Best inexpensive large European cities?
 

I will be making some MRs/weekend trips to Europe next month and would like to find some inexpensive places to visit. They should be cities easily reachable from the US at a low cost. However, I am willing to pay more for a plane ticket if the city I'm visiting is really inexpensive. I'm thinking of going to Istanbul for a few days. From Washington DC, this is a fairly cheap flight and I think that Turkey will be cheap to stay in.

Any other ideas?

All my info is dated, but Prague and Budapest were both inexpensive when I was there in the late 90's. I've been to Italy and Spain a few times and always found those countries to be reasonably priced as well.

Having said that, I would pick the cities that most interest you, regardless of cost, and then research low-cost options for that city online before you go.

For example, London and Paris tend to fall in the "most expensive" category. But if those cities interest you more than any other, you can find ways to do them on a budget and still have a terrific experience. My favorite memories of both of those cities were when I was traveling "student class".

Go to Istanbul if it interests you, but don't go there just to save a few bucks over somewhere you really want to see more.

Thank you for the reply. I really could enjoy just about anywhere. The reason that I picked Istanbul is because it is a city which I have wanted to visit for a long time. And having a fare of $325 doesn't hurt. I have been to London and Paris numerous times and would like to see some of the rest of Europe. I have also been to Brussels, Bruges, Rome, Venice, Athens, Madrid, Lisbon, Warsaw and Nice. Also any other city is fair game for the next trip (although I am tempted to return to Athens since the fare there is $258 and I only spent 2 days there last time before heading to the islands).

Probably more expensive to get to but inexpensive to stay:

Krakow - Poland/ great old town, castle, one of the oldest universities in the world, nightlife, restaurants, nice hotels, excursions ranging from the sombering Aushwitz(Oswiecim) concentration camp to a fascinating Salt Mine. Cost? think of Prague about 10-15 years ago.

Budapest - Hungary/ again great old city, don't remember too much details, was there about 25 years ago. Quickly becoming a hot tourist destination, still inexpensive now.

Dubrovnik - Croatia/Beautiful seaside old city. Parts still showing the effect of war few years back, but it is once again becoming a favorite European destination. Back in the old days it was the favorite summer destination of the "elite" socialists and communists from eastern Europe. Don't let that scare you, there was a reason it was for "elites".

Cool - I'm like you, whenever I see these fares I start thinking about where I've always wanted to go. I was just using London/Paris as an example: I love 'em both but I'm always looking for something new.

I get the sense that Athens might be really good a year from now, after the construction boom tapers off. My (admittedly uneducated) guess is that there is a lot of scaffolding up in Athens right now.

When I lived in DC back in '98 or so, SpanAir was giving out FREE tickets from Dulles to Madrid. You just had to show up at the right time to claim your voucher. For whatever reason, I didn't do it... When they starting running sub-$300 R/T's to Spain, and AA matched (albeit with a connection) I went to Madrid for a few days. Great place.

This may not be considered so cheap, but Barcelona is one of my favorite cities in the world. There are beautiful walks, great food, and some of my favorite architecture: Gaudi. One of my best weeks ever was there in November (my first time) and I can't wait to go back! It doesn't have the museums of London or Paris, but has much of the charm of Paris. People are up until 1 on weekends, so nightlife is great.


Have fun whereever you go

Keep in mind that you will also need to pay 100 USD (I think, might be wrong on the number) for an "entry fee" to Turkey on arrival.

Yes, but you'll probably save more than the $100 just on your 1st day's lodging, food, & transport costs in IST compared to staying in any large EU city.

On my cheapskate travel budget, that would mean that I would spend -$30 to -$40 in Istanbul http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttr...orum/smile.gif (as compared to say London)

I was thinking of going to Prague, and found an excellent $391 AA V fare that would qualify for triple bonus miles, but that fare has been pulled (is now an L fare that does not qualify).

Istanbul is probably the front runner for the next trip (leave sometime late next week and stay for 3-4 days). I just came back from a weekend in Brussels, and that was not a cheap city (although good availability of priceline hotels really helps the budget).

I was in Athens in September, and other than the ride from the city to Pireaus did not see much sign of olympic construction.

I've been told Libson Portugal is pretty affordable as well. I never been there but I have a good friend from there and he says it's relatively well priced. One of these times i'll go out there...

I was in Budapest back in November and found that prices there were roughly half what they would be in the USA. (eg. US$35 for a three-star hotel room, US$0.50 for a metro ticket, US$5 for a sit-down lunch) It's a very picturesque city with a fairly solid tourist infrastructure. The language barrier can be a challenge, since Hungarian is so dissimilar to any Romance or Germanic language. English speakers are fairly prevalent though.

I also passed through Bratislava, Slovakia during that trip, which was even cheaper (eg. soup, main dish, and pint of beer in a cafe for US$3.50). However, I found Bratislava to be an exceedingly dull city, with not much more to do besides an hour-long walk around the old town.

Budapest is fantastic and inexpensive.

Istanbul is dirt-cheap (especially if you are on a package deal).

I have heard that Sofia is also very good and very inexpensive, but I haven't been there.

Does any US carrier fly directly to Sofia ?

went to prague last year, still quite cheap, about US$8-10 for a main meal, drink and soup, beer, spirits, all v.v cheap. hotels can be expensive as are taxis (read taxi mafia). but public transport is v.cheap. with hotels, suggest giving priceline.com a go, using biddingfortravel.com as your guide and also doing a search on some sites through googles for some pensions with ensuites.. you'd be surprised, i got one about 1 year old, near the castle, for US$30/night.