The cheapest city breaks in Europe for 2026, ranked

🛏️ Average one-bed Airbnb: €40 (£34, $44)
🍻 Average pint: €2.30 (£1.97, $2.70)

Sarajevo is the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and it remains remarkably affordable. It’s also a city that doesn’t demand you spend money – you can wander its streets for hours and basically never get bored. Better yet, join a free walking tour to get familiar and learn about the city’s history (we say free, but make sure to tip your tour guide). Grab bits for lunch at Gradska tržnica Markale, a covered food market in the city centre, fill up on a traditional burek for less than a fiver, and stop for a beer or wine for as little as €2. 

🧳 Plan your 2026 trip: There are plenty of reasons to come in August, when the city is at its sunny best – but by far the biggest reason is Sarajevo Film Festival, one of the greatest of its kind in southeastern Europe. 

🛏️ Average one-bed Airbnb: €52.50 (£46, $57)
🍻 Average pint: €1.65 (£1.43, $1.80)

Albania’s pretty coastline has been having a bit of a moment over the last couple of years as a budget alternative to Greece, Spain and Italy, but you’d be a fool to pay the country a visit and overlook its capital – particularly if you’re after a budget city break. Tirana is steeped in Communist era history: Bunk’art 1, a Cold War bunker turned museum, and one of the city’s most popular attractions costs just £4 to enter, but lots of traditional buildings have since been given vibrant makeovers in the form of street art. Then there’s brilliant restaurants (like Mystic 2) and bars (such as Radio Bar), which are rustling up great dishes and cocktails at decent prices. 

🧳 Plan your 2026 trip: Head to Kala Festival in Dhërmi, one of our favourite festivals in Europe, and book an Airbnb in Tirana afterwards for a chilled-out, post-festival city break. 

🏘️ Check out the best Airbnbs in Albania

🛏️ Average one-bed Airbnb: €80 (£68, $85)
🍻 Average pint: €5.60 (£4.75, $5.90)

We’ve previously named Hull as one of the UK’s best places to visit, for its culture, LGBTQ+ scene and, for tourists, its very pretty old town, which is steeped with history having survived the Hull Blitz during WW2. But you can’t ignore one of Hull’s biggest draws: compared to the rest of the UK, it’s seriously cheap. And as the UK’s other major cities all get closer to London prices (we’re looking at you, Bristol, Glasgow and Manchester), that’s more and more hard to come by. For the perfect weekend visit, wander round cute shops at Hepworth Arcade and splash out a little at restaurant and bakery Hearth with all the cash you saved on the Airbnb. 

🧳 Plan your 2026 trip: This year, the Hull Maritime Museum will reopen in the summer after a £27.5m transformation (which was delayed for another year in 2025). The restoration promises a load of fresh new exhibits in one of the city’s most beautiful old buildings. 

🛏️ Average one-bed Airbnb: €55 (£46, $60)
🍻 Average pint: €1.60 (£1.35, $1.75)

Once a post-war hub of heavy industry when it had the largest population in Hungary after Budapest, Miskolc has since lost its second-city status – and, indeed, much of its industry. In its place is now a mid-sized town featuring Hungary’s best provincial bar scene, a busy monthly flea market and a sleek tram connecting its stately train station to its main street and beyond, to the edge of the Bükk National Park. City buses serve the pretty lakeside resort of Lillafüred and its forest railway. 

🧳 Plan your 2026 trip: There is no bigger reason to visit this city any year than the fantastic Cave Baths of Miskolctapolca – a thermal spa inside a cave that will cure your hangover affordably, and (pretty much) tourist-free.

🛏️ Average one-bed Airbnb: €65 (£55, $70)
🍻 Average pint: €2.50 (£2.15, $2.75)

If I hadn’t already been on a road trip around Croatia, Zagreb almost definitely wouldn’t have been on my radar. Despite being Croatia’s capital, the city is pretty underrated, cowering in the shadow of popular destinations such as Split and Dubrovnik – but I’m here to make a case for it as a brilliant budget destination. Why? Because it’s so goddamn walkable. That’s right – alongside the reasonable accommodation and food prices, Zagreb’s streets are some of the most pleasant to get around on foot: we barely used public transport at all (but even if you do, a tram ride of up to 30 mins costs just 44p). Start from the city’s sprawling main square and meander your way to pretty much every one of the city’s best sights before grabbing an excellent people watching spot – the cafés here are excellent.

🧳 Plan your 2026 trip: It’s great in summer and all, but Zagreb is actually our favourite destination in Europe for the festive season – November to January sees a series of incredible Advent events, from street parties to theatre. 

🛏️ Average one-bed Airbnb: €50 (£42, $55)
🍻 Average pint: €2.00 (£1.70, $2.20)

Chaotic, gritty, packed and very fairly priced – Belgrade is anything but a quiet getaway location. Smokey dive bars and gig venues nestle in old socialist architecture, competing for space in the once-desolate Savamala area, which is now home to a thriving culture scene. Head to Ada Ciganlija, a reclaimed island on the Sava river, if you’re looking to find a tiny, tranquil slice of nature.

