The cost of living is rising – especially if you want to enjoy a day out in England’s capital city.
Frustrated at the price of exploring London, Brits are now taking to the skies and going for whistle-stop trips abroad in under 24 hours – and all at a cheaper price.
By getting early flights and leaving late, travellers have been getting the best deals for flights, all while maximising their time in European cities.
In London, you can expect to spend a small fortune on a trip with friends and family and, depending where you live in the UK, could fork out hundreds alone just to reach the capital via train.
Though many tourist attractions are free, iconic sights such as the London Eye (£42) and the Tower of London (£34.80) cost an arm and a leg to visit, while a single tube fare is £2.80 at peak hours.
Now, savvy Brits have revealed how they’ve managed to score bargain trips abroad, from sought-after cities in countries such as Spain and Italy, to some hidden gems.
Here, FEMAIL reveals the plucky travellers who have completed fleeting trips away to Europe, all for less than a day out in the capital.
Pisa
Flights: From £30 return*
A couple flew from the UK to Pisa for 12 hours all because it was cheaper than a day out in London.
This month, Siobhan Walters and her husband swapped the cold British winter weather for some Italian sunshine after realising that a trip to London would cost them three times as much.
The 56-year-old and husband Stephen, 64, caught a Ryanair flight from Stansted Airport at 8.15am on Monday, February 3.
They flew back to the UK from Pisa – famed for its Leaning Tower – at 10.15pm that night.
The return flight cost £30/$37.31 each and the couple took one small carry-on bag.
In Pisa, the couple spent £80/$99.51 in total. A return ticket for a one-and-a-half hour train journey into London usually costs the pair £40/$49.75 each.
And they suspect they would have spent around £300/$373 if they’d visited the capital for the day instead.
‘I reckon if we’d gone to London then we would have spent around £300/$373 between us,’ Siobhan, from Little Canfield, near Great Dunmow, Essex said.
She added: ‘We used to live in Camden but moved because it was so expensive and we rarely go into London because of that. One drink costs £14/$17.41.
‘The last time we went into the capital for dinner, a burger and chips cost £25/$31.10 each.’
Security worker Siobhan and vehicle inspector Stephen caught a £12/$14.93 taxi to the centre of Pisa and spent 12 hours exploring the city.
They spent £26/$32.34 on a charcuterie board lunch and two drinks, £7/$8.71 on hot drinks, £6/$7.46 on two alcohol-free beers, £12/$14.93 on chocolate and £5/$6.22 on souvenirs.
Siobhan said: ‘Pisa is on my list of places I’ve always wanted to go and my mission was to do it as cheaply as possible.
‘We sat in the sun for a while and people-watched. It was so nice and warm.
‘We went to the tower of Pisa and took the typical tourist photos pretending to hold it up.
‘We went to the cathedral, which was free, and walked around the alleys and shops.
‘If you’re willing to walk a bit off the beaten path there are some beautiful alleyways and authentic food and it’s good value for money.
‘Then we were back in time for our home comforts that night and we were absolutely shattered.’
Siobhan loved the short trip so much that she has more planned for the next two months, including Rome and Barcelona, as reported by What’s the Jam.
She added: ‘I’ve done 14-day trips to Europe including Lapland, Berlin and Gdansk.
‘You can be really clever with flights and go to Europe for the day.
‘It’s a great way of seeing Europe.’
Barcelona
Flights: From £27 return
In May last year, a savvy 21-year-old from the UK decided to spend her day off in the sunshine and booked a flight to Barcelona – again because it was cheaper than a day out in London.
Manchester-based Jade Taylor swapped the UK’s cloudy skies for the beautiful sunshine of Spain after realising a trip down to the UK capital would be a lot more expensive.
The university student caught a flight from East Midlands airport at 5:45am, and landed in the Spanish city at 8:55am.
Flying with RyanAir, the flights cost her £40 in total. Jade then spent 11 hours exploring the city, touring all the places she wanted to go on her trip.
Jade said that the train ticket prices to London soaring to an eye-watering £100 or more encouraged her to go abroad.
On her day trip abroad she visited iconic locations including the Cathedral of Barcelona and the Casa Batlló.
She even had the chance to kick back at the beach and soak up the sun whilst having a cocktail.
After spending the day in the Spanish sun, Jade caught an 8pm flight back to East Midlands airport.
Jade Taylor said: ‘It was definitely cheaper than a day out in the UK. A train ticket to London can be over £100.
‘This one was my first day trip out of the UK and I definitely will be doing another one, especially when it’s nicer weather abroad.
‘I spent the day exploring around Barcelona, had some cocktails on the beach, did some shopping and got some lunch.
‘I managed to see all the main things in Barcelona I wanted to see. I absolutely loved it.’
Milan and Lake Como
Flights: From £27 return
Last May a traveller revealed how she travelled to Milan for £50 to enjoy pizza and Aperol spritz – a mere £8 more than a London Eye ticket.
Dagmara Kedzierska, 30, from Manchester, decided to take the trip abroad because she was put off travelling within the UK due to soaring rail fares.
