FANCY a cheeky city break but worried about blowing the Christmas budget?
Fear not, because we’ve rounded up nine of the best bucket-list weekenders, where you can find bargain flights, as well as cheap eats and drinks during the winter months.
Bilbao, Spain
For easily accessible winter warmth on a shoestring budget, Bilbao is a good bet.
This is the Spanish city that is the fastest to reach from the UK, with flights from Bristol taking approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes (and under two hours from London).
It’s also super affordable to reach – one-way Gatwick fares with Vueling Airlines start at just £23 this autumn.
Step off the plane and into double-digit temperatures – the city has highs of 17C in November, ideal for exploring the lush green landscape and Casco Viejo, the picturesque old town with its cobblestone streets and medieval architecture.
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You can’t visit without indulging in pintxos – the Basque version of tapas – paired with the local tipple Kalimotxo (red wine and cola).
Cheap but highly-rated pintxos bars include local hangout Bar Bacaicoa, known for its griddled mushrooms, £1.13 (€1.30), cod croquettes, £1.50 (€1.70), and spicy chorizo. £1.65 (€1.90).
Beer at a restaurant or pub is also cheaper than in the UK, with a “zurrito” (small glass) of local beer like San Miguel costing around £3.50 (€4).
The world-famous Guggenheim art museum is the city’s main attraction, home to popular works by artists such as Richard Serra, Robert Rauschenberg and Yayoi Kusama.
Although you need a ticket to enter, it’s completely free to admire the outdoor art installations, such as Jeff Koons’s Instagrammable Puppy sculpture guarding the entrance.
Dublin, Ireland
Close to home, Dublin offers a quick city getaway with affordable prices if you know where to look.
Flights from most UK airports are very short, taking just an hour from Manchester and 1 hour 20 minutes from London.
November is the cheapest month to travel to Ireland – return fares to Dublin cost around £36 with Ryanair from the East Midlands and £72 from Heathrow with British Airways.
This leaves extra spending money for its lively pub culture.
The typical price range for a pint of Guinness in city boozers – like O’Donoghue’s, Doheny & Nesbitt’s, Toners and The Baggot Inn – is similar to the UK’s national average of £5.15 (€5.80-€7.00), depending on location.
Tourist hotspots like Temple Bar push prices to £9 (€10.45) for a pint of the black stuff.
Avoid this by heading to a local boozer like The Auld Triangle, where a pint will set you back less than a fiver (€4.95).
You’ll still get traditional live music at a slice of the price.
But there’s much more to Dublin than a giddy Guinness binge.
Take in the city sights, including Phoenix Park and the grounds of Trinity College, both free to explore.
If you’ve got a spare £16 (€18), the Little Museum of Dublin is also well worth a visit.
Set in a cute Georgian townhouse, it’s a quirky one-stop shop for history fans.
Peckish? Wood-fired pizza costs less than £6 (€6.50) from Sano Pizza, while other cheap eats include Brother Hubbard (mezze plates from €7.50) and street food at EatYard, which is open Thursday-Sunday.
Brussels, Belgium
The capital of Belgium is within striking distance of the UK – super affordable flights take just over an hour.
One-way fares this November cost from as little as £33 from Luton with easyJet, with a flight time of 1 hour 20 minutes.
You can find even cheaper flights to the city’s second airport, Charleroi, which is around an hour from the city centre by bus.
The city’s main highlights – including the magnificent Grand Place, Sablon’s Gothic church and the famed Manneken Pis statue – are walkable and free to see.
You can keep costs down by visiting museums on reduced admission days.
For instance, the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (normally €10) are free on the first Wednesday of each month from 1pm.
Sample gaufres de Liège (waffles), frites (fries) and Belgian chocolate – but find them at street food stalls, trucks and small cafés for the best price.
Maison Antoine sells a small cone of fries for around £3 (€3.50), while many good chocolate shops give out free samples.
