Great off the Radar Eastern European Cities to Visit

Eastern Europe is fascinating and can also be a romantic slice of the globe to explore. It also generally offers far better value than Western Europe. The secret has long been out of the bag with Prague, which doesn’t offer nearly the same value as it did 15 years ago. But there are several cities that rival Prague, where you’ll find better deals than the Czech Republic’s capital. Here are some great off the radar Eastern European cities to visit, with tips for romantic getaways!

Bratislava, Slovakia

Bratislava, Slovenia: town square

The capital of Slovakia is like a sibling to Prague. They were both part of Czechoslovakia until the country peacefully split in 1993. Bratislava has a beautiful historic center that’s easily navigable and is dotted with good restaurants, shops and pubs. Bratislava Castle, perched on a hill above town, offers fantastic views for miles, including the Danube River below.

Bratislava has a vibrant nightlife and draws a party crowd on the weekends. But it’s also a romantic city, given the charming architecture and Danube River. There are some boat hotel accommodations on the Danube, and many more romantic options in the Old Town. It’s only an hour train ride from Vienna, making Bratislava worth a day day trip from Austria’s capital. The city is also well connected with the rest of Europe thanks to discount airlines like Ryanair. It’s worth combining Bratislava and Vienna on the same trip. Read our article on tips for visiting Vienna.   

Krakow, Poland

Krakow has one of the largest and most beautiful squares in Europe. Elegant white horse and carriages line Main Market Square and carry passengers around magnificent centuries old structures like Wawel Castle. On an evening with good weather, sitting out on the main square is truly a fairy tale like setting. So Krakow is wonderful for a romantic getaway, with cheaper prices than Prague.

A lot of visitors are drawn to Krakow for its Jewish history. The Kazimierz district houses the Jewish quarter, which is filled with great Jewish restaurants. The concentration camp of Auschwitz and Birkenau is located in the medieval city of Oswiecim, about 66 kilometers west of Krakow. It’s easy to organize a tour there, if you want to add very disturbing history to your trip.

We’ve previously published several articles on Krakow including 5 Must Things to Do in Krakow, Tips on Areas to Stay in Krakow and Scams to Avoid in Krakow.

Wawel Castle, Krakow in Poland
Wawel Cathedral, one of several great sights at Wawel Castle.

Bucharest, Romania

Architecture of Bucharest

Bucharest is a little rough around the edges. But its old town is pretty, and the nightlife is as good as anywhere else in Eastern Europe. It also has a better than you’d expect food scene, though not so much if you’re vegetarian.

One of the highlights of Bucharest is a visit to The Palace of Parliament (Palatul Parlamentului). It’s the biggest parliament building in the world, and the second biggest administrative building in the world. Only the Pentagon in Washington, DC is bigger. A tour of this building is fascinating and a little creepy since they don’t even run all the lights. This building was part of what cost brutal dictator Nicholae Ceaușescu his life when the iron curtain fell in 1989. Thousands of Bucharest’s residents were displaced in the early 1980’s to make room for this monstrosity (I didn’t know that during this thumbs up photo).

Alex out the front of The Palace of Parliament

Visiting busted some myths we had about Romania, as is often the case with travel. While Bucharest may be the least romantic city on this list, it has some redeeming qualities for a romantic getaway. And we would both re-visit Bucharest over Sofia, Bulgaria.

Cafe tables in Bucharest

Where to Stay in Bucharest?

Consider booking hotels in advance with free cancellation. We stayed at the Europa Royale Bucharest during our stay. It was fine, but we didn’t love it.

Families and budget travelers can find awesome value on apartments on Airbnb. If you’ve never used Airbnb, sign up here for a discount off your first stay! Book listings with consistently great reviews for the best experience.

Sofia, Bulgaria

Alex & Bell selfie in Sofia

Sofia is the European Union’s cheapest capital city, so that’s certainly appealing for travelers looking to maximize budgets. We enjoyed some delicious meals in the Bulgarian capital for great prices. While Sofia lacks the wow factor of some other Eastern European cities, there’s enough to keep you occupied for a few days. Sofia is one of the best cities for value shopping on this list. It shares a border with Turkey, which has a significant manufacturing sector.

Sofia is one of Europe’s oldest capitals, with a storied history influenced by Greeks, Arabs, Jews and others. The Square of Tolerance features a mosque, a Catholic cathedral, an orthodox church and a synagogue, within a few minutes walk from each other. And the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is one of the largest in the Eastern Orthodox world.

We weighed many of the pros and cons in our article, Is Sofia, Bulgaria Worth Visiting?

Tram or street car in Sofia

Budapest, Hungary

Budapest isn’t off the radar, but in comparison to Prague it still is, especially among a large segment of American travelers. While Budapest gets a lot of tourists, it’s a bigger city than Prague, so the center absorbs the crowds a little better. The architecture in Budapest is very impressive, and the Hungarian Parliament is possibly the most beautiful in the world.

Mineral baths are really popular in Budapest, and Hungarians have been using them for centuries to relax and aid a wide assortment of ailments. Budapest is one of the few major cities in the world that lies atop an array of hot thermal springs. Asides from healthy minerals seeping into your pours, the baths are also therapeutic because they’re fun and relaxing. Baths and spas are awesome on a romantic getaway. Which bath should you visit? Read our previous article, Budapest baths- Széchenyi or Rudas?

Hungarian Parliament

Riga, Latvia (Or Vilnius or Tallinn)

Traveling to Riga is a little like traveling to a mini-Russia, except you don’t need a visa. The city has a large Russian population, with grand buildings in a charming historic center. There are some delicious Russian restaurants and even communist themed pubs, with old Soviet memorabilia.

