On a budget: Which European city/place next?

To be honest, right next door to Portugal is Spain, we find it very affordable, especially outside the summer months. Italy can still be done on a budget as long as you avoid the known high end towns.

I am not sure Prague and Dubrovnik are that cheap anymore, but getting to smaller towns or other locations in the country might offer what you are looking for.

Budapest is an option, but so would Romania and Bulgaria.

In Germany I stayed last month in Bacharach, Rothenburg odT, and Gengenbach for less. But those are towns, not cities

I visited Dubrovnik and Budapest earlier this year. Dubrovnik, while beautiful and well worth a visit, is a very major tourist destination (including cruise ships) and I would not call it a budget place (for example, a ticket to walk around the city walls is 35 euro). However, Zagreb and inland Croatia, as well as Bosnia (Sarajevo and Mostar), are more what you're thinking of, and have a lot to offer the visitor. Budapest, I found reasonable also, although I didn't personally find it quite as much of a relative bargain compared to say, Vienna (where we also went) as many others do; but perhaps that's because we were not there very long, and went to some higher end places. But generally I think your analysis is right, that (with a few exceptions), the further east you go in Europe, the more you're likely to consider it a budget destination.

Thank you all for these helpful thoughts!

It seems like I'm about say 2.5 decades too late with Dubrovnik with regards to being budget friendly. I think it was back in the early 2000s when my dear friend (since passed away now from cancer :( ) who said I must visit Dubrovnik as it is beautiful and affordable; he told me to -- quick! -- do it before it's overrun with tourists. Back then, I was definitely not able to afford any such trips regardless of budget.

I'm glad to consider the other options you all have mentioned, some that I hadn't even really thought of including Bulgaria!

With regards to Spain: is Barcelona and/or Madrid budget affordable? My husband kept mentioning Barcelona (also a place I never considered) because a family member of his went there decades ago for a year and loved it.

With regards to Germany: Are these places tourist "worthy"? -- Bacharach, Rothenburg odT, and Gengenbac

With regards to Italy: what are towns/cities that are "tourist worthy" outside of the major ones? I know, it's hard to define tourist worthy but I suppose I mean that it has interesting sites and also areas to mingle and explore but doesn't have to be super full of tourist attractions. The only place I have been to in Italy was Venice (definitely would visit again) and that was for a business trip and I just tacked on 3 or4 extra days on my own dime so was affordable in that way since I didn't have to pay for plane ticket.

You might want to consider looking through the trip reports here. For example, TexasTravelmom has written recent reports on Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Montenegro, all of which are certainly off the beaten path, and much less expensive than western Europe.

Spain is cheap, which is why I’ve been there a lot! Montenegro is on my list as a good value destination. They have adopted the Euro but the are not in the Euro zone so the currency goes further.

I know Dubrovnik is very expensive.

I’m generalizing but so far I have found southern Italy to be less expensive than Rome and north of Rome. Last December our hotel in Napoli was quite lovely, with breakfast, and 80€. Torino also seems to be more affordable, as a northern Italy option, in part I think because it is not a high profile tourist city but offers lots.

There's no reason to avoid Dubrovnik just because it is more expensive now than it was. Just don't plan on spending your whole trip there, and combine it with nearby affordable places elsewhere in Croatia or with nearby Montenegro and Bosnia. Prices in Croatia probably have gone up due to the recent switch to the Euro as well.

Also, you can find cheaper lodgings in Dubrovnik away from the old town e.g. in the nearby neighborhood of Lapad, which is not especially exciting, but it is a practical place to stay, with beach access and plenty of restaurants. And there is frequent local bus service to the old town of Dubrovnik, even late at night.

Time of year matters too. Croatia is much cheaper in shoulder season than in July-August. Try visiting in May or early October. Dubrovnik itself will still have plenty of tourists even then, but the rest of your trip should be cheaper and less crowded with tourists.

As other have said, Prague and Dubrovnik are both suffering from overtourism. Budapest is also very popular so they are not the affordable places you are looking for. Neither is Barcelona I'd say.

You have gotten some great advice, but I like to add the Baltic states to the list. Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn are great cities to visit and there are many smaller towns worth a few days as well. Prices are still very much affordable.

Or you can look at other areas of the countries mentioned. Maybe consider the Czech Republic outside Prague or Český Krumlov, or some small town in Germany that isn't Rothenburg o.d.T.