When it comes to beer, avoid tourist trap bars around Grand Place and head to local boozers instead.
Beer Capital has beers from £2.87 (€3.30), and happy hour from noon until midnight, while Cafe Belga is a firm favourite with students.
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
With its quaint canals, treasure-packed museums and vibrant dining scene, Amsterdam is perfect for a European city break.
You can reach this Dutch metropolis in 1 hour and 20 minutes, with easyJet flights from Manchester costing as little as £67 return this winter.
Walking is the best way to see the city’s gorgeous neighbourhoods of Prinsengracht, Herengracht and Keizersgracht, and the trendy Nine Streets area with its independent boutiques.
Planning to see as much as possible? You could save money with the I Amsterdam card, which allows free entry to some museums, including the Van Gogh Museum (but not the Anne Frank House, which you need to book in advance), travel discounts and bicycle rent. A 48-hour card costs £78 (€90).
Grab a £2.61 (€3) beef croquette straight from the wall at FEBO, automated snack machines dotted around the city.
Or head to a street stall to sample Dutch herring with onions and pickles for around €3, or stop by a Stroopwafels stand for freshly made caramel-filled wafers.
Fancy a drink? De Pilsener Club is a cosy, wood-panelled pub and one of the best spots for a cheap beer in the city centre.
Meanwhile, Kriterion is a trendy arthouse cinema with a student bar offering cheap beer (around £4.54 a pint), while Waterhole has happy hour every day (noon-9pm) with beers from £3.48 (€4).
Paris, France
Just 1 hour and 15 minutes from the UK by plane, Paris should make your budget-break bucket list.
While the City of Love has its fair share of overpriced tourist traps, there are ways you can shave euros off the prices you pay.
Avoid eating and drinking around the city’s main attractions, like the Eiffel Tower, Louvre and Arc de Triomphe, where restaurants charge a premium.
Instead, head to neighbourhoods just outside the most central zones (like the 11th, 19th and 20th arrondissements) for cheaper bars and restaurants.
With the average Parisian pint, or ‘pinte’, costing £5.22-£6.96 (€6-8), your best bet for finding budget beer in Paris is to avoid tourist zones and look for happy hour.
The cheapest pint in Paris is reportedly at Chez Marie in the 10th arrondissement – where you can enjoy a pint for £2.18 (€2.50) at happy hour (6-9pm).
When it comes to top-notch food, the French do it well – and crêpes (pancakes) are both filling and good value.
You can find street-side stands selling crêpes or eat them “à emporter” (to go) from around £3.48 (€4).
For lunch on the run, locals grab sandwiches and quiches from boulangeries (bakeries).
Other cheap eats include croque monsieur (ham and cheese toastie), which costs around £6-£8 (€7-9).
Other money-saving tips for Paris include taking the Metro instead of expensive taxis and visiting big museums like the Louvre and Musee d’Orsay on the first Sunday of the month, when they offer free admission.
You can also bag a bargain with flights – easyJet and Vueling offer one-way prices from as little as £24, with Fridays in November and March often offering the best results.
San Sebastian, Spain
In the heart of Spain’s Basque Country, San Sebastian is a foodie’s delight that won’t break the bank.
This city in the north of the country is home to amazing pintxos – tapas-style snacks that are small in price but huge in flavour.
Think olive and pepper skewers, chistorra (AKA smoky sausage), and traditional tortillas – with each dish typically costing less than £4 (around €2-€5).
A pint of beer typically costs around £5 (€5-7) in San Sebastian bars – but you can save money by ordering a smaller ‘caña’ (200ml draft beer), which is usually priced around £2.60 (€3).
British Airways flies direct to San Sebastian from London City, with one-way fares from £120 this autumn.
And with a flight time of 1 hour 55 minutes, you’ll be exploring its golden beaches, lush hillsides and cobbled lanes before you know it.
Even in winter, the weather can be pretty mild, with daytime temperatures rising to around 15 °C in November.