It would have cost her more than £100 alone to get a return train from her home in Manchester to the capital.
So, the thrifty traveller decided to fly to Milan Bergamo instead for just a £50 return, and even enjoyed a trip to Lake Como.
Arriving at 10:50am in the Italian city, she then set about her day grabbing a coffee with a freshly baked croissant for breakfast.
The business owner then caught a £6 train to Varenna to see the beautiful Lake Como and watch the world go by whilst eating pizza and drinking Aperol spritz.
Dagmara then got the £6 train back to Milan to hop on the £2 Metro to the Duomo to see the sights including the cathedral.
After touring the area she hopped back on the Metro to the station to catch a £11 train to Malpensa airport.
Catching her flight home, she arrived back home in Manchester at just 1am the next day.
Dagmara said: ‘The day trips abroad are way more appealing, as most of the time they work out cheaper than staying in the UK.
‘My Milan trip cost me less than £200 including the flights, transport, food and drinks.
‘The weather abroad is also more likely to be better than here, I live in Manchester and the weather lately hasn’t been the greatest! Travelling abroad, even if it’s only for one day, gets me in a holiday mood.’
Spa trip to Milan
Flights: See above
Dagmara isn’t the only one to have visited Milan for a bargain price.
In October pals Chloe Greenwood and Senna Gligui from Liverpool spent just £27 on flights for a 15 hour trip, which they called a ‘gorgeous day out’, spending much of the day going to a spa.
Chloe, a children’s entertainer, said: ‘You couldn’t experience anything like it at home – lots of little things made the day out perfect.
‘We had lovely weather – we sunbathed, relaxed at the spa, ate and drank Aperol spritz. All we packed was a bikini, our passports and a book each.’
They later spent £4 on a shuttle bus and £12 on breakfast.
They even took a tube to the QC Termemilano spa where, for just £49.98 for a five-hour session, the pair sunbathed on the terrace, relaxed in the saunas, treated themselves to drinks and immersed themselves in the ‘storm’ room – a cinema space that pours “rain” from the ceiling.
Senna said: ‘We spent £27 on flights out to Milan for the day – you’d pay the same for a taxi back to your house after a night out.’
Santander
Flights: From £37 return
In 2023 Callum Ryan, 22, from Milton Keynes, took a Ryanair flight from London Stansted Airport to Seve Ballesteros-Santander Airport in Spain for £54 return.
A bus from the airport to Santander city centre set him back £1.87 and a hotel for his three-day trip cost £30.
And to round off his spending, he paid £13.50 for parking while on the trip away with his mate. In total, Callum spent £99.37 – Just under his £100 target for the trip.
The 22-year-old has shared with his TikTok followers how he managed to keep costs low for his trip, after previously wowing viewers with other incredibly cheap overseas holidays.
Callum, a social media content creator, said: ‘I was surprised that we found somewhere so cheap.
‘We decided to book the trip the day before and to get a full holiday for less than £100 last minute. I thought it would be impossible.
‘It was a fun and enjoyable trip. The best thing for me was meeting the locals.
‘It was out of season and we mainly chilled with the locals – we have made friends for life.’
Callum set off on September 27, and to save cash Callum and his friend stayed in a twin room in a hostel.
His £100 total doesn’t include spending money of around £150 – but he managed to keep costs down there too by spending time at the beach and sightseeing.
Faro
Flights: From £30 return
In June, Callum also revealed how he flew to Portugal from London and bought a plate of peri-peri chicken for less than the cost of a chicken meal at Nando’s.
Callum would typically splash out £15 at Nando’s, usually having a medium butterfly chicken meal with peri-salted chips and garlic bread, but set himself the challenge of flying abroad and buying peri-peri chicken for even less than £15, including the cost of the flight.
He booked a bargain Wizz Air flight from London Gatwick to Faro in the Algarve for just £8.99 and headed straight to restaurant Roberto’s once he touched down.
Callum shared the spontaneous trip to the Albufeira eatery to his TikTok account, (@thatonecal) in a video that has been viewed over 63,000 times.
In the video, he says: ‘I asked the locals for the best place that served peri-peri chicken [his favourite dish] and headed straight there. I ordered a plate of their signature half-chicken with some sides.’
He added: ‘When the peri-peri chicken arrived it looked unreal! The sun was shining, the chicken was banging and I couldn’t have been happier.’
When it was time to pay the bill, Callum found the half chicken had cost just €3.95, which converts to £3.45.
The flight and chicken tallied to just £12.44 – £2.56 less than he pays at Nando’s.
However, the two meals aren’t quite like for like, as the Nando’s meal includes sides, which nudges the price up and makes beating it marginally easier if ordering only chicken while abroad.
The peri-peri Nando’s chicken on its own costs £9.50, making the Portugal trip £2.94 more expensive in the context of a direct comparison.
But, Callum is up-front about how he carried out the experiment, and reveals a few more small payments he made in Portugal.
In the video, Callum reveals he spent €5.50 (£4.63) on optional sides and a drink. This meant the meal cost €9.45 (£8.08) – just over half the price of his typical Nando’s order with sides.
