Ranked as one of the most affordable cities in Western Europe, Lisbon is hard to beat on price. However, as more and more people learn about the Portuguese capital’s pocket-friendliness, it’s becoming increasingly crowded – in summer 2023 Lisbon mayor, Carlos Moedas, was already predicting a record year for tourism in the city.
It can become especially busy on days when cruises are in port. And it’s not unusual to find tailbacks of tourists forming outside major sights such as the Unesco-listed Jerónimos Monastery and Belém Tower lookout.
With its trams, hilltop lookouts, and riverside promenade, the Portuguese capital is hard to replicate, but there are alternatives out there.
Here are 15 city break swaps across Europe.
Turin, Italy
Nuzzling up to the Po River in north-west Italy, Turin is a city of fountain-dotted piazzas, cobbled streets, and grand palazzos, including the Unesco-listed Palazzo Madama, which was once a residence of the royal House of Savoy. The city’s vintage “number 7” tram line, which runs on Sundays, takes visitors right past the latter landmark and passes close to other signature sights, including the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist and the Museum of the Turin Shroud (tickets €8).
One-bedroom accommodation rates average just £64 in the city (according to data from short-term rental analytics company Airdna), while budget flights are priced from £80 return with Ryanair.
Coimbra, Portugal
Set close to the centre of Portugal, Coimbra was the country’s capital in the mid-12th to mid-13th-century. It has plenty in common with the city that took its title. Whitewashed, red-roofed buildings spill down the hillside to the banks of the Mondego River, its guidebooks are filled with monasteries, convents and the University of Coimbra Alta and Sofia World Heritage Site and it is home to a 51-metre glass elevator that’s the modern-day equivalent of Lisbon’s 45-metre Elevador de Santa Justa.
Accommodation prices are similarly low, too, at £57 a night for a one-bedroom apartment rental.
To get to Coimbra, visitors can book a budget flight to Porto (available from £83 with Ryanair) and then make the two-hour direct train journey to the former capital (priced from €9 one-way).
Riga, Latvia
There are multiple nods to Lisbon in the Latvian capital. Edging up to the Daugava River, the city is speckled with historic buildings, in both the Unesco-listed centre and the Art Deco district. Its Central Market and food hall is one of the largest in Europe, and it’s renowned for its nightlife – there’s everything from speakeasies to craft beer bars within its boundaries.
One-bedroom accommodation prices are also low, averaging £42 a night, and flights for less than £100 return are readily available with airlines such as Ryanair.
Rotterdam, Netherlands
Hugging the banks of the New Meuse River, Rotterdam – with its river-spanning Erasmus Bridge, buzzy waterside Fenix Food Factory food hall, and Tram 10 tram line, which is serviced by yellow, 30s tramcars throughout summer – are all evocative of Lisbon.
The second largest city in the Netherlands has a World Heritage Site, too. Located to the west of the centre, the 20s Van Nellefabriek factory complex is described by Unesco as “one of the icons of 20th-century industrial architecture”, and guided tours are available on weekends.
Accommodation costs an average of £102 a night in the city while flights can be found for around £150 with British Airways CityFlyer.
Brussels, Belgium
Hilltop viewpoints, sunset-watching spots, a panoramic elevator and a handful of Unesco World Heritage sites are just a few of the things the Belgian capital has in common with its Portuguese counterpart. Operating on Sundays between April and September and featuring trams from the 30s, the city’s heritage tramway, the Brussels Tourist Tramway, glides passengers past some of the city’s key sights, including the Royal Quarter and the Arcades du Cinquantenaire. At first glance, the €20 ticket isn’t cheap, but the journey lasts four hours, so customers get their money’s worth.
One-bedroom apartments, meanwhile, average just over £80 and flights are available from £42 with Ryanair from Manchester (London flights are a little more).
Warsaw, Poland
Painted postbox red and canary yellow, just like Lisbon’s, the trams of Warsaw serve a third of the city. It’s the 36 Line that city breakers will be most interested in, though. Operational between spring and summer, it is serviced by vintage trams that sweep passengers past landmarks such as the Hala Mirowska market and the Palace of Culture and Science with its 114-metre viewing platform. The 36 Line costs less than a pound to ride.
Elsewhere, the Polish capital promises riverside walks, Old Town ambles, and one-bedroom apartment rentals for just £53.50 a night. Flights, meanwhile, are priced from £46 with Ryanair.
Budapest, Hungary
Riding the butter-yellow No 2 tramline is one of the best ways to see the key sights of Budapest. Tracing the curves of the Danube River, it puts passengers in sight of the hilltop Castle District, parliament, the National Theatre, the Chain Bridge, and more. Costing less than £1 a ride, the experience frees up a little room in the budget for one of the city’s big indulgences – a day at the Gellért thermal baths, where general weekday admission is £23.
Both Ryanair and Wizz Air offer budget flights to the Hungarian capital and one-bedroom apartments cost an affordable average of £53 a night.
