If you’re planning on hopping across the pond for some of that much-needed dose of culture, and marvel at stunning buildings you just can’t find on your daily morning walk to Starbucks, chances are you’re mainly concerned about 2 things.
- The war. Or wars, more like;
- Prices.
We’ll keep it real with you: it is a rather chaotic world to navigate out there, with conflicts popping up left, right and center, and headlines making everything sound apocalyptic, but for the most part, or with the exception of Ukraine, Europe is largely safe.
You don’t need to take our word for it. Check the most recent travel advisories and alerts for your destination here.
Now, the cost of a vacation is where it actually gets tricky.
France, Italy, Greece, damn, even Croatia lately means peak-season sticker shock and a big vacation budget you probably don’t have just sitting in a bank somewhere. What if we told you Europe doesn’t have to be reduced to its Big 4, nor that mainstream destinations are your only option for hassle-free nonstop routes?
We totally get it, there’s nothing we hate more than long Frankfurt layovers ourselves, but guess what? These 3 super-affordable, wildly underrated, and lowkey far more exciting Eurohubs are a direct 8 to 9-hour red-eye hop away:
Belgrade, Serbia
Perhaps the one Balkan capital you wouldn’t expect to host Transatlantic flights, even though it’s done so for years, Belgrade in Serbia is within easy access to Americans this summer—and travelers coming from Budapest as well, apparently (hello, new train route).
Not Zagreb, in a much-trendier Croatia, much less Tirana, in the increasingly-popular Albania: Belgrade is the strongest link between Southeastern Europe and New York (literally), and trust us when we say, you shouldn’t be sleeping on it in 2026.
No, it’s not on the coast, but it has a stunning Historic Center, combining French-style Belle époque architecture—a stroll down the elegant, café-lined Knez Mihailova will make you instantly think back to Paris—Orthodox heritage, and Old Europe medieval charm.
Skadarlija is that limp-lit, bohemian street paved with cobblestones and flanked by quirky bars, and straddling the confluence of the Danube and Sava Rivers, Kalemegdan is the iconic hilltop castle, complete with a drawbridge, sturdy towers, and terraces overlooking a skyscrapered skyline.
Other than being undisputably pretty, Belgrade has developed a reputation in recent years as the lesser-known, cheaper, rougher sister of Berlin.
Don’t believe us? Check out the former industrial-space, techno-heaven, 5 am brain-melt, straight-up underground institution Drugstore.
Average Prices In Belgrade, Serbia
- Hostel (dorm bed/night): $15–21
- 3-star hotel (per night): $40–60
- 3-course dinner (local restaurant): $20–$30
- Public transport: completely free except minibus A1 to airport and E minibus lines
- Average museum fee: $5–$8
Fly Nonstop To Belgrade (BEG)
- From New York (JFK)—Air Serbia, 3x a week (Monday, Tuesday, Saturday), $710 roundtrip
- From Chicago–O’Hare (ORD)—Air Serbia, 2x a week (Wednesday, Saturday), $830 roundtrip
Serbia is neither in the European Union nor the Schengen Zone. Check out the travel rules and Entry Requirements that apply to Americans visiting Serbia beforehand here.
Wondering how safe Belgrade is to visit right now? Here’s what travelers have been reporting:
Bucharest, Romania
The sprawling capital of Romania, and one of the continent’s most talked-about weekend getaways lately, Bucharest may not exactly be tailor-made for first-time visitors to Europe who are, you know, chasing after fairytale castles and beautiful sights.
They call Bucharest’s Historic Center the ‘Paris of the East’, due to the Haussmann-inspired boulevards and undeniably-French character of the downtown buildings, but if that’s the main reason why you’re flying all the way from America, you might want to temper your expectations.
Now, if you like your cities gritty, chaotic, messy, and incredibly exciting all-the-same, it might be right up your alley. A Soviet-style concrete giant, it has your usual dystopian Brutalist blocks with sharp edges, oddly abandoned lots, and that perpetually grayed-out townscape.
Thanks, communism.
Add the rattling trams, the verdant urban parks that seem to sprout out of nowhere in the midst of the urban jungle, and the underground galleries that pop up unexpectedly, and you get a good feel for Bucharest’s character.
As you’ll soon realize, the coolest things to do in Bucharest are not exactly screaming to be noticed, but hiding in plain sight, like Cărturești, a 6-floor bookstore housed in an unassuming 19th-century building, full of princessly balconies and spiraling staircases, and Macca Villacrosse, an Art Nouveau glass canopy filled with little cafés and cozy hideaways.
Average Prices in Bucharest, Romania
- Hostel (dorm bed/night): $12–$20
- 3-star hotel (per night): $35–$60
- 3-course dinner (local restaurant): $18–$28
- Public transport: $0.80–$1 per one-way ticket (tram, bus, metro)
- Average museum fee: $4–$7
Fly Nonstop To Bucharest (OTP)
- From New York (JFK)—HiSky, 3x a week, ~$720 roundtrip
Warsaw, Poland
The ‘Chicago of Europe‘, or so we like to call it, Warsaw is, once again, far from being your conventional European getaway.
Instead of the quaint vibes and the storybook charm, you get modern skyscrapers, busy thoroughfares dominated by Soviet-era blocks, and an electric city life, of the kind you wouldn’t expect to find on this side of the pond. But wait before you write Warsaw off: there’s more than just surface-level grit.
If you’re wondering how, and why it looks so decidedly New World, considering it is the capital of a country known for its storybook castles and medieval squares, the answer is in the History books:
Once European-pretty like Paris, Warsaw was virtually razed to the ground by the Germans during World War II.
They had no choice but to rebuild the city from scratch, so that’s why you won’t find the usual ornate edifices and stately grand palaces commonly associated with Europe here. Well, at least not an abundance of them.
It’s a sad tale, but an inherently-fascinating one, at that. And hey, it’s not like we’re complaining, mind: we go to Warsaw for the epic rooftop vistas, the thumping nightlife, and a dash of postwar melancholy.
Plus, the fact it has 56% less crime than Paris (according to Numbeo) is a big-enough flex.
Lucky for the odd nostalgic culture buff, the UNESCO-listed Warsaw Old Town is a tiny reconstructedspeck of what the city would once have been: cobbled lanes, three to four-storey townhouses painted in soft pastel colors, and red-brick barbicans defending the gateway to the citadel.
Average Prices in Warsaw, Poland
- Hostel (dorm bed/night): $15–$25
- 3-star hotel (per night): $50–$85
- 3-course dinner (local restaurant): $20–$35
- Public transport: $1–$1.30 per one-way ticket (bus, tram, metro)
- Average museum fee: $5–$10
Fly Nonstop To Warsaw (WAW)
- From New York (JFK)—LOT Polish Airlines, daily, $750 roundtrip
- From Chicago–O’Hare (ORD)—LOT Polish Airlines, 6x a week (except Thursdays), $750 roundtrip
- From Miami (MIA)—LOT Polish Airlines, 5x a week (except Sundays, Mondays), $700 roundtrip
- From New Jersey–Newark (EWR)—LOT Polish Airlines, 4x a week (except Sundays, Wednesdays, Fridays), $700 roundtrip
- From Los Angeles (LAX)—LOT Polish Airlines, 4x a week (except Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays), $850 roundtrip
- *San Francisco (SFO)—LOT Polish Airlines, 4x a week (except Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays), $800 roundtrip
*Launching May 6, 2026
Stacie Harris is a local resident and reporter of the Maple Grove area. Stacie reports on medicine and science for the Maple Grove Report.
