Though it feels like the end of the year is hurtling towards us faster every day, it’s not too late to plan a cheeky city break in Europe to have some downtime before the holidays. Sure, booking last minute can be spennier, but if you know where to go, it doesn’t need to be.
Compare the Market have analysed some key indicators to work out where in Europe would be the most affordable to visit, including the cost of a meal out per person, of local transport and of one night in an Airbnb (along with the number of Instagram posts for each city, because everyone wants somewhere ‘grammable, right?).
Claiming the title as the most affordable destination is Istanbul, the buzzing capital of Türkiye. Thanks to the average meal costing just £7.31, a one-way transport ticket just 43p and Airbnbs averaging at a reasonable £68 per night, no wonder! Here are our favourite things to do in Istanbul.
In second place it’s Warsaw, which has an average Airbnb cost per night of just £65, and in third place it’s Budapest, where a meal for one is a measly £8.73. Poland also featured in fourth place with Krakow.
However, the roundup includes some famously more expensive cities, which have likely made the ranking thanks to wild numbers of Instagram posts, such as Vienna (in fourteenth place) and Paris (in fifteenth place). Check out the rest of the list below – a handful also appeared on this recent roundup of the best places for an autumnal escape.
These are the best affordable city breaks for autumn 2024
- Istanbul
- Warsaw
- Budapest
- Krakow
- Prague
- Heraklion
- Porto
- Athens
- Tallinn
- Madrid
- Seville
- Lyon
- Lisbon
- Vienna
- Paris
More on autumn travel at
Check out the best places to travel in October and November, our favourite autumnal breaks in Europe and the places still hot at this glorious time of year – we love autumn travel, can you tell?
Did you see that Europe could be getting a new country?
Plus: The world’s cheapest countries to travel to in 2025 have been revealed.
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