🧳 Plan your 2026 trip: Did we mention beer? Belgrade Beer Festival is lively, fun and held right on the banks of the Sava and Danube rivers – plus it’s completely free (apart from, well, the beer). 

🛏️ Average one-bed Airbnb: €65 (£55, $70)
🍻 Average pint: €2.20 (£1.88, $2.40)

With just my part-time job pocket money as a budget, I went to Sofia for a post-exams trip a few years ago – and reaching blissfully hot temperatures in the summer, the Bulgarian capital shouldn’t be overlooked. Besides admiring its blend of communist traces, Roman ruins and Byzantine architecture, we joined a stunning free tour up the nearby Vitosha mountain and embarked on a free Balkan food tour, with generous complimentary samples from some of the city’s most delicious spots (enough to replace lunch). And, obviously, we sunk plenty of gloriously cheap wine and beer in its countless parks and hidden bars.

🧳 Do this in 2026: This year is big for visiting any Bulgarian city, not only because the country has just adopted the euro as it’s currency, but because it launched a new digital nomad visa in December 2025. No better time to get to know this beautiful place, eh?

🛏️ Average one-bed Airbnb: €70 (£59, $76)
🍻 Average pint: €3.50 (£3.00, $3.85)

Lithuania’s second city is criminally underrated, highly walkable and stuffed full of more culture than you can imagine. Stroll through beautiful old neighbourhoods, gawk at interwar modernist architecture (still around from its days as the country’s capital), and in the afternoon, settle into a cosy coffee shop, or one of its many, many craft beer or natural wine bars. This city is only getting cooler, but for now, it also remains pretty affordable for most – and relatively free from tourists too. 

🧳 Plan your 2026 trip: The Kaunas Jazz Festival is one of the biggest and best in the Baltics, this year taking place in April, with a hot line up of local and international artists and a number of free outdoor gigs. 

🛏️ Average one-bed Airbnb: €75 (£64, $82)
🍻 Average pint: €3.00 (£2.55, $3.30)

Festival vibes meet olde-worlde history in Kraków. We recommend packing in as many medieval sites as possible, and then getting stuck into a great night out. It’s not quite as ‘cheap’ as it once was, but it remains exceedingly good value, especially compared with many of Europe’s top tourist cities.

🧳 Plan your 2026 trip: Try to plan your trip to coincide with one of the city’s many, many festivals, which range from the typical (think Summer Jazz Festival and the Kraków Film Festival) to the more obscure, like the International Soup Festival. What more could you want?

🛏️ Average one-bed Airbnb: €50 (£43, $55)
🍻 Average pint: €4.50 (£3.85, $5.00)

Argos is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world. Right in the heart of the Peloponnese, this is Greece as you imagine it: balmy Mediterranean weather with archaelogical beauty sprawling as far as the eye can see. According to legend, it was literally ruled by the son of Zeus at one point, too. It’s largely off the tourist path too, so you can explore the ancient theatre ruins, the prehistoric castle and sixth-century BC Roman Agora in peace.

🧳 Plan your 2026 trip: Visit in summer for Argos’s Annual Cultural Festival, where you’ll find live music, free gigs, outdoor dance shows and more. 

📍 Discover the best places to visit in Greece

🛏️ Average one-bed Airbnb: €60 (£51, $66)
🍻 Average pint: €2.50 (£2.10, $2.80)

Bucharest is great if you’re looking for a good time. Don’t sleep on the nightlife, just make sure to avoid the overhyped bars near the centre and head for one of the sky bars instead. You can try (delicious, hearty) traditional food for bargain prices, too. Our reccomedation is the legendary Caru’ cu Bere – order the grilled pork and a side of sauerkraut.

🧳 Plan your 2026 trip: The city’s Fringe Festival takes place in May, bringing both local and international talent from theatre, comedy and more to the city. 

🛏️ Average one-bed Airbnb: €75 (£64, $84)
🍻 Average pint: €3.80 (£3.25, $4.30)

Graz is one of Austria’s unsung heroes. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site, incredibly walkable and just about every inch of it is beautiful to stare at. For futuristic art, head to Kunsthaus Graz. The gallery is housed in a building known as the ‘friendly alien’ – you can’t miss its undulating, scaley form on the waterfront. 

🧳 Plan your 2026 trip: Just south of the city begins the Styrian wine country (about 50 minutes’ drive away). Think of it as Austria’s Tuscany, just with far less tourists – well worth a visit for a wine tour and tasting. 

🛏️ Average one-bed Airbnb: €65 (£55, $70)
🍻 Average pint: €3.50 (£3.00, $3.90)

In Riga, it’s all about the art nouveau. The architecture is seriously beautiful, and there’s a huge, buzzy creative scene. Check out Putti, a modern gallery and events space, or Rīgas Birža for something more traditional. Looking for something less refined? Food and drink is reasonably priced too – but if you’re looking to let loose, head to the Old Town for all the most established bars. 

🧳 Plan your 2026 trip: Book in some time to stroll through Alberta Street – it was chosen as one of the most beautiful places in Europe by our travel experts.