Europe on a budget

[drinkingcream]

I haven't been abroad for over 5 years. I know there are lots of places I could visit in the uk but I am craving holiday feel of airports and planes!
I have considered some places which are reasonably cheap such as Lisbon, Budapest and Prague....can anyone recommend any others? I would like to go somewhere where food / restaurants isn't going to cost me the earth. I would like to go for around 4 days. I love food and strolling around / art / architecture...
Please share any such places with me. Thank you 😊

We found Porto quote cheap for food and drink. Nice city to wander around. Touristy transport was expensive but had a great time.

Bari. Istanbul. Prague. Any big-ish town in Poland. Riga.

I’ve never been but I believe Bulgaria is cheap, of course there may be a reason for that! Or you could go for one of the Spanish cities with a beach, like Valencia or Alicante, cheap flights and lots of culture, restaurants and warm!

Slovenia. Ljubljana is lovely, lake Bled was just beautiful

I didn't find Prague cheap, and I'd steer clear of Bulgaria. Can you let go of the plane idea and drive to France / anywhere else?

Warsaw / Krakow. It will be cold this time of year but usually dry. Amazing and incredibly cheap food. Cheap accommodation. Loads of architecture and great museums. Tons of coffeehouses etc. Can't best Poland for a cheap and wonderful city trip!

Costa Blanca. Flying into Alicante.
I would look towards Altea cheap easy transfer.
Very laid back Spanish resort. Good tram links to various places towards Denia.

Rome is much cheaper than Tuscany, Venice etc. I'm in the south of Italy and was astonished at how cheap eating out in Rome is, compared to here.

Madrid is cheap, though not quite as cheap as Rome. Lisbon was about the same as Madrid. The Algarve and Menorca both more expensive though still not "expensive" than the capital cities, but that's because they're tourist hotspots . Brussels about four times as much.

Thessaloniki in Greece fits this brief- excellent food, lovely weather and very affordable. Lots to see and do!

Lisbon and Porto were great value. We live in France and are perpetually astounded at how expensive everything is.

We have been to Krakow/Gdansk/Wroclaw - all very cheap for food and accommodation and lovely places to walk around and do some sight seeing.

Just back from Prague recently and didn't find it overly cheap especially compared to Poland.

North portugal very cheap and beautiful. I found the people very friendly and helpful.

Prague is not cheap anymore! Bratislava is nice for a weekend. Budapest. Krakow, Wroclaw, Lisbon, Barcelona - easy to do on the cheap. Ljubliana.

How about Bilbao and San Sebastián? Lots of lovely tapas bars, great seafood and museums/culture too. I did enjoy Lisbon though and found it very reasonable and we had beautiful weather in April.

PicturesOfLily Second that suggestion, cheaper than France or Portugal

Dubrovnik and the surrounding coast is lovely and not expensive.

Or the peloponnese in Greece.

Less touristy places in Italy are much cheaper. Try Marche on the adriatic coast, Ascoli Piceno.

This is super helpful! Thank you for these amazing suggestions!

Many years ago my Ex and I took the kids on thier first plane, on a tight budget.
We planned were the local airport went to with budget airlines.
Took public transport to airport, again at the other end. We had a self catering flat in a town with lots to do locally on foot and local transport. Our biggest expense was a couple of swimming sessions, two lifts up the cable car and a one meal out. We hiked mountains, swam in lakes, mooched around on picnics in the hills and forests. The kids loved it - and still talk about it fondly.
I found this approach more important than the 'where and how cheap is eating out'? question.

@outdooryone that is useful advice! Thank you!