While the classic two-week stay at a beach resort was once the king of holidays, shorter city breaks have stolen the crown over the past couple of decades, especially when flying from London Luton Airport.
According to the Office for National Statistics, Brits took 45 million foreign holidays in 2016, up from 27 million in 1996 – but our trips are becoming shorter. Indeed, the number of one to four-night breaks rose by a staggering 170% over that period, while 14-night holidays fell by 29%.
So it’s clear: we love city breaks. This is hardly surprising when you consider the advantages to these short trips – they use less of our precious annual leave (which means we get to visit more places!), and they give us the opportunity to soak up a country’s culture and history far more effectively than a resort holiday. What’s more, they may work out much cheaper – provided you know where to go.
With that in mind, we researched and designed a new infographic to help you discover Europe’s cheapest city break. We took the following seven factors into account (because finding an affordable holiday location is about more than just the price of the airfare and beer):
1. Cheapest price for a return flight, leaving from London Luton Airport
2. Average price of a 3* hotel room
3. Average price for a three-course meal for two people
4. Average price of a pint of beer
5. Average price of a cappuccino
6. Price of a one-way public transport ticket
7. Price of the top-rated attraction on TripAdvisor
This gave us a total, which we used to rank the top 10 most affordable city break locations.
Don’t forget to give our infographic a read before you book your next European trip – you’ll thank us for it when you’re enjoying an amazing holiday on a shoestring budget! And if you want some inspiration ahead of your next trip, click here for a full map of our flight destinations.
