Europe’s best holiday experiences for less than £50

Our experts reveal their favourite low-cost holidays, from riding a Vespa around Lake Como to guided photography tours in Amsterdam

Going on holiday is not entirely about the place you travel to. It is about what you do when you get there: the tiny trattoria found down a side street, or the excursion to an ancient temple with spectacular views. These are the things we remember from a trip, and are the elements that have the power to transform a lacklustre location into something spectacular. Often, though, the barrier to a wonderful experience is not for lack of trying, but, rather, the expense. 
It is with this in mind that our experts have compiled the list below. Here, they detail the exceptional experiences that you can book for your next European holiday for less than £50, some of which may surprise you. 
For those looking to add a cultural element to their trip, options include wandering through Barcelona with an architect to bring Gaudi’s city to life, or exploring art installations at a winery in Provence. If something more high-octane is preferred, try rafting in France’s Roya Valley, or kayaking under the full moon in Croatia.
Read on to find the perfect budget-friendly excursion for your holiday this year.
By Kiki Deere
One of the best ways to explore Lake Como is on two wheels, zipping along the lakefront road that hugs the shoreline, snaking through quaint villages that cling on to the hillside. From Como, make your way up the western shore and then cross over to Bellagio aboard one of the ferry boats, tracing the lakefront road back down to Como in the late afternoon, when the sun bathes the lake in a riot of orange hues.
Noleggio Moto Como offers all-day Vespa rental for €80 (£67). With scooters seating two passengers, you can zip around all day for just €40 (£34) per person.
By Lauren Hill
At a towering 3,715m (12,000ft), Mount Teide is Spain’s highest mountain. What’s more, the national park that encompasses this gargantuan natural landmark, and one of the world’s largest calderas amid its otherworldly volcanic landscape, is also a Dark Sky Reserve, placing it among the best locations in the world to see the stars. Join an astronomer-led stargazing tour, which takes place next to the cable car station at 2,356m above sea level.  
Book tickets for the Astronomical Observation on Teide for €40 (£34) per person or arrange a guided daytime visit to Teide Observatory for €21 (£18) per person.
By Isabella Noble
Led by working architects and architecture professors, Barcelona Architecture Walks delves into the Catalan capital’s rich heritage of building design with an expert’s eye. The three-hour, small-group tours range from a Modernisme-focused spin through L’Eixample (Barcelona & Gaudí tour) to exploring a wave of design-forward buildings in the creative Poblenou district (Barcelona & the Future tour). You’ll uncover insider tips on headline landmarks like Gaudí’s Casa Batlló, but also visit lesser-known creations and more offbeat areas. 
Barcelona Architecture Walks tours start from €45 (£37.89) per person. Tours are offered in English as standard and last two and a half hours. See the website for timings and meeting place.
By Lauren Hill
Not just for wine lovers, Porto’s sprawling World of Wine (Wow) brings together several interactive museums, a gallery and cornucopia of Portuguese dining experiences (plus a wine school) in capacious former port houses on the hillside running down through Vila Nova de Gaia to the Douro river. Chocolate, cork and the history of this coastal city, as well as wine, all come into the spotlight, and interactive elements such as a “chocolate factory” draw you in further. 
Wow daily tickets cost €39 (£33) for adults and €19 (£16) for children, which covers access to all exhibits, with the option to also visit individual museums including the Chocolate Museum.
By Isabella Noble
Granada is one of Andalucía’s greatest (and liveliest) places to eat, with gloriously fresh ingredients, including seafood from the Costa Tropical and some of Spain’s finest jamón from Trevélez in Las Alpujarras. The city is also known for serving free tapas with every drink. Dig in on a three-hour tour with a team of local food experts who share a passion for the city’s down-to-earth culinary scene. 
Granada Tapas Tours’s Classic Tapas Tour costs €60 (£50) per person and includes a two to three-hour tour with three drinks and six tapas dishes per person.
By Heidi Fuller-love
Hermoupolis Heritage, a not-for-profit cultural association on the under-the-radar Cyclades island of Syros, has a raft of excellent tours guided by locals. If you want to get on the inside track and really understand the history of this island – which was once one of the richest in Greece – head out to discover the countryside in one of association director Dimitris’s vintage cars or hop on a traditional trehandri sailing boat and discover the island from the water. 
Trehandri tours of Syros cost £45 per person based on five people sharing.
By Anthony Peregrine
I didn’t die, so I must have enjoyed rafting on the wild waters of the Roya Valley in the Alps above Nice. Of course I did. It’s a fantastic idea. Mountains are meant to be turbulent. Rafting chucks you about fittingly with minimum risk but maximum potential for old blokes like me to imagine they’re still adventurers. Plus it’s good for this stunning, rugged valley, which has suffered abominably from flooding and landslides in recent times. So it’s win-win-win. 
Take the Train des Merveilles up into the Alps from Nice. Book with Nice Rafting for £34 per person per half-day. 
By Anthony Peregrine 
The world’s finest history theme park has no rides or associated cartoon figures. Deep in the green countryside of the Vendée in south-west France, it simply delivers 20 of the greatest shows you’ll ever see. All are rooted in French history – whether in the full Roman arena (gladiators, beasts, wild chariot races), the knights of the Round Table, the trenches of Verdun and many stages in between. The 500-acre setting is superb, punctuated with properly-realised historical village recreations.
Entry to Puy du Fou costs £37 per day per adult, and £26 per day per child, and the shows are available in English via apps and audiophones. 
By Lauren Hill
The tiny island of Illa del Rei – home in the 18th century to a naval hospital – is found within Menorca’s natural harbour. Through a conservation project spanning both heritage and landscape, Hauser & Wirth has transformed this secluded islet into an extraordinary art destination. Repurposed buildings house world-class art exhibits along with a museum shedding light on the island’s past. A sculpture trail speckles the natively planted landscape and an outdoor restaurant pays homage to Menorcan fare. 
Take the island’s shuttle boat from Mahon in Menorca to access exhibits for free. You’ll need to pay the fare for the boat, which costs €10 (£8.40) per adult and €5 (£4.20) per child. 
What could be more magical and mysterious than night-time kayaking, with the glow of the full moon reflected in the sea, illuminating the Croatian island of Pag beneath a starry sky? Guided tours (9pm-midnight), in double kayaks, depart from Ručica pebble beach, near Novalja. If the dates of your visit don’t align with the full moon, daytime tours are also available.
Night-time kayaking tours in Pag Bay cost €58 (£49) per person and are run by Pag Outdoor. Check the website for the next full moon dates. Day-time tours cost €48 (£40).
By Rodney Bolt
With its canals, hump-backed bridges, gabled houses and eccentric houseboats, Amsterdam is one of Europe’s most photogenic cities, yet often your own shots don’t quite capture it all. A guided tour with a professional photographer will give you insider tips on finding the best spots, advice on posing, and provide stunningly shareable portraits of your stay to take home with you.
Book with Get Your Guide. The tour costs €44.99 (£37.85) for two people for 15 minutes, or €44.95 (£37.80) per person for two people for 30 minutes.
By Patrick Courtney 
Oenophiles, art lovers and foodies will all be kept happy at Château La Coste, an Aix-en-Provence estate with an exceptional sculpture park of installations by luminaries such as Louise Bourgeois and Alexander Calder. The estate is also a working vineyard, and you can take a self-guided stroll around the enchanting art, before touring the vines and tasting their red, white and sparkling wines.
Book the Art & Architecture Walk at Château La Coste for €15 (£12.50) per adult or the Wine Tour & Tasting at €25 (£21) per adult.

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