Sarajevo, Bucharest and Riga cost about half as much as Copenhagen for four friends, even with a dearer flight. 50-city prices, Christmas markets and a worked 3-night example, every figure sourced.
Four friends can spend three nights in Bucharest for about £303 each, flights included. The same trip to Copenhagen costs about £652 each, even though the Copenhagen flight was the cheapest we found (EvenRound calculation from the Post Office City Costs Barometer 2026, working below). For groups, the flight matters far less than the hotel and the dinners you share.
| Rank | City | Basket for two, 2 nights | Hotel (2 nights) | Dinner for two | Beer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sarajevo | £248.29 | £157.00 | £62.86 | £2.46 |
| 2 | Bucharest | £258.07 | £148.00 | £65.53 | £2.86 |
| 3 | Tirana | £262.85 | £128.00 | £63.94 | £3.86 |
| 4 | Belgrade | £265.13 | £144.00 | £67.24 | £3.51 |
| 5 | Trenčín | £271.64 | £176.00 | £47.64 | £1.49 |
| 6 | Riga | £278.19 | £140.00 | £69.88 | £3.52 |
| 7 | Lille | £289.33 | £140.00 | £78.61 | £4.95 |
| 8 | Vilnius | £289.39 | £162.00 | £68.84 | £3.79 |
| 9 | Strasbourg | £319.13 | £171.00 | £89.49 | £4.40 |
| 10 | Podgorica | £332.45 | £217.00 | £69.00 | £3.08 |
| 21 | Cardiff | £377.64 | £257.00 | £73.20 | £5.70 |
| 34 | London | £527.50 | £284.00 | £98.30 | £6.40 |
| 46 | Barcelona | £641.03 | £457.00 | £66.62 | £2.84 |
| 48 | Edinburgh | £668.10 | £462.00 | £118.00 | £6.00 |
| 49 | Copenhagen | £670.65 | £366.00 | £163.73 | £5.46 |
| 50 | Oslo | £733.99 | £368.00 | £186.36 | £8.32 |
Eight of the ten cheapest are in Eastern Europe; Lille is the cheapest city you can reach by train. Oslo costs nearly three times as much as Sarajevo. Prices are moving, too: seven of the 38 cities surveyed in both years rose by more than 20%, including Lisbon, Porto, Prague and Warsaw (Post Office).
The Post Office's Christmas Markets Barometer includes flights and two nights' B&B for two. The 2025 edition is the latest; the 2026 one usually appears in mid-November.
| City | Mulled wine, per glass | Total for two, including flights |
|---|---|---|
| Vilnius | £4.49 | £509.06 |
| Riga | £3.59 | £555.50 |
| Bratislava | £2.69 | £568.15 |
| Gdańsk | £3.74 | £585.85 |
| Warsaw | £4.40 | £588.97 |
| Berlin | £4.49 | £691.85 |
| Prague | £3.70 | £901.25 |
| Vienna | £5.39 | £926.41 |
| Copenhagen | £6.85 | £1,056.55 |
Two twin rooms, three dinners together with wine, two beers each a night, a coffee each a day, and a transfer, travel card and lowest-seen return flight each.
| Sarajevo | Bucharest | Riga | Copenhagen | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hotel, 2 rooms × 3 nights (shared) | £471.00 | £444.00 | £420.00 | £1,098.00 |
| 3 dinners for 4 with wine (shared) | £377.16 | £393.18 | £419.28 | £982.38 |
| 24 beers (shared) | £59.04 | £68.64 | £84.48 | £131.04 |
| Coffees, transfers, travel cards | £61.12 | £47.52 | £75.92 | £178.04 |
| 4 return flights from London | £324.00 | £260.00 | £312.00 | £220.00 |
| Per person | £323.08 | £303.34 | £327.92 | £652.37 |
In every city the shared costs are most of the bill: 75% in Bucharest and 85% in Copenhagen. That's the part one person usually puts on their card, and the part that needs settling up.
Start a free trip group on EvenRound: friends join from a link without signing up, you can add expenses in any currency, and the settle-up plan works out who pays whom.
Figures checked 30 October 2026. Flight prices change daily. Free to quote with a link to this page. More in our cost reports.
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