European Cities Ranked for a Weekend Trip While Studying Abroad
Everyone studying abroad asks the same question around week two. Where should we actually go for the weekend. So here is my ranking of the best European cities for a weekend trip, based on what our students actually book and come back raving about, not a generic top ten. I ranked them on the stuff that matters for a student weekend. How fun it is, how cheap it is to get there and stay, and whether it is worth your two precious weekend days. Table first, then the real talk.
| City | Rating | Cost | Best for | The vibe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barcelona Top pick | ★★★★★ | $$ | A bit of everything | Beach, nightlife, food, all in one. |
| Lisbon | ★★★★½ | $ | Value | The cheapest great weekend in Europe. |
| Budapest | ★★★★½ | $ | Nightlife | Ruin bars and baths, for almost nothing. |
| Amsterdam | ★★★★ | $$$ | A guaranteed good time | A blast. Pricey, and it books up. |
| Prague | ★★★★ | $ | Nightlife | Fairy tale by day, chaos by night. |
| Interlaken | ★★★★ | $$ | Adventure | Not a city. Go anyway. The Alps. |
| Dublin | ★★★½ | $$$ | The people | Great craic, watch the prices. |
1. Barcelona
Barcelona is the best weekend in Europe and I will not be talked out of it. It is the only city that gives you a real beach, top tier nightlife, unreal food, and enough to see during the day that you never get bored. Fly in Friday, hit the beach, go out in the Gothic Quarter, recover Sunday with brunch. It is not the cheapest, but it earns it. If you are studying somewhere quieter, this is the trip that resets your whole semester.
2. Lisbon
Lisbon is the best value weekend in Europe, period. Cheap flights from basically everywhere, cheap food that is somehow incredible, and a nightlife scene in Bairro Alto where the whole neighborhood is the party. Add a day trip to Sintra and you have a perfect two days. Broke and still want a great weekend? Go here.
3. Budapest
Budapest punches so far above its price it is almost unfair. The ruin bars are unlike anywhere else, the thermal baths are the best hangover cure in Europe, and your money goes about three times as far as it does out west. This is the weekend where a student budget actually feels like a lot of money.
4. Amsterdam
Amsterdam is a guaranteed good weekend, it just costs you. The canals, the bikes, the nightlife, it all delivers. The catch is that hostels and flights book up fast and climb in price, so this is one you plan two or three weeks out, not the night before. Do not wing Amsterdam.
5. Prague
Prague looks like a fairy tale in the daytime and turns into total chaos at night, which is exactly why students love it. It is cheap, it is beautiful, and the nightlife goes hard for the price. The one thing to know is it gets touristy, so get a few streets off the main square for food and drinks and you will have a much better time.
6. Interlaken
Interlaken is not a city and I do not care, it belongs on this list. It is the adventure weekend. Paragliding over the Alps, canyon swings, and scenery that does not feel real. Switzerland is expensive, so this is a splurge, but it is the one people describe as the best thing they did all semester. Save up and do it once.
7. Dublin
Dublin makes the list on the people alone. The pubs, the live music, the fact that everyone is somehow instantly your friend. The honest downside is it is expensive, flights and pints both, so go when you have a bit of a budget. If you are there for St Patrick's, that is a whole different animal and worth planning around.
So where do I go first
If you take one thing from this, book Barcelona for the all around weekend, Lisbon or Budapest when you are broke, and save Interlaken for the splurge you will not regret. The mistake I see every single semester is students staying in their home city too long and running out of weekends. Do not do that. If you want, we will map your whole semester of weekends so they do not blur together, and we can put the card down for the group so booking six trips does not turn into six group chats about who owes what.