Of the places you mentioned, I would say that Budapest is most affordable (not that you can’t find budget solutions for the others). But as Mardee mentioned, I did recently travel to Bosnia and Montenegro - both very affordable. If I were picking places to return to, it would definitely be Perast or Sarajevo. I found Andalusia to be more affordable than either Madrid or Barcelona. Albania is another great budget destination, but not as easy yet to traverse. Poland might be another country to consider.

I have not yet been to the Baltics or Romania or Bulgaria.

You might check Poland. We visited five Polish towns last year and found them to be very affordable, even more so than Portugal. Krakow and Gdańsk are two towns that might interest you. Beautiful towns, many sights, good food.

I'll add my 2 cents after about a dozen trips to Europe of a month or more. Southern Spain is quite cheap even in the tourist centers of Granada and Cordoba. Seville and Madrid are reasonable for larger cities. Barcelona and Madrid not so much but not outrageous, bargains can be found on hotels and meals with wine always a bargain. Italy still has many very affordable and wonderful town and areas, just don't expect to save money in Florence, Venice, Rome, etc. I have stayed in Cividale del Fruilia, Bormio, almost all of Sicily and even Lucca and Bologna and felt it was cheaper than the rest of the country.
Other places that I have traveled that I felt the dollar stretched (mostly lodging and meals) was Croatia everywhere outside the islands, Split and Dubrovnik. Slovenia (a true gem to visit), small towns in Germany and Austria. Off-season in Malta.
Search the web for hotels, often just a few blocks away from the main sites it is cheaper. Also several smaller hotels are 3 star and very comfortable. Look at restaurant recommendations and try to look at their website for the menus. Travel during shoulder season and go to lesser traveled areas.

You can save money in any destination by making smart choices. Granted, it's easier to do that in Poland or Lithuania or Bulgaria than it is in Norway, but the biggest difference in costs will stem from the choices you make and your trip planning. So yeah, Spain can be cheap, the Baltics can be cheap, but if you work at it, Croatia or Hungary or even Italy or France can be affordable...you'll just need to be smart about it and work harder to stay on budget in those places (in Norway, you'll have to work much harder).

Or, just go to Latvia and it'll be easy. (And FWIW, I enjoyed Latvia as much as any other European country I've visited!). I just got back from Malta and Turkey and things in both countries were quite affordable (cheaper than being at home).

Time of year makes a difference; costs tend to be higher when the weather is better (often May-September, but it varies) and around holidays when a lot of folks want to travel (Christmas and Easter, especially). If you have a specific target, time-wise, you can take a look at hotel costs on booking.com to get an idea of what places might be affordable.

Costs have gone up in many (most? all?) places since the pandemic, so it's good to be cautious about statements that such-and-such a place is cheap. Ask the person saying that when he or she last visited the city or country. I found Berlin quite reasonably priced for a capital city of an affluent country back in 2015, but someone reported recently that it's not quite the bargain it was then.

Two very interesting, inexpensive cities in northern Italy are Padua and Ravenna. In the south, Naples and Salerno are inexpensive. (Previous info based on visits since September 2022.) I believe Sicily is still cheap, but I haven't been there since 2015.

Norway, Sweden, Finland and Switzerland are a challenge to manage on a strict budget. I wouldn't even attempt Norway or Switzerland if I needed to pinch pennies and was unwilling to sleep in hostels, at campgrounds, etc. By comparison, as already mentioned, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are inexpensive (2023 data).

For many countries, there's more internal variation than variation between countries. The places you've known about for decades (Paris, London, Rome, Venice, Florence, etc.) are likely to be much more expensive than many attractive smaller places in the same countries. It's not just the hotels that are more expensive in the famous cities; you'll also pay more for meals in restaurants and sightseeing.

Keep in mind that Europeans like to go to the beach (or the beautiful mountains) in the summer, so cute coastal towns aren't likely to be inexpensive during beach season. I've found inland smaller inland cities are usually less expensive than smaller coastal cities in the summer.

Eastern Europe is significantly less expensive than the West. The only exception to that might be Croatia and The Czech Republic. You have seen the West, maybe its time to expand your horizons. If you find Budapest is interesting, write and I will help you plan a cost effective trip.

With regards to Spain: is Barcelona and/or Madrid budget affordable? My husband kept mentioning Barcelona (also a place I never considered) because a family member of his went there decades ago for a year and loved it.

