The Cheapest Cities in Europe to Visit in 2025—and the…

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Travelers hunting for bargains in Europe will have the best luck looking eastward.

That sage advice is borne out by the latest City Costs Barometer compiled by the U.K.’s Post Office, which compares a variety of travel expenses (for accommodations, meals, drinks, transit, and attractions) across 38 European cities to come up with its annual ranking of the continent’s “best value city breaks.”

As in many previous years, Eastern Europe dominates the affordable end of 2025’s list, taking up seven spots in the top 10. That includes the city named the year’s most budget-friendly in Europe: Riga, Latvia (pictured above).

The Baltic charmer—known for its colorful medieval and art nouveau architecture, lively pedestrian-only Old Town, and restaurants serving hearty traditional stews—regained the cheapest-city crown from last year’s winner, Vilnius, Lithuania. That city fell to second place in 2025 due to slightly higher hotel prices.

Riga, meanwhile, was found to have the lowest-priced accommodations in Europe, with a 2-night stay for two at a 3-star hotel coming out to an average of about £165, according to the Post Office’s research.

The city doesn’t have the continent’s most affordable restaurant meals, however. That distinction goes to Lisbon, Portugal, where a three-course meal for two people with a bottle of house wine will only set you back the equivalent of around £62.

Lisbon, by the way, was determined to be the cheapest city to visit in Western Europe, coming in fifth overall. In ninth place, Portugal’s second city, Porto, also cracked the top 10.

The 10 Cheapest Cities in Europe to Visit in 2025

Here’s the Post Office’s complete top 10.

1. Riga, Latvia
2. Vilnius, Lithuania
3. Warsaw, Poland
4. Podgorica, Montenegro
5. Lisbon, Portugal
6. Lille, France
7. Gdansk, Poland
8. Krakow, Poland
9. Porto, Portugal
10. Zagreb, Croatia

The 10 Most Expensive Cities in Europe to Visit in 2025

At the other end of the price spectrum, the cost index names Oslo, Norway, and Copenhagen, Denmark, the most expensive European cities to visit.

To cite just one example of Scandinavian priciness: A three-course meal for two with a house bottle of wine in Oslo will cost you more than three times what you’d pay in Lisbon, according to the report.

The news in Western and Northern Europe isn’t all bad on the budgeting front, though. Researchers discovered that prices have gone down in half of cities surveyed compared to 2024, with notable drops in Helsinki (-20.2%) and Amsterdam (-12.9%), among others.

Here’s the full list of the 10 most expensive cities as determined by the Post Office.

1. Oslo, Norway
2. Copenhagen, Denmark
3. Edinburgh, Scotland
4. Venice, Italy
5. Berlin, Germany
6. Amsterdam, Netherlands
7. Geneva, Switzerland
8. Dublin, Ireland
9. Barcelona, Spain
10. Florence, Italy

To see the complete report, go to PostOffice.co.uk.

And for more ways to save on travel, consult our list of 11 budget-friendly strategies to try this summer.