Some of the cheapest pintxos are in the Gros District, a surfing neighbourhood that’s a 10-minute walk from the old town.
The best way to burn the pintxos-hopping calories is to explore on foot.
Walk the scenic promenade along La Concha Bay or hike up Monte Urgull for epic city views that won’t cost you a penny.
Prague, Czech Republic
A couple of hours from the UK by plane, Prague is a firm favourite as a European city break, with cheap food and pints costing a couple of quid.
Even in the centre of the Czech capital, a pint will only set you back around £1.70-2.50 (50-70CZK).
Head further out, and you can expect to pay just £1-1.78 (30-50CZK) for similar drinks.
Hany Bany, a boozer in the city’s old town, sells a small draft beer for just 78p (22CZK) and a pint for £1.25 (35CZK).
Working up an appetite? Grab a plate of hearty goulash and dumplings for £4.20 (119CZK) at Havelská Koruna, which opened as the country’s first fast-food restaurant in 1931.
Located in the old town, it’s a thriving and affordable diner, so arrive by 11.30am to beat the lunchtime crowds.
Save even more on your trip by sampling cheap street food at Havel Market and exploring the grounds of Prague Castle for free.
For a culture fix, some museums have free or cheap entry days, like the National Gallery Prague, which is free to enter on the first Wednesday of the month after 3pm.
In the Old Town Square, you can also watch the Astronomical Clock’s hourly dancing figurine show without spending a single koruna.
Return flights from London to Prague this winter cost from £34 with Ryanair, from £44 with Wizz Air and from £57 with easyJet.
Bordeaux, France
Also under two hours from the UK, the French city of Bordeaux offers cheap wine, local markets and a UNESCO area to discover.
It’s also affordable to reach, with easyJet offering return Bristol flights from £44 this winter.
While a pint of beer will set you back around £6 (€7) in most central bars in Bordeaux, wine is inexpensive.
In Le Bar à Vin Bordeaux, located opposite the tourism office, you can get glasses of decent wine for less than £3 – like a 15cl glass of Bordeaux rose for €2.50.
Meanwhile, you can keep costs low by chowing down street food near Place de la Victoire, or indulging in “canelés”.
These sweet, cylindrical pastries are typically priced less than a euro – La Toque Cuivrée sells them for a mere 60p (€0.70).
When you’ve eaten and drunk your fill, take in the historic centre and 18th-century architecture – a UNESCO World Heritage site.
It won’t cost you a penny to see sights like Place de la Bourse with its beautiful reflecting pool of water.
Later, find souvenirs at the Grands Hommes market or on the rue Sainte Catherine, one of the longest streets in Bordeaux.
If you’re on a tight budget, pick up a steal in Mad Vintage, a second-hand shop, or head to the southern end of the street, which has cheaper, more student-oriented boutiques compared to the higher-end shops of the north.
Munich, Germany
The Bavarian capital is under two hours away, with return Gatwick flights costing from just £59 with easyJet this winter.
Which leaves plenty of spending money once you touch down in this edgy metropolis, which has lakes and mountains on its doorstep and oodles of cultural sights.
Contemporary gallery Museum Brandhorst is a must if you enjoy pop art, and is one of many museums that offer cheap entry for 87p (€1) on Sundays.
Other free must-do activities include watching the famed Glockenspiel show in Marienplatz and strolling around the lush grass and shimmering lake of the English Garden.
Of course, Munich is the beer capital, so it’d be rude not to sample the city’s tipple of choice, Dunkel, which ranks among the best German beers.
A pint of this dark, malty lager is best enjoyed in a noisy beer hall like Augustiner Bräustuben, where it’s £3.35 (€3.85) a pint.
For a cheap bite, make for Viktualienmarkt where you’ll find stalls selling sausage sandwiches for less than £6.09 (€7) or try a bakery for a €1 fresh pretzel.