the splendor that surrounds you. That’s why we’re sharing this list of the cheapest cities to visit, courtesy of data from U.S. News & World Report.
But first, here are a few additional tips for how to travel through Europe as cheaply as possible:
- Visit more than one city. The flight from the U.S. to Europe won’t be where you can bargain. So while you’re across the pond, you might as well make the most of your trip and group a few European cities together for one vacation (although, we don’t recommend this for trips shorter than one week or travelers with limited mobility). For example, three of the 20 cities in the list below are located in Spain. Why not coast through all of them, rather than limiting yourself to just one?
- Avoid the high season. Generally, Europe’s “high season” takes place from late May to early August, although this can vary slightly depending on the country. But during busy season, everything from hotels to flights will be more expensive. To avoid those high season costs but still get good weather, try to visit in a high season-adjacent month, like September or April.
- Keep an eye on budget airlines. One of our favorite things about Europe is the abundance of budget airlines that aren’t complete garbage. We have a few in the U.S., but this country still hasn’t quite mastered the art of budget flying, while European countries have been at it for years. The experience is smoother (and probably safer) than you’d expect while still being visibly low-cost (bring food for the flight). Use Skyscanner to find the cheapest flights to ferry you between cities or countries. Just keep in mind that you get what you pay for, and will likely have to pay extra for any bag checking or additional amenities on your flight.
- Choose hotels with “walking distance” appeal. When you’re picking hotels for your trip, you might feel compelled to pick a more affordable hotel in a less popular area of a given city. But if you can find a hotel that’s within walking distance of at least some of the sights you want to see, you’ll save a good chunk of change on daily travel costs.
Now that you’ve got a few tips locked and loaded, here’s the final tool you need to unlock the ultimate (and budget-friendly) European vacation: a list of the top 20 most affordable European cities for your next vacation, based on average hotel prices, flight deals, available vacation packages, affordable attractions, overall accessibility, and U.S. News & World Report user votes.
Top 20 Cheapest Cities in Europe for a Vacation
| 1. Porto, Portugal | 11. Seville, Spain |
| 2. Prague, Czech Republic | 12. Istanbul, Turkey |
| 3. Valencia, Spain | 13. Granada, Spain |
| 4. Tallinn, Estonia | 14. Vienna, Austria |
| 5. Zagreb, Croatia | 15. Berlin, Germany |
| 6. Budapest, Hungary | 16. Corfu, Greece |
| 7. Athens, Greece | 17. Sofia, Bulgaria |
| 8. Lisbon, Portugal | 18. Split, Croatia |
| 9. Galway, Ireland | 19. Ljubljana, Slovenia |
| 10. Malta | 20. Reykjavik, Iceland |
Cheapest European Countries
It’s safe to say you’ll spend less on a trip to Spain, which appears on this list three times, than you will on one to France, which doesn’t appear on the list at all. Portugal, Croatia, and Greece all made the list twice, so you can save some Euros by planning a trip to any of those countries over Italy, which isn’t on the list at all.
