Best city breaks in Europe

Forget Paris and Barcelona: Kraków has once again been crowned the best city break destination in Europe. 

The former capital of Polish kings and queens impresses with its rich history and extraordinary architecture. It won’t break the bank, either: Kraków was the only city in our survey to clinch the full five stars for value for money.

This year also saw a surprising comeback from old favourite Venice. It took second place despite the effects of overtourism and sky-high prices.

Valencia also triumphed over tourist hotspot Barcelona, while Istanbul placed in the top five for the very first time.

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Europe's best cities, as recommended by visitors

Kraków: best city break in Europe

Video: Take a tour of Europe's best city

Poland’s former royal capital city is blessed by film-set looks, with horses and carriages clip-clopping past palaces on the largest medieval square in Europe. An old town that's an easily walkable tour of palaces, castles and some of Europe’s greatest architecture. 

Look inside many of these grand buildings and you’ll find old masters and modern art hanging in galleries (visitors awarded its cultural attractions four stars). All this makes it better than most rivals in its own right, but it's helped by being a bargain, too. 

As the only city to get the full five stars for value for money, you can still sleep in a luxury hotel for less than £200 a night. 

Visitors also gave it full marks for food and drink: you’ll find inventive Polish cuisine at Bottiglieria 1881 and Pod Nosem, and jazz groups playing into the small hours in cellar cocktail bars such as Piwnica pod Baranami. 

Don't miss: Visit nearby Auschwitz for a moving reminder of the horror that happened there during the war

Find holidays to Kraków with Which? Recommended Providers Jet2holidays, Hays Travel, Saga and Trailfinders.

Venice: best for a cultural break

It may be overtouristed – you rated it just one star for crowds and a grudging two stars for value for money – yet so much of travel is about expectations. Expect crowds and prices that verge on criminal, and both will infuriate you less. Maybe new rules that ban megaphones and tour groups larger than 25 have helped, too. 

Besides, the Queen of the Adriatic is easy to forgive when she showcases such heart-stopping beauty. Nothing beats the magic of watching gondolas nod on sparkling water off St Mark’s Square or admiring Tintoretto altarpieces in the half-light of churches. 

Venice doesn’t feel entirely real even while you're there – and it more than deserves its five stars for culture. So while the crowds annoy and the prices sting, you’ll leave having banked more memories in three days than on any week at a beach resort. 

Don’t miss: Listening to Vivaldi’s chamber music soar into the cupola of the Chiesa San Vidal at dusk. 

Find holidays to Venice with Which? Recommended Providers Audley Travel, Hays Travel, Jet2holidays, Saga and Trailfinders.

Valencia: best for a beach break 

If you swelter in Madrid and feel unwelcome in Barcelona, Valencia is the sweet spot. Everything you once came to Barcelona for is in Spain’s third-largest city. 

There’s a dynamic juxtaposition of history in a honey-stoned old town with futurism in the City of Arts and Sciences development. Plus, a room of Goyas in the excellent Museum of Fine Arts (Valencia was rated as highly as Barcelona and Madrid for sights). 

What’s more, it has a five-star gastronomy scene, ranging from two-star Michelin restaurants such as El Poblet to countless paella joints (Valencia is this iconic dish's birthplace). 

Another plus is the ease of getting around (four stars) in this environmentally minded city: riding a rental bike on the Green Route through the Jardín del Turia is a sight in its own right. 

Don’t miss: A beachfront stroll or a chilled glass of rosé at Playa de la Malvarrosa.

Find holidays to Valencia with Which? Recommended Providers Saga and Trailfinders.

Vienna: best for café-hopping

If other European cities puff up their cultural offer, the former Austro-Hungarian capital is the real deal. It’s not just the swagger of the Unesco-listed centre, whether that’s the vast Hofburg palace or window displays in 235-year-old chocolatier Demel. 

It’s how civility is built into everyday life, like Vienna’s café culture. Institutions such as Café Central, Café Sperl and Café Landtmann are almost sacred spaces, with Thonet chairs instead of pews and waiters who officiate with the air of priests. 

On top of this, there are world-class galleries and museums – with visitors rating the cultural sights five stars. And all of this vies for your attention in a compact centre that’s a joy to walk (the ease of getting around received another five-star rating). 

Don’t miss: The free screening of the evening opera outside the Staatsoper, as concert-goers emerge in dress tails. 

Find holidays to Vienna with Which? Recommended Providers Audley Travel, Jet2holidays, Hays Travel and Trailfinders.

Istanbul

Istanbul is on the up. With five stars for food and drink, and four stars for accommodation, it won’t surprise anyone who has visited recently. The former is as eclectic as the population: Muslim and Jewish, European, Armenian and Kurdish. 

Michelin-starred restaurants now glitter alongside stellar street food. Hotels have also benefited from massive investment by brands including Park Hyatt, Raffles and Ritz-Carlton. Along the Bosphorus are luxurious stays with cool pools and superb spas. 

But above all, you’ll be wowed by the five-star sights: the sixth-century Hagia Sophia Grand mosque; Topkapi palace, seat of the Ottoman Empire; and the shops of the Grand Bazaar – the global marketplace for Europe and Asia for well over a millennium. 

Don’t miss: A vigorous scrub down in one of the city’s hammams.

Find holidays to Vienna with Which? Recommended Providers Hays Travel and Trailfinders.

Our research

In April and May 2025, 1,676 Which? members completed an online survey about European cities they had visited for leisure purposes in the past two years and stayed in for at least one night. The results are based on 2,593 experiences. Comparison site Kayak provided average hotel rates, while Skyscanner supplied the average price of return economy flights from London.