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Join Which? TravelBarcelona is now one of the priciest European city breaks. Go to this cheap, EES-free destination instead
The cheapest and most expensive city breaks for 2026
An Orwell prize-nominated investigative journalist, Kate lives in Portugal and covers news, travel rules, tourist taxes and visas.
The best value city break alternative is half the price, with £2.50 beers, no EES checks, and sun until September
Rising accommodation prices in Barcelona mean two nights’ accommodation in a three star hotel for two travellers now costs an average of £457 — the priciest of all 50 European city break destinations The Post Office surveyed for its 2026 City Cost Barometer.
By comparison, hotel prices in Geneva, Switzerland, a famously expensive destination, cost £100 less than those in Barcelona, on average.
The Post Office also checked the price of typical holiday items like a small beer, cup of coffee, a 48-hour travel card and admission for the city’s top museum, art gallery and heritage tourist attractions to estimate a typical average holiday price. With these factors included, Geneva ended up slightly just £3 more expensive than Barcelona, at £644.22 compared to Barcelona’s £641.03. The only cities more expensive than Barcelona and Geneva were Edinburgh (£668.10), Copenhagen (£670.65), and Norway(£733.99).
Some other cities once known for cheap and cheerful getaways have also risen in price — the cost of a trip to Lisbon, for example, has risen by 22 per cent to £358, meaning the city has dropped from fifth place in last year’s barometer to number 16 of 50.
Booking a citybreak? Make sure to factor tourist taxes into your budget — read more in our guide.
Sarajevo: the cheapest city break for 2026
At £248.29, the cost of a citybreak to Sarajevo, in Bosnia & Herzegovina was less than half the price of visiting Barcelona.
The average cost of two nights accommodation is just £157, a beer is around £2.50, while a sightseeing bus tour costs just £2.46. The weather is warm until late September, at around 18°C, and there are direct flights from London.
Better yet, Bosnia & Herzegovina isn’t in the Schengen zone, meaning you won’t need to worry about long Entry-Exit System queues that are affecting those travelling to most European Schengen zone countries. Read more about the problems the EU’s new border checks are causing for some travellers in our guide to the new EES rules.
Where else is cheap for a city break?
The cheapest destinations were all in East or South East Europe. Bucharest, Tirana and Belgrade were the next-cheapest options after Sarajevo, all costing less than £266 for a weekend trip. Two French destinations made it into the top ten — Eurostar destination Lille was ranked seventh cheapest, at £289.33, and Strasbourg the ninth at £319.13.
Lille, along with six other cities saw a fall in price compared to last year’s data — Florence, Nice, Rome, Salzburg, Stockholm and Venice. That means that while some of those cities aren’t necessarily budget options, 2026 may be the year to visit them if they’re on your bucket list.
Of the UK cities included in the barometer, only Cardiff made it into the top 25 rankings, at position 21 and an overall average cost of £377.64. Belfast and London were ranked 33rd and 34th, Dublin at position 45, and Edinburgh at 48 of 50.
Looking to cut the cost of days out in the UK? Many UK attractions are giving discounts under the Great British Summer Savings scheme.