Both places tend to be more expensive, they can work as a stop, spending a bit more there, saving elsewhere. You can likely find budget lodging in Madrid, especially if you get out of the city center. Barcelona however is suffering a crush of tourists, bargains are few, some of the charm since I was there (a decade or more ago) has probably diminished due to crowds and tourism.

For more budget towns in Spain, look to the older regional towns like Zaragoza and Valladolid. Regions like Galicia and Asturias can be economical, and of course any time you get away from large cities, bargains can be found. Along the South Coast, Cadiz I think is overlooked, and if you go out of the Summer months, lodging in some of the ex-pat havens can be dirt cheap due to soft demand, and restaurants reasonable due to competition.

Beyond lodging, local beer and wine are bargains at a cafe (a couple euro vs 5-10 euro in other locations) and I typically eat much better for the cost than elsewhere in Europe.

Another vote for Poland. Very interesting country with friendly people and super efficient trains. Easy on the budget. Krakow is one of my very favorite cities.

Not on your list but I would also suggest Greece. Of course, even there it depends where you go. Highly touristed places like Santorini are quite pricey for example. We spent less than $100 a night for two for 11 nights in Crete and three nights visiting Delphi and Meteora on the mainland 2022. Most expensive hotel we had was near the airport for our last night at $130.

You asked about Europe, and have received a lot of great advice, but one thing I would add if you (or other readers) have any thoughts of venturing elsewhere:
Southeast Asia: It takes more time and money to get there, but once you're there, I think this region consistently offers the best value anywhere in terms of top-notch experiences, infrastructure, food, lodging etc. at great prices.
Mexico: For something closer to home, I've really enjoyed this country over the years. I'm not talking about the coastal resorts like Cancun or the violence plagued north, but rather, inland Yucatan, Mexico City and the colonial cities of central Mexico. While not European, much of what attracts the traveler to Europe (history, art, beautiful architecture, ancient ruins, great food, a good transportation system (buses)) can also be found there, and at reasonable prices (with the caveat that I last visited in Dec. 2021, and the dollar has lost value against the peso since then).

Thank you all for such helpful suggestions and food for thought. A lot more for me to explore through this forum (Trip Reports, for example), the internet, and guidebooks. And a good point about knowing if the recommendations were made with pre-pandemic or pandemic conditions in mind.

You asked about Europe, and have received a lot of great advice, but one thing I would add if you (or other readers) have any thoughts of venturing elsewhere:
Southeast Asia: It takes more time and money to get there, but once you're there, I think this region consistently offers the best value anywhere in terms of top-notch experiences, infrastructure, food, lodging etc. at great prices.
Mexico: For something closer to home, I've really enjoyed this country over the years. I'm not talking about the coastal resorts like Cancun or the violence plagued north, but rather, inland Yucatan, Mexico City and the colonial cities of central Mexico. While not European, much of what attracts the traveler to Europe (history, art, beautiful architecture, ancient ruins, great food, a good transportation system (buses)) can also be found there, and at reasonable prices (with the caveat that I last visited in Dec. 2021, and the dollar has lost value against the peso since then).

Ah yes, we have thought about SE Asia. The biggest issue there for us would be the cost of the plane tickets as we would be flying from the East Coast of the US so it is, as I recall, considerably more expensive to fly from there than say if we were based on the West Coast.

We have thought about Mexico, and in particular Mexico City. Husband and I will need to revisit that idea. I have never truly been to Mexico. I'm not counting the shore excursions that were part of my cruise experience even though we visited some Maya ruins and a beach. I discovered then that for the most part I do not like shore excursions because they are too shallow and not enough time spent in place, and furthermore it all becomes a blur because it happens so quickly for such a short amount of time. In fact, it's such a blur that without referring to past itinerary, I couldn't even really tell you where exactly in Mexico (besides general geographic location) we landed for our 2 different shore excursions. In a sense, waste of time and money. (Sorry, for coming off so curmudgeonly about Caribbean cruises :)