He also confirmed he spent €5 (£4.26) on a bus ticket from the airport to the restaurant – a distance of around 30km (18 miles). Which is walkable, for hardy types. So in theory this could be deducted.
Including the sides, drinks, service and transport, the journey totalled £21.33.
Still a bargain, by anyone’s estimation.
Callum told MailOnline Travel at the time: ‘The overall experience was great fun. I spent some time in the sun and made a short holiday out of it. So yes, it was most definitely worth it!’
‘I am personally a huge fan of Nando’s and, in my opinion, it cannot be beaten. However, the chicken was very, very tasty.’
As for the service, he says: ‘The meal in Portugal had a much more personal feel and came with cutlery already laid out on the table.
‘The waitress was such a great help with everything. I was impressed.’
Callum enjoyed the trip so much he decided to spend a bit extra by staying in the Algarve for a few more days.
He stayed at the Balaia Golf Resort within walking distance of the restaurant. Prices start at around £169 for two people for two nights on Booking.com.
Albania
Flights: From £23 return
In June, Chelsea Dickenson, 34, from Wrexham, gave herself the challenge of having a holiday abroad for a total of just £100.
And she revealed how she put the notion to the test in a series of fun and fascinating Instagram clips.
After finding flights to Tirana in Albania for just £9.99 with Wizz Air, she was already well on her way to completing her goal.
The travel expert told MailOnline: ‘That £100 cost had to cover getting to and from the airport on both sides, as well as my food, drink, activities and accommodation.’
Chelsea, who now lives in London, continued: ‘I’ve been seeking out a destination where this could possibly work for some time – after I spotted flights to Tirana [the capital of Albania] for £9.99 each way, I knew that as long as I could find an affordable place to stay, we may be on to a winner.
‘Albania has started to pop up in all sorts of articles, TV programmes and across social media in the past few years.
‘I booked it expecting an affordable city but not knowing a lot more!’ Read on to see how Chelsea fared in the challenge (and to see just how cheap Tirana can be).
Her costs included a £9.99 flight from London Luton to Tirana, getting a cup of coffee for just 94p and packing her own food and snacks.
She bought two nights of accommodation for £25.67, and made sure to keep her activity costs down.
In the end, the trip came to a grand total of £99.59, successfully completing the challenge.
While the travel expert said she ‘absolutely would’ return to Tirana, there were a few small gripes.
She explained: ‘I had a really lovely trip and my only notes of ‘room for improvement’ are that the airport buses – which are supposed to run on the hour every hour – are a little erratic in their timings.
‘Also, Tirana airport doesn’t accept any form of digital boarding pass.’
Concluding her mega-cheap holiday, Chelsea noted: ‘The locals are very friendly and in most places I went, the English spoken was more than enough.
‘I was able to have a really fun trip without going over my budget.
‘Fortunately, Tirana is a very walkable city, so I didn’t have to spend any extra on transport or taxis.
‘I was simply shocked at how great it is given that it’s still quite under the radar. It’s the most underrated city I’ve ever been to.’
Mallorca
Flights: From £27
In May 2023, a woman and her pals have enjoyed the daytrip of a lifetime in Spain for just £30, and say they spent less money than they would on a night out in London.
Taneshia Deckon, 27, from North London, flew to Mallorca and back in just one day, and revealed she spent a total of £100 on the entire trip.
The pennywise pals travelled with just their handbags and enjoyed numerous trips to the beach, shopping malls, and enjoyed tasty local cuisine.
Taneshia says the trip was a no-brainer, as a solo meal back home in London would set her back £30, whereas a trip ‘drinking sangria with her friends’ turned out to be much cheaper.
She explained: ‘It’s better to go abroad for the same price and you get that cultural experience too. I can speak Spanish, so it was also a good opportunity to speak some.’
‘It was beautiful weather, we had a lot of sun and didn’t need to wear our jackets. We left England in the rain, flew to the sun and came back to the rain and went to work the next day.’
‘Mallorca is a good location, as the airport is close to the beach and the mall. We went shopping, and we all bought matching sunglasses and sandals.’
‘We then got a taxi to the beach and took some photos and drank sangria and ate paella, calamari, and patatas bravas. We were able to eat traditional Spanish food.’
Taneshia added how ‘shocked’ she was to find cheap flights to Spain, and revealed the secret trick was knowing where and how to find them, and to also travel out of season.
She added: ‘It’s just crazy that it’s cheaper to fly to Spain than go for a day out in London. We thought about just going to another city in the UK, but it’s just so expensive right now.’
‘You would easily spend over £100 doing something in London. We’d booked a day spa previously in the UK which was £80 just for the spa alone.’
‘A day out in London is more expensive than a day out in Mallorca. We realised it’s cheaper to fly abroad – sometimes there’s better weather as well.’
Taneshia summarised the trip to be well worth it, adding that it was far from expensive even though they lavished a small fortune on food and drink.
*All flight details are accurate as of time of publication and are calculated from the cheapest upcoming deal from any London airport for a return flight.