Kaunas, Lithuania
Perched on the confluence of the Nemunas and Neris rivers, Kaunas is both a Unesco City of Design, for its dedication to fostering creativity, and a World Heritage Site, for its modernist architecture. Green spaces, such as Santakos Park, where visitors can see the city’s two rivers merge, cover almost half the city, and exploring them is free. There’s also no charge to follow the 30-mural street art trail and take a guided tour with a local “Culture Host” (tips welcomed). A ride on the city’s 30s funicular railway is also a snip at just a euro a time.
One-bedroom accommodation in the city hovers around the £48 a night mark, while Wizz Air offers return flights for as little as £44.
Bratislava, Slovakia
As in Lisbon, trams have been snaking their way around the Slovakian capital since the late 19th century and are now as much an emblem of the city as the Danube that powers through its middle. Costing as little as 70 cents a journey, riding the tram network is one of several free, or nearly free, things to do in the city. The list also includes making a wish on the bronze Cumil statue in the Old Town and climbing up to the hilltop castle for cinematic river and Old Town views.
Both Ryanair and Wizz Air offer budget flights to Bratislava, while the average price of a night’s accommodation in a one-bedroom apartment is just £52.
Wuppertal, Germany
Brushing the banks of the Wupper River, a 40-minute train ride from Cologne (served by Ryanair), Wuppertal is best known for its suspension railway, a system of overhead tracks and stations, serviced by hanging trams, that glides above 13km (eight miles) of the city and cost €8.30 for 24 hours.
Free to access green spaces, hilltop lookouts that serve up views all the way to Dusseldorf on clear days, and a clutch of innovative museums canvas the rest of the city. One-bedroom apartment rental rates average just £58 a night.
Graz, Austria
It’s free to ride the Altstadt-Bim (Old Town Tram) in this Unesco World Heritage city, which stands astride the River Mur in south-east Austria. The routes spirit passengers through the Old Town, the pastel-painted main square, and past sights including the Renaissance Landhaus palace. Free rides on the rest of the city’s public transport network are included with the Graz Card (€39 for 48 hours), which also includes a ride on the 19th-century funicular, a walking tour, and free entry to a long list of museums such as the Kunsthaus art museum.
The cheapest way to get to Graz is to fly to Vienna (flights from £60 with Ryanair) and then make the two-hour train journey to Graz (tickets from €20 one-way). Accommodation, meanwhile, costs an average of £60 a night.
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Set in a bowl-like valley encircled by the Dinaric Alps, Sarajevo is a two-hour 40-minute flight from London and plane tickets cost as little as £42 with Ryanair. Many of the city’s sights – such as the bazaar-lined Baščaršija Old Town, the Yellow Fort lookout, with its widescreen sunset views, and the walkways of Trebević mountain – are free to experience. Meanwhile, taking the cable car up to Trebević, rather than hiking, costs less than £10 and shuttling about the rest of the city on its network of historic trams will set visitors back £1 a ride.
The average price for a night’s stay in a one-bedroom rental, meanwhile, is only £36.
Istanbul, Turkey
There are vintage tramways on both the European and Asian sides of Istanbul. Between them, the T2 and T3 lines trundle passengers through more than four kilometres of the city, for less than £1 a journey.
As in Lisbon, it’s easy to stick to the budget in Istanbul. Some of the city’s best-known sights, such as the Blue Mosque, are free to visit, the hole-in-the-wall restaurants of the Grand Bazaar serve up affordable but tasty plates of grilled meats, dürüm wraps, and lavas (flatbreads) for a few pounds, and one-bedroom rental accommodation averages £45 a night. Flights, meanwhile, are available from as little as £55 with Wizz Air.
Ljubljana, Slovenia
The Ljubljanica River ribbons through the centre of the Slovenian capital and, just like in Lisbon, a huge selection of bars, cafes and restaurants with outdoor seating areas phalanx the water. The city’s tram network was retired in the fifties, but Ljubljana does have a funicular, which takes passengers from the red-roofed Old Town to the hilltop castle, with its panoramic viewing platforms, museums, wine bar and restaurant, for €3.30 a ride.
Direct flights to Ljubljana are available for around £100 with easyJet, and the average cost of a night’s one-bedroom apartment rental is £79 in the city.
Milan, Italy
With their polished wood interiors and rubber duck yellow paintwork, some of the trams on Milan’s No 1 line have been in operation since the 20s and 30s. Riding the line puts passengers within sauntering distance of some of the city’s must-see sights, including the Gothic, gargoyle-covered, cathedral.
Accommodation in Milan is a little pricier than in Lisbon, with one-bedroom apartments costing an average of £106 a night. However, it is easy to find cheap eats in the city, from tramezzino (Italy’s take on sandwiches, priced from €3.50 a time) to A3-sized slices of loaded focaccia (priced from €1.80). Budget flights from the UK to Milan are available from around £50.