My wife and I, in our 70s, just got back from a month in Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia and Italy. We alternated more expensive (and crowded) destinations with more "back door" locations. Rick made his name with Europe through the Back Door, but, as many of us have found out, many of the destinations in his books are no longer back doors. We've been trying to find our own back doors. Each year Cameron Hewitt publishes his list of back door discoveries, and we've found those useful. Here are some of the back doors which we found met our criteria:
- Croatia outside of the coast, which we found expensive, and with the crowds, even in late September, not to be that enjoyable. On the other hand, we liked Zagreb.
- Poland in general, and Wroklaw in particular, although we also enjoyed Warsaw. We've found that bigger cities (like Warsaw) can manage their tourists better than smaller cities like Krakow
- Crete if you go outside of the resort areas. We liked Heraklion and Rethimno. Chania was definitely more expensive.
- Italy we found Trieste, Ferrara and Torino great (with our hotels about $125 instead of $250). I would like to go back and spend a week exploring the towns in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of Italy; it's definitely off the beaten path, and prices were lower than we found elsewhere. We were in Ferrara in early October, and stayed at the Hotel di Prati, one of the few examples of family-owned, characteristic European hotels that Rick has always championed. It was great.
- Germany in the "Luther Trail" areas, in towns such as Erfurt and Wurtzburg. We also greatly enjoyed Berlin, although that wasn't as inexpensive.
- Belgium and the Netherlands, especially the west, such as Namur and Sax.

On this trip, we liked Austria, Slovenia and Slovakia, but I wouldn't say they were especially budget friendly.

Ljubljana is expensive for lodging, but otherwise, things are cheaper in the rest of Slovenia

OP. Your .60 for coffee is at odds with your $15-18 dinner. I like the .60 coffee, but it would be a rare thing to see that. Cheapest coffee I can remember was in a hill town in Spain at the local place and it was .70€. Otherwise it varies from a lucky 1€ to the more usual 2.50€.
Your $15-18 dinner, per person is off my map for budget. 10€ would be my limit for budget. Now I will and do end up paying more but in the scheme of things, $15-18 is higher than I’d like.
Your list includes Dubrovnik. You had better scratch that one off. It is expensive.

I hear what you're saying about Portugal. Everyone I know who goes from the US West Coast raves about how similar the good life is but at a highly reduced cost. It's no wonder so many people from California are moving to Portugal.

So you're looking for that feeling like you're getting high quality tourist goods (hotels, meals, drinks, experiences, etc) in beautiful and interesting surroundings at a significant discount relative to costs at home in the USA where you live (assumed). Not per se relative to costs in that same country you're visiting. You're not looking for the most affordable town in Switzerland, for instance.

I'd think about Poland.

Budapest less than a 10 min trip out of the tourist zone

Sausage and eggs breakfast with coffee, or a burger, fries, and a beer lunch right at $11.00. There is cheaper, but that's a good budget. Dinner? Whatever you want to pay $11 and up. Beer starts at about $2 to about $3.50 at a pub. Wine starts at about $3.50 a glass in a wine bar.

Apartment $45 a night and up.

Do these places have to be "tourist" worthy?

I would suggest going to #1. Poland, numerous places are well worth seeing and exploring apart from the usual, Krakow, Warsaw, Gdansk, etc. #2. eastern Germany , including Berlin.

Prices in Berlin have gone up too, still well below relative to Vienna and Paris. Pre-pandemic I stayed in a Pension at Savignyplatz in Berlin-Charlottenburg for 45 Euro with breakfast but without the en suite facilities.

Numerous places to see in eastern Germany without being inundated with tourists, important sites in German cultural history.

Make an itinerary focusing on eastern Germany and Poland.

Just revisiting this post. Thanks to all who offered such great suggestions and thoughts:

Rick made his name with Europe through the Back Door, but, as many of
us have found out, many of the destinations in his books are no longer
back doors. We've been trying to find our own back doors. Each year
Cameron Hewitt publishes his list of back door discoveries, and we've
found those useful.

Totally missed this post about Cameron Hewitt. Will be checking it out!!

OP. Your .60 for coffee is at odds with your $15-18 dinner. I like the
.60 coffee, but it would be a rare thing to see that. Cheapest coffee
I can remember was in a hill town in Spain at the local place and it
was .70€. Otherwise it varies from a lucky 1€ to the more usual 2.50€.
Your $15-18 dinner, per person is off my map for budget. 10€ would be
my limit for budget. Now I will and do end up paying more but in the
scheme of things, $15-18 is higher than I’d like. Your list includes
Dubrovnik. You had better scratch that one off. It is expensive.

I should say I wasn’t putting up a budget so much as saying what I would fine ok and probably mixing it in with a bit of excitement at the cost :) In my recent and short experience, getting 60 Euro cents coffee in Lisbon isn’t so unusual. Now granted, the coffee is more like what we’d call espresso, but even then a coffee that’s close to what Americans get at home (brewed coffee) is around 1.60 Euro or so.

