The best budget city breaks in Europe have been revealed

The best capital cities across Europe for budget-friendly holidays have been revealed, with Warsaw in Poland ranking in first position.

Travel insurance experts at Quotezone.co.uk have analysed data to create the 2024 European Budget Holiday Index to name the most affordable city breaks across the continent.

They looked at the twelve most visited capital cities across Europe including Paris, Berlin, Madrid and Rome.

The cities were ranked based on several factors which budget holidaymakers should look out for, including tourist tax, hotel costs, the price of a meal and beer, public transport ticket costs, and the distance from the airport.

Warsaw, Poland has been named the best city break for budget-friendly holidays in Europe, with no tourist tax in place, the cheapest hotel prices at €45.60 per night, and one-day public transport tickets costing just €1.02.

Zagreb, Croatia is ranked as the second most affordable city break, with the cheapest beer prices (€3.00 for 0.5 litres) and charging visitors just €1 a day.

The city named as the worst location in Europe for budget breaks this summer is Paris, France – which has some of the highest hotel prices (€117.25 per night), €7.00 for a beer, despite reasonably cheap public transport tickets at €2.15.

Amsterdam, capital of the Netherlands charges visitors the most tourist tax in Europe, has the most expensive hotel costs at over €120 a night, and is over 16 km away from the airport, meaning it ranks as the second most expensive destination.

Lisbon, Portugal is the capital city situated closest to the airport at 13.12 km away – a large difference from Rome, Italy, which is 37 km away.

The Portuguese capital ranks as the fourth best city break for budget holidays, with inexpensive meals costing €13.75, €3.00 for a beer and cheap public transport tickets at €2.00.

Yet the Italian capital ranks in ninth position, due to the expensive tourist taxes (€7.50 per night), and €15.00 for a meal.

London is the third worst city for affordable summer holidays despite not charging tourists any overnight taxes. The British capital has hotel prices of €117.25 per night and the most expensive cost for a beer at €7.56.

Berlin, Germany has the highest price for a one-day public transport ticket (€3.50) – compared to Istanbul, Turkey which charges visitors just €0.51.

Istanbul ranks as the third best capital city for holidaying this summer, with the cheapest meal prices in the index, despite being 34.74 km away from the airport.

Madrid, Spain charges no tourist tax to visitors and has a €14.00 cost for an inexpensive meal, making it rank as the fifth most affordable city.

The two capital cities charging visitors €15.00 for a meal are Athens, Greece and Vienna, Austria. These destinations rank in sixth and seventh place, respectively.

Greg Wilson, Founder and CEO of Quotezone said: “This summer many travellers will be opting for a city break that doesn’t break the bank. A recent Quotezone survey found 35% of people end up spending more than they want to on holiday.

“Our team looked at the twelve most visited cities across Europe ranking them for distance from the city centre to the airport, tourist tax and key prices such as meals, beers and public transport tickets. 

“It’s vitally important travellers look at all of the holiday costs before going away. There could be some expensive surprises they didn’t expect to pay for – such as tourist tax.

“Overall, our European Budget Holiday Index found Warsaw, Poland to be the best capital city for an affordable summer city break – with cheap hotels, meals and transport costs.

“Paris, France has been named the most expensive capital city, as it has an expensive tourist tax in place, and high prices for meals, beer and hotels.

“It’s sensible for holidaymakers to help protect themselves financially with travel insurance, even if it’s just for a mini-break, flight delays and cancellations are increasingly common and pickpocketing is a concern amongst these popular city destinations.” 

Rank	Capital City	Country	Tourist Tax	Hotel Cost	Meal Price	Beer Price	Public Transport Ticket	Distance From Airport	Total Points
1	Warsaw	Poland	€0	€45.60	€9.30	€3.72	€1.02	14.36 km	17
2	Zagreb	Croatia	€1	€57.70	€12.00	€3.00	€0.53	16.90 km	18
3	Istanbul	Turkey	€1.20	€45.60	€8.65	€3.17	€0.51	34.74 m	22
4	Lisbon	Portugal	€2	€101.43	€13.75	€3.00	€2.00	13.12 km	29
5	Madrid	Spain	€0	€82.82	€14.00	€3.50	€1.50	22.67 km	30
6	Athens	Greece	€3	€64.21	€15.00	€5.00	€1.20	36.69 km	44
7	Vienna	Austria	€3.74	€83.75	€15.00	€4.50	€2.40	26.19 km	46
8	Berlin	Germany	€4.40	€76.31	€14.00	€4.50	€3.50	29.29 km	47
9	Rome	Italy	€7.50	€92.13	€15.00	€5.00	€1.50	37 km	54
10	London	UK	€0	€117.25	€23.25	€7.56	€3.26	28.57 km	55
11	Amsterdam	Netherlands	€13.45	€121.91	€20.00	€6.00	€3.40	16.76 km	59
12	Paris	France	€8.13	€117.25	€18.00	€7.00	€2.15	31.84 km	60

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References:

• The 12 countries analysed are the most internationally visited European countries – https://www.statista.com/statistics/261729/countries-in-europe-ranked-by-international-tourist-arrivals/

• Hotel cost per night for each capital city was converted from $ into € before calculating the index – https://www.budgetyourtrip.com/

• Average price of an inexpensive meal in each capital city (Turkey, Poland and the UK were converted into € before calculating the index) – https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/

• Average price of 0.5 litres of draught beer in each capital city (Turkey, Poland and the UK were converted into € before calculating the index) – https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/

• Average cost of a one day local transport ticket for each capital city (Turkey, Poland and the UK were converted into € before calculating the index) – https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/ 

• Distance from the airport to the capital city (the driving distance in km was used, except for Istanbul where the straight line distance in km was used. The airport used for London was Heathrow) – https://www.mapdevelopers.com/distance_from_to.php

• Tourist tax (for each capital city. The tax in Istanbul, Vienna, Berlin and Amsterdam is based on a percentage of the accommodation charge. This was calculated by using the hotel price on our index).

• Paris (4 star hotel, per person per night) – https://parisjetaime.com/eng/article/tourist-tax-a616
• Madrid https://beoriginaltours.com/is-there-a-tourist-tax-in-spain/
• Istanbul (2%)  – https://www.novinite.com/articles/218238/Turkey+has+introduced+a+Tourist+Tax
• Rome (4 star hotel, per person per night) – https://www.voyagerschooltravel.com/blog/rome-city-tax-has-increased-what-you-need-to-know-before-your-trip/
• London – https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-09-13/199425
• Berlin (5%) – https://upper-room-hotel.de/en/uebenachtungssteuer.html
• Athens (4 star hotel, per night) – https://cameltravel.co.uk/new-greece-tourist-tax/
• Vienna (3.2%) – https://www.wien.gv.at/english/e-government/financial/tax/local-tax.html
• Lisbon – https://www.theportugalnews.com/news/2023-04-10/where-do-you-pay-tourist-tax-in-portugal/76522
• Amsterdam (12.5%) – https://www.amsterdam.nl/en/municipal-taxes/tourist-tax-(toeristenbelasting)/
• Zagreb – http://www.croatiaapartments.net/croatia_tourist_information_croatia_tourist_tax.html
• Warsaw – https://airbalticholidays.com/eu/tourist-fee

The tourist tax prices, hotel cost, price of an inexpensive meal, price of 0.5L of beer, one-day local transport ticket price, and the distance from the airport to the capital city have all been analysed for this index.

Each city was given a nominal score which was totalled up to give a final ranking.

All prices were converted into € before calculating the index.