East, not West: Rethinking the city break

The flight was cheaper than the parking at Shannon Airport. So, I did it again, and again.

For years, the classic city break followed a predictable arc: Paris for the couple’s romantic weekend, London for the shopping, Amsterdam for the art (and maybe something a little bit stronger). Those cities still draw crowds, but for students and young travellers, they’re increasingly out of reach. High prices, packed streets and the sense that you’re paying a premium just to stand still have dulled their appeal.

Kraków was my reintroduction to a different Europe. I went there in January 2024 with a group of friends, years after our Leaving Cert history trip to the so-called City of Kings was cancelled by Covid. In a small way, it felt like reclaiming something we’d been promised and never got.

We spent four nights in an apartment with a thermometer bolted to the outside of the bedroom window. By day two, it read –18°C. The cold was unforgiving, but it didn’t stop us. Wawel Castle, the Old Town and the Jewish Quarter were explored at pace, fuelled by cheap coffee and the quiet satisfaction of being somewhere that didn’t feel designed solely for tourists. Thank God for Doc Martens.

The first day trip was Auschwitz-Birkenau. It was a bleak, grey and fittingly freezing day. Walking through the camp in that cold was a stark reminder, however limited, of what people were forced to endure during one of humanity’s darkest chapters. It’s the kind of place that demands silence and leaves you carrying its weight long after you’ve gone.

The following day offered a jarring contrast. We travelled south to Zakopane, a mountain town just seven kilometres from the Slovakian border, known for skiing and thermal baths. Sitting in an outdoor pool, steam rising into the frozen air, my hair began to freeze from the extreme cold above the water. It was absurd, hilarious and unforgettable.

Prague came next, almost by accident. While on Erasmus in Wiesbaden, someone floated the idea of getting an eight-hour night bus from near Frankfurt. It cost about €30 return. The toilets on the bus were closed for the entire journey, but the mood held. We arrived at 7am, far too early to check into our €13-a-night hostel, so we drank Czech beer, wandered the Old Town, climbed to the castle and made friends with the local nutria by the river.

Only one night was spent in Prague before we boarded the Flixbus again at midnight, heading back to Frankfurt. It was rushed and slightly chaotic, but it worked: proof that travel doesn’t have to be polished to be worthwhile.

In January 2025, the map stretched further east and south to Istanbul. A friend I’d met on Erasmus lived there, and the offer of a built-in city guide was too good to refuse. Four nights were spent in a city straddling two continents, home to roughly 16 million people and an energy that never seemed to dip.

We wandered the steep, cobbled streets around the Galata Tower, the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia, before hopping on a ferry across the Bosphorus as casually as if it were a city bus. On the Asian side, in Kadıköy, we explored lively neighbourhoods, ate our fill of döner and tried to grasp the sheer scale of the place.

Most recently, just last week, I travelled to Wrocław in south-west Poland. Known for its 600-plus dwarf statues scattered across the city, it feels like somewhere lifted from a storybook. The Christmas markets were in full swing, stretching across the Old Town, framed by colourful buildings and glowing lights.

Evenings were spent over cheap but genuinely good dinners, €3 pints and long walks through beautifully lit streets, punctuated by frequent stops in Żabka convenience stores. It was relaxed, affordable and unpretentious: everything a short city break should be.

What links these trips isn’t just geography. It’s accessibility. Eastern and central European cities offer space, both physical and financial, to explore without feeling rushed or resented. There’s less pressure to consume the ‘right’ experiences, fewer queues, and more room for things to go slightly wrong without derailing the trip.

These journeys were cold, chaotic and occasionally uncomfortable. Night buses with broken toilets. Hair freezing in thermal pools. But they were also rich with stories, history and moments that I’ll carry for a lifetime.

For a generation that feels priced out of the traditional western European city break, the shift east isn’t ideological. It’s practical. Europe has an abundance of under-explored hidden gems, it’s up to you to find them.