From Balkans to Baltics – Europe's ten cheapest city breaks for 2025 revealed

The Irish Sun

16-05-2025

EASTERN European cities will bag you more bang for your buck this year, according to the Post Office Travel Money.
Its annual City Costs Barometer report has revealed that Riga is officially the most wallet-friendly holiday destination on the continent for 2025, soaring to top place for the first time in over a decade.
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Latvian capital Riga was the ultimate bargain city break with cheap accommodation, food and drink
Credit: Getty
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The cheapest cities for hotels, beer and a meal with wine can be revealed
The Latvian capital beat 38 other European cities, primarily thanks to cheap accommodation and affordable food and drink, with a two-night stay in a 3H hotel costing an average of £123 for two people, which was cheaper than most other cities.
The research looked at the average cost of 12 city break essentials in 38 European cities to calculate affordability.
These included: a cup of coffee, a bottle of beer, a Coca-Cola or Pepsi, a glass of wine, a three-course dinner for two including wine, return airport transfers, a 48-hour travel card, a sightseeing bus tour, three top attractions (heritage sites, museum and art gallery) and weekend-long accommodation in a 3H hotel.
The total cost of all 12 holiday essentials came to £252.63 in Riga, only slightly cheaper than runner-up, Vilnius in Lithuania, where all 12 holiday items cost an average £254.32.
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According to the data, prices in Riga, a charming city overlooking the Baltic Sea, are down 15 per cent year-on-year compared with Vilnius, where the barometer total rose by 7.5 per cent this year.
Rising accommodation costs will be the 'real challenge' when it comes to finding an affordable city break this year, Laura Plunkett, head of travel money at Post Office revealed.
She said: 'Successive City Costs Barometers have found big swings in hotel costs depending on how many rooms are available in peak months.
'This year is no different and rising — or falling — hotel prices can have a big impact on city break costs.
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'For example, Vilnius lost its top spot in the latest chart because the cost of accommodation has risen by over nine per cent since last year, while it has fallen over 20 per cent in Riga in the same period.'
Overall costs seem to be much lower in Eastern European cities this year, regardless of varying accommodation costs.
Traveller has great money saving hack that also allows you to experience destinations better
A whopping three cities in Poland were among the top ten cheapest spots with Warsaw coming in third place.
The capital city proved cheap to travel around with return train or bus transfers from the airport costing an average of £1.87pp, while a 48-hour travel card cost only £3.18pp — less than half the cost of a travel card in Riga or Vilnius.
Warsaw has seen a fall of 13.2 per cent in the overall price since last year as a result of cheaper accommodation which now costs an average of £131 for two nights, compared with £170 a year ago.
Free to visit
If it is culture you are after, though, Podgorica is the city for you.
A newcomer to the budget list, the capital of Montenegro came in fourth place this year with total barometer costs of £281.70.
The capital city, famed for its brutalist architecture and winding rivers, has many low-cost attractions and its top heritage attraction, top museum and top art gallery are all free to visit.
Better still, soft drinks like coffee and coke are also a bargain, costing under two quid a pop.
For cheap booze and grub, however, the lively city of Lisbon, on Portugal's western coast, takes the cake.
A three-course meal for two people, with wine, costs less here than any other city in the report, reaching £46.68 on average.
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Vilnius in Lithuania came second for value, where all 12 holiday items cost an average £254.32
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This is significantly less than the top budget spot Riga where dinner costs an average of £65.95 for two.
It's cheaper to knock back a beer than a coke or Pepsi here, too, with a bottle of ale or lager costing £1.93 on average, the same as a glass of wine.
Other budget city breaks for 2025 include Lille in France, as well as Gdansk and Krakow in Poland, which came in sixth, seventh and eighth place on the barometer chart respectively.
At the opposite end of the scale, those looking to save the pennies should steer clear of Oslo in Norway, which was shown to be the priciest of all 38 European destinations.
Barometer costs amounted to an eye-watering £636.20, well over double the cost of Riga, the cheapest city.
The notoriously pricey Copenhagen in