With regards to the dinner, that wasn’t really our budget so much as to say I didn’t find the price outrageous at $15 to $18 for dinner in a major world capital. It’s definitely not a budget I use when travelling domestically within the US. For us, I would say we have about 1.5 proper meals a day when travelling. In Portugal, for example, our breakfast was a coffee and one or two pastries (for a person). We don’t really have lunch as we might be popping into eateries here and there to get a snack or two. Then we have our dinner which could be anywhere from late afternoon to evening, depending on our tiredness and schedule. So that said, a dinner for $18 is within bounds since we hardly spent anything throughout the day for food.

Oh, and to show you what a cheapskate I am (cheap when I don’t think there’s an equally affordable method) instead of buying water on the the, what we did was we each bought a bottle of water that could fit in our handbags, then we would refill it throughout the day, um, in the bathrooms. LOL. Yes, that is what we did. My husband was at first shocked at my suggestion but he soon followed along ;-) Hey, tap water is fine in Portugal. I’m not going to spend unnecessary money ;-)

That said, we buy bottles of water from different supermarkets (much cheaper than buying from tourist traps which we initially didn’t know they were traps) and had them available in the hotel when we return or in the morning. So…maybe I’m not THAT cheap ;-) :)

When I see 10 posts a day about getting into Italy or Germany or Spain or …. I have to ask myself do people even know these places exist.

Yes, a little tougher to get to, one way to get to many (or at least close) is WizzAir out of Budapest.

So, this is the Back Door to Europe list so far:

Slovakia
Banská Bystrica https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=Yr-xWBduu_A
Banská Štiavnica https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=6jvlAkr9g60

Albania
Gjirokastra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNGU7k2Hx_I

Romania:
Sighisoara https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByrGZ4o6dk8 I was first here before the renovations. It has come a long way. Prince Charles keeps a home here.
Timisoara https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIstkqusezA
Cluj-Napoca https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWKlOf0bhQs
Sibiu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWyyVJPDR7Y
Brasov https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCg_wV5geFI
Maramures area https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-0R5wOCcCw

Bulgaria:
Plovdiv https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR-2fa1ACsw This is hands down one of the most interesting cities I’ve ever visited. Bulgaria in general is pretty amazing.
Veliko Trnovo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G24mZ5yN7oY guarantee you wont forget your trip here.
Nessebar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJFx7R4IgLY

Kosovo
Prizren https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRS57-wXZpA

Serbia
Beograd (Belgrade) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkcHlmPWznA I a going to be honest. Informative, interesting but didn’t light my fire. But I understand a great party town for younger travelers.
Novi Sad https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03ftOkylwUw Now Novi Sad did light my fire. I have friends that live there and make excuses to visit.

Montenegro My favorite country after Hungary. I will just let the videos talk.
Herceg-Novi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOqLXoeE_o4
Cetinje https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6RwWDPe9M8
Perast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd6ErEHPHmg
Uncinj https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaPcThRQdi4
Fly Fishing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpnDIoqvfbo

Poland:
Płock https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87oGLBUfXRs
Torun https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVw-0WyQ8SI
Bydgoszcz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yQIwSp0O_0
Tarnow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNvmudqg7rE

Hungary
Pécs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvqKi9JVDN4
Győr https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbH6u0J-Xos
Pannonhalma https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBYsexwEbPc
Szeged https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoUtmJRDV40
Kecskemét https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-LC-2U646g

Hi. I’m not sure if you’ve already picked a destination but I wanted to answer your question about
“With regards to Germany: Are these places tourist "worthy"? -- Bacharach, Rothenburg odT, and Gengenbac”. Bacharach and Rothenburg obT are definitely tourist worthy. Both are super charming with lots to see and do. Going up and down the Rhine and also, the Mosel, you will find dozens of castles, vineyards, hikes, so much to do. The towns look like out of a fairy tale!

We traveled to Germany, Austria and Switzerland for a month last summer and I found Germany and Austria surprisedly budget friendly. Groceries are cheap and lots of attractions had way more affordable prices than I thought they would. Switzerland is definitely not budget friendly!

I would warmly recommend Albania and North Macedonia.
Ohrid in North Macedonia is a beautiful lake town and quite affordable. I ordered the local delicacy Ohrid trout with pappardelle pasta, a cheesecake topped with perfectly-in-season cherries, and a bottle of local Zlaten Dab beer and the bill came to less than £13.