I realize it's pretty late to start planning, but we're hoping to organize a 5-6 day trip (excluding flight time) in late June/ early July to somewhere in in Europe... Will probably stay at one city (with a possible day trip further out) or at most two cities.

Budget will be a concern, so we're looking at cheaper destinations atm - current ideas are Budapest, Barcelona, Istanbul or somewhere in Crotia. Would really appreciate opinions on these places (cost-wise or just general comments) as well as other suggestions!

We just returned from Lisbon and thoroughly enjoyed it. I believe that most would say it is quite affordable.

This article may be of interest

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...t-171305-2.cfm

A bit more info if anyone bothers to read - we're a group of 19-20 year olds, not really into museums and drinking/partying, but really want to experience some local culture and food (especially food!). Would also love to see some good scenic spots (beaches/old towns?)

We've been researching online but there's just an overwhelming amount of information around, so we'd love any pointers/ideas!

Many many thanks in advance

@denisea - Wow Lisbon sounds like an amazing place, how long did you spend there? Will definitely look into it, thanks!

@jamikins - Haha we actually got some of our ideas from that list, thank you very much though!

Lisbon is great and very affordable!! We spent 5 days there and loved it!

Our pics are here

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pug_gi...7636734183955/

Sintra and Cascais or Estoril make great day trips as well. You can also take a bus to Evora...

We were only there for a few days. We particularly enjoyed Sintra and would love to go back Maybe you would enjoy Cascais for the coastal thing. We were seated next to a man from Portugal on our flight and he highly recommended Evora (we were on a business award trip, so didn't have time to go there).

Lisbon is lively and unique...great seafood, also.

Bulgaria (in particular) and Turkey are cheap and have good beaches and lots of culture.

Portugal for sure, given how you have described yourselves.

Another advantage of Portugal is that it is usually fairly cheap to get there.

There are very large apartments in Lisbon that are great for a group and are very inexpensive. This is the agency I used

http://www.rent4days.com/lisbon-apartments/

Portugal is definitely very cheap and the food portions are large so 2 people can share a dinner. Lisbon looks very old; it's not at all posh. Lisbon will be cheaper to fly into.

Other alternatives are Poland (Krakow) and Czech Republic (Prague).

I thought the food in Barcelona was on the expensive side and it lacks the central squares of other large European cities.

Croatia was not all that interesting and Dubrovnik is so small that you would get bored after a day there.

Lisbon not only looks very old. It happens to be the oldest city in Western Europe.

"Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world, and the oldest city in Western Europe, predating other modern European capitals such as London, Paris and Rome by hundreds of years."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisbon

But Lisbon also has beautiful architecture from every era including memorable modern architecture (especially its wonderful subway stations and the new train station Oriente)

http://www.archdaily.com/172226/arch...-guide-lisbon/

Thanks for all the help!! Really appreciate it

Lisbon sounds like a good idea, but would it be too ambitious to try and do Madrid/Barcelona as well? Could stretch the trip to 7 days if need be

With 5-6 days I would do Lisbon with a couple day trips - Sintra, Coinbra, cascais or Evora might interest you. You would end up losing 1/2 day each time you moved and with such a short time I wouldn't want to lose that time! If you have 7 days I would maybe consider splitting the time between Lisbon and one other location.

Unlike adrienne I found Croatia very interesting. It's like Italy in the 1950's, very laid back. But with lots of interesting towns to visit, islands, parks, etc. Not to speak of 7 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

With your short time, maybe base in Split (big city with an airport) or Trogir (a historic small town within easy reach of some beaches, close to Split and airport). And also spend a night or two on the island of Hvar, easily accessible from Split by ferry.

But it can be difficult and expensive to get to Croatia, depending on where you're coming from.

With you're time I would just do Lisbon, Sintra and Cascais. Skip Coimbra and Evora. Or I would fly into Lisbon and out of Porto and divide your time between those places. Lisbon it's very different from Porto and both gorgeous and cheap.

Another vote for Croatia, which I found beautiful; we spent 2 weeks there, and only saw a small portion of the country. We would go back in a second. Mimar's suggestions are spot on.

For 5-6 days, Istanbul with a 1-2 days to Ephesus is a great idea.

Another affordable (and very beautiful) option is Slovenia.

Out of all the cities I've visited in the last 6 years, I'd say Budapest was the cheapest. If you go, be sure to sample the lemonade, as every cafe and restaurant has their own. I got this tip from the forums and had so much fun trying different ones.

Portugal, Greece, and Croatia were are least expensive destinations.

whiteapple

If you are eager for another city then I would make it Porto -- which is really other wordly and unique -- unless your plane connections are such that you need to pass through Madrid or Barcelona anyway.

Lisbon is a great idea - click on my name for my Loving Lisbon TR. But so is Budapest, plenty to do there, lots of interesting architecture, plus the Danube. If you want somewhere further off the tourist track, consider Sarajevo plus Mostar.