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At a time when the cost of living continues to impact our daily lives, travel remains a priority as we seek to make the most of our time away from our desks. Flight prices seem to creep higher by the day, and some of the travel hacks we’d once rely on fail to cut costs as much as we’d like.
Thankfully, just in the nick of time, the Post Office’s City Costs Barometer shows us that affordable escapes are still possible – more specifically, the trusty city break, if you know where to get more bang for your buck.
The money-savvy whizzes at the Post Office have assessed data from 38 different European cities, analysing prices to share with us the cities where our money goes further right now. Deciding factors include the average cost of two nights' accommodation in a three-star hotel, entry to the top heritage tourist attraction, a museum and a gallery, a sightseeing bus tour, and a public transport travel card.
Food and drink are also deciding factors, with the average cost of a cup of coffee, a bottle of local beer, a soft drink (Coca-Cola/Pepsi), a 175ml glass of house wine, and a three-course evening meal for two with house wine tallied up.
Interestingly, while costs at home seem to be on the up, the Post Office’s survey shows that prices have fallen in half of the cities. What comes as little surprise, though, is how Eastern European destinations dominate the best value city breaks in Europe; seven of the top ten spots belong to the region.
So, where are we heading for a cultural break that won’t break the bank?
Claiming the top spot from 2024 winner Vilnius is… Riga. The average cost of a weekend in the Latvian capital comes to £252.63, which is just under £2 less than Vilnius, which comes in second after claiming first place in 2015, 2019 and 2020 in addition to last year. The Latvian city steals the title largely thanks to extremely affordable accommodation costs – just £123 for two nights in a three-star hotel per couple.
Riga’s popularity has grown considerably in recent years, particularly as Brits catch onto the joys of a city break that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. There’s the gargantuan Riga Central Market, where stallholders sell tasty local fare to visiting gourmands, plenty of sights to please the pickiest aesthetes in the likes of the Latvian National Museum of Art, and plenty of historical attractions, from medieval fortifications to imposing cathedrals.
Vilnius takes humble second place, with things including a cup of coffee (£1.86), a three-course meal for two with wine (£64.18) and a sightseeing bus tour (£9.63) actually costing less than the winning city.
Meanwhile, 2023’s winner, Lisbon, falls to fifth place in the 2025 report. However, the average cost of a two-night break in the Portuguese city still stands at £292.27 – about £40 more than winning Riga.
As much as we love our capital, it’ll come as little surprise that London ranks at number 26. A short break in the city costs around £523.40 – although cities including Nice, Florence, Dublin and Berlin were more expensive.
Starting with the cheapest, the top 10 European cities for overall value in 2025 are:
- Riga, Latvia
- Vilnius, Lithuania
- Warsaw, Poland
- Podgorica, Montenegro
- Lisbon, Portugal
- Lille, France
- Gdansk, Poland
- Kraków, Poland
- Porto, Portugal
- Zagreb, Croatia