{"id":277116,"date":"2025-07-20T10:31:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T10:31:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/277116\/"},"modified":"2025-07-20T10:31:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T10:31:11","slug":"travel-expert-says-the-most-underrated-european-city-break-is-a-15-flight-away-travel-news-travel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/277116\/","title":{"rendered":"Travel expert says the most underrated European city break is a \u00a315 flight away | Travel News | Travel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Travel expert Chelsea Dickenson constantly looks for methods to reduce the costs of travelling<\/a>, whether that\u2019s wriggling her way around airline baggage fees, packing tips, and swapping popular holiday<\/a> destinations for overlooked spots. Chelsea, more popularly known as Cheap Holiday Expert, recently spoke of underrated city breaks<\/a> which need to be on your radar, especially if you\u2019re trying to save a couple of quid, without compromising on the excitement of travel.<\/p>\n

Chelsea recently partnered up with Boots<\/a> to curate ready-to-go bundles containing all the essentials for festivals<\/a>, beach trips<\/a>, and adventures<\/a> so customers can get the essentials items they need in one place, and without having to fork out a small fortune.\u00a0Over half of Brits (53 per cent) admitted they\u2019ve forgotten to pack something on a beach<\/a> trip, with 41 per cent saying the same for hiking<\/a> or adventurous days out. One in five Brits (21 per cent) have turned up to festivals without something important.<\/p>\n

As Chelsea loves a bargain, she\u2019s constantly on the hunt for destinations where she can stretch her money further. There\u2019s one European city Chelsea believes is criminally underrated, despite the country receiving an outpouring of love for its coastal spots over the past few years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She told the Express<\/a>: \u201cSo one place I think should be on more people\u2019s radar, it\u2019s really interesting, because Albania<\/a> has been getting lots more attention, but more for their Riviera\u2026I\u2019m saying their capital Tirana is absolutely gorgeous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Albania\u2019s capital city is slap-bang in the centre of the country, flanked by mountains and hills, including Dajti. The city itself was founded by an Ottoman Albanian general back in 1614, becoming an independent nation in 1912, nearly 300 years later.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chelsea described the city as being great for those who enjoy greenery, offering a number of outdoor space to relax in under the summer sun. When the weather is on your side, you want to explore their cafe and restaurant<\/a> scene.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chelsea continued: \u201cThey have such a brilliant cafe and restaurant culture, so there\u2019s so many outdoor places to sit. I was getting their traditional pastries for I think 45 pence each.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo you can eat super affordably.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a plethora of Balkan pastries on offer in the city, with one Albanian pointing to the likes of borek, kadai and baklava. There\u2019s also kompekaj, a close cousin of the popular baklava.<\/p>\n

A friend from Tirana shared some insights in the local culinary scene. Kernace Zgare Fatosi is the place to go if you enjoy tucking into kofta, breads and yoghurt. A local tip? Visit at dusk for an amazing atmosphere.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking to tuck into some traditional Albanian dishes, head to Restorant GjinoKastra for some traditional pacha – or stew – with some unexpected ingredients\u2026 like sheep head, if you\u2019re into those things. They too recommended trying some Turkish coffee<\/a>, but be aware that these coffee shops are always packed.<\/p>\n

For some cultural musings and sights, consider Skanderbeg Square, Kalaja e Tiranes (Tirana Castle), the New Bazaar in Pazari i Ri, and Sofra e Aruit, a bear cafe with bears within touching distance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chelsea also touched on the city\u2019s bar culture, such as Blloku. To enjoy a drink while taking in the view of the city, the rooftop at the Xheko Imperial Hotel is \u201camazing\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another bonus to visiting Tirana? The cheap flights. Chelsea tipped the Albanian capital as one of the few locations where you could score a return flight for approximately \u00a340 during off-peak season.<\/p>\n

A flight from London Stansted with Ryanair in September could see you shell out just \u00a315 per way. Chelsea managed to save costs, only spending \u00a3100 on a three-day, two-night stay in the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, holidays are getting more expensive,\u201d Chelsea said. \u201cIt\u2019s one of those places that you can go and do not have to spend a fortune.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ready-to-go bundles will be available on\u00a0boots.com<\/a>\u00a0containing all the essentials for\u00a0festivals<\/a>,\u00a0beach trips<\/a>, and\u00a0adventures.\u00a0<\/a>The three bundles are \u00a320 each, consisting of five to seven products and with savings of over \u00a310.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Travel expert Chelsea Dickenson constantly looks for methods to reduce the costs of travelling, whether that\u2019s wriggling her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":277117,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[10541,3318,104566,104565,5719,52828,2000,299,5187,2837,101790],"class_list":{"0":"post-277116","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-albania","9":"tag-boots","10":"tag-cheap-holiday-expert","11":"tag-chelsea-dickenson","12":"tag-cities","13":"tag-city-breaks-section","14":"tag-eu","15":"tag-europe","16":"tag-european","17":"tag-holiday","18":"tag-travel-hacks"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114885104980391074","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}