If you are looking for a city break on a budget this summer, consider some of Eastern Europe’s culture-rich capitals.
A new report by the UK’s Post Office has ranked the top 10 cities in Europe where you could save money on a holiday.
The City Costs Barometer found that prices have fallen in half the cities surveyed. Seven out of 10 destinations are in Eastern Europe, including the top spot.
Europe’s lowest-cost cities for food, transport and attractions
The analysis calculated the costs of 12 common tourist items in 38 cities in Europe.
These included consumables like a cup of coffee, a bottle of beer, a can of Coca-Cola or Pepsi, a glass of wine, and a three-course evening meal for two with house wine.
Transport costs were also incorporated, such as a return airport bus or train transfer, and a 48-hour travel card.
It included the price of a sightseeing city bus tour, a top tourist heritage attraction, a top museum, and a top art gallery.
Finally, it added the cost of two nights’ accommodation in a three-star hotel for two people.
Latvia’s capital is Europe’s best budget city break
The Latvian capital, Riga, has regained its position as Europe’s best value city for a short break for the first time in over a decade.
The UNESCO-designated old town is a flourish of carved medieval buildings and pastel townhouses, but you don’t have to battle crowds to visit the famous sites.
At €300 for 12 tourist items, the city has risen from sixth place last year to top the chart for the first time since 2012.
This is because prices in Riga are down 15 per cent year-on-year compared with those in runner-up city, Vilnius, where the total cost of an average break rose 7.5 per cent to €302.
The rising cost of accommodation in the Lithuanian capital is the key factor. Prices in the two Baltic states are around 60 per cent lower than in Oslo (€755) and Copenhagen (€747), the most expensive cities surveyed.
Poland is home to three of Europe’s most affordable cities
Poland boasts three cities in this year’s city breaks top 10.
Warsaw (€329) has moved up from 10th to third place with a price fall of 13.2 per cent, mainly as a result of a €46 fall in accommodation costs (€155 for two nights compared with €201 a year ago).
Kraków (€356) again makes the top 10 but has dropped from fourth to eighth place because of a 7.7 per cent price increase.
One place higher in seventh position Gdansk, surveyed for the first time this year, costs a total of €352 for the barometer items.
From the enormous brick St Mark’s Church, whose spires seem to pierce the clouds, to the slender gabled houses lining Long Market, many of the Polish city’s attractions don’t cost a penny to admire.
Also new for 2025, Montenegro’s capital, Podgorica, has shot into the top 10 in fourth place. Its overall cost of €335 is 29 per cent lower than Dubrovnik in neighbouring Croatia.
Podgorica has an ultra-trendy cafè scene, a historic village-in-the-city neighbourhood and vestiges of its ancient Ottoman past to discover.
Rising from 11th last year to 10th position in the new survey, Zagreb (€369) is the fourth new entrant to the best value top 10, gaining its place because of a 4.4 per cent fall in barometer prices.
Portugal’s two major cities both feature in the ranking. Although prices are up 10.8 per cent in Lisbon (5th, €347), the Portuguese capital remains the highest placed Western European city.
Porto (9th, €362) has moved back into the leading 10 cities from 13th place last year after registering an overall price fall of 15.5 per cent, thanks to better hotel availability.
Lille, a delight of handsome buildings and heavyweight museums in northern France, comes in 6th place at €348 to complete the top 10 line-up.
Helsinki has seen the biggest drop in prices
Post Office researchers found that costs for tourist items have fallen in half of the surveyed cities compared to a year ago.
The biggest drop has been in Helsinki, the lowest-priced Scandinavian city in this year’s barometer. At €556, prices have plummeted by over 20 per cent to take the Finnish capital to 21st place from 34th last year.
Conversely, barometer prices have risen significantly in Berlin, where a 20 per cent increase in tourist costs has seen the city fall from 21st to 34th place with a barometer total of €698.
All prices have been converted from Sterling to Euro at the current conversion rate of £1 = €1.19.