Riga is the largest capital of the 3 Baltic countries and boasts excellent architecture, food and nightlife, for great prices. It used to be difficult to visit Riga, given that it was formerly part of the Soviet Union. But now that several European discount carriers fly there or to neighboring Vilnius, Lithuania and Tallinn, Estonia, more people are traveling to Riga.

Alex looking out over the city of Riga

All of the Baltic capitals are worth visiting. We also enjoyed our time in Vilnius and would return if the opportunity arose. While we haven’t been to Tallinn, Estonia, we consistently read and hear great things. In the future, we’re planning to travel to Tallinn and visit St. Petersburg, Russia on their free 72-hour visa. The free 72-hour visa is only available for travelers visiting St. Petersburg by ferry, which you can also take from Helsinki.

Bell out the front of Trakai Castle
Trakai Castle. Wizz Air got us from the Netherlands to beautiful Lithuania for very cheap.

Travel Tips for Great Off the Radar Eastern European Cities to Visit

Use Uber over taxis in Eastern Europe. It’s cheaper and on average more reliable because of GPS tracking. If you’ve never used Uber, sign up here free and receive credits off your first rides!

You’ll often find the best hotel prices on booking.com. You can also find awesome value on apartments with consistently great reviews on Airbnb. If you’ve never used the service, sign up here free and receive a discount off your first stay! Just be sure to book apartments with consistently good reviews.

Have questions on great Eastern European cities? Email me at [email protected] or leave a comment and I can assist you!

Disclosure: This article contains some affiliate links. We receive a small commission when you book or sign up through certain links and it costs you nothing extra. When it suits you, please use them, as it helps us help you! 

Author

  • Alex&Bell

    Alex and Bell originally met while solo traveling after finishing university in 2002, in Brugge, Belgium. Alex grew up in the USA and Bell hails from Australia. During our nearly 20 year marriage we've lived around the world, including spending six years living in the Netherlands and Ireland. We have traveled to nearly 70 countries and enjoy giving readers authentic and quality travel tips. Alex is an award winning travel journalist and travel planner, who also freelances for other outlets. Bell is an award winning PhD scientist who currently works for a non-profit lung cancer advocacy research organization called Lungevity. Happy travels and if you have any questions leave a comment or drop an email!

14 thoughts on “Great off the Radar Eastern European Cities to Visit

  1. This is a great lineup- and you’re so right about the better value in Eastern Europe versus West. In some cases it’s almost night and day! A good friend of mine is from Slovakia, and I had contemplated visiting this past summer but ended up going to Prague and Budapest instead. In hindsight, I wish I’d done Bratislava instead of Prague. It looks equally gorgeous to Prague but Prague was so pricy and almost felt fake with all the touristy things. Budapest is, as you mentioned, “on” the radar but had surprisingly good value and authenticity.

    1. Well said! Prague is a beautiful city but tourism there is getting out of control. So not only are the prices higher, but the city starts to lose authenticity. Prague can still be cheaper than a trip to Disneyworld though and hopefully you still had fun there. There’s always next time to see your friend in Bratislava! 😀

  2. Great suggestions – I love visiting Eastern Europe, it’s so much more authentic, and way less crowds than the west – and I don’t understand why people don’t head here more often because there are some incredible destinations. We loved Bratislava so I was glad to see it made your list. Such a charming city, we loved the pastel colored buildings and quirky street sculptures coming out form the road!

    Agree that Budapest isn’t really off the radar, but definitely is compared to most other cities in it’s immediate surrounds. Probably one of my favorite cities for it’s architecture, food scene – even though it sees decent tourism, I agree that it’s an incredible hidden gem 🙂 Will have to get to the others. Thanks for the list!

    1. Thanks for the great comment, Megan! Glad you enjoyed Bratislava as well! The historic center and views from Bratislava Castle really exceeded our expectations. We’d return in a heartbeat as our visit was short. But even though we only spent a night in Bratislava, it was enough to see much of the city. It’s definitely one of Europe’s most navigable capital cities. We also ate a couple excellent meals at Zeleny Rodriguez and Flamender and highly recommend those restaurants.

      Budapest is one of our favorite cities for architecture as well. The food and drink scene is also great. Hungary produces very good wine, as does Bulgaria! Budapest and Sofia are two cities to enjoy delicious local wines!

  3. Europe has its charm and Eastern Europe is no exception. When I first visited there a few years back, I really love the architecture and the vibe. Can’t wait to go back!

  4. Wow A lot of good choice and in fact all these places should be under the spotlight for those who traveled (or about to travel to ) Eastern Europe. Thanks for the post and great information. @ knycx.journeying

  5. That’s an interesting selection there 🙂 curious about why you picked Bucharest over Sofia – which is why I’ll head over to your post about Sofia next! We’ve always wanted to visit Vilnius, Riga, Talinn aside from Prague / Budapest / Slovakia and your tips make a compelling case 🙂 Pinning the post for future reference!

    1. Thanks so much for pinning! Really glad you found this post informative and useful. We’d return to Bucharest over Sofia because there’s a little more to do in Bucharest. And as you may have read in our post on Sofia, Bell had an unfortunate incident with very unprofessional airport security leaving Sofia airport. She was so upset she filed a complaint with the EU and it’s turned her off from returning. Prior to that, we had a nice time in Sofia though, so that was just bad luck (but a very weird situation).

  6. Cool blog! Is your theme custom made or did
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    1. Thanks for the compliment, George! We would love to visit St. Petersburg someday – it’s on our list and we’ve been meaning to get there. We would love to take the cruise from Helsinki or Tallinn and take advantage of the free 72 hour visa in Russia.

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