5 splendid city breaks on a budget

Istanbul, Vilnius, Belfast, Tunis and Porto - five city breaks that won't break the bank

Martin Symington

Istanbul

If you have yearned to watch bulbous domes and slender minarets silhouetted against the setting sun, now is the time. With the pound at 2.61 Turkish lira, Turkey is good value. The Blue Mosque, the crowning glory of Byzantines and Ottomans, is free to enter any time other than Friday afternoons.

The splendid Hagia Sophia mosque is a modest 10 lira. To see the city from the water, eschew touristy Bosphorus cruises and take the ferries that cross the waterway all day. An intercontinental voyage costs £1.15.

After a day visiting architectural wonders and treasure-stuffed palaces, you hardly even need to count the cost of a meze splurge at a restaurant in the Kumkapi district. Shopping is a snip, too - amid the frenetic hubbub of the Covered Bazaar or in the boutiques of Tesvikiye Avenue.

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Getting there: EasyJet (www.easyjet.com ) from Gatwick and Luton; Turkish Airlines (0844 800 6666, www.thy.com) from Heathrow, Stansted, Manchester and, from December 15, BA (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com) from Birmingham.

Where to stay: Hotel Historia (00 90 212 517 74 72, www.historiahotel.com), a restored Ottoman merchant's residence in the shadows of the Blue Mosque; £65

Vilnius

Lithuania's capital is about to take over (with Linz in Austria) as European Capital of Culture 2009. Get ahead of the game and visit this medieval Unesco World Heritage city before the culture-seeking hordes arrive and hotel prices rocket.

All the best sightseeing is free: King Mindaugas's Cathedral; the magically empowered Madonna of the Gate of Dawn; and the old town's cobbled squares and stone bridges spanning the Vilnia.

The city is like a mini-Prague with fewer stag parties, even cheaper beer and fantastic restaurants. Also great value are the ubiquitous shops selling amber from the Baltic, and the Amber Museum on Mykolo Street is free.

Getting there: Air Baltic (www.airbaltic.com) and Flylal (www.flylal.com) from Gatwick.

Where to stay: Apia Hotel (00 370 5 212 34 26, www.apia.lt), a family-run three-star in the heart of the old town; £57

Belfast

For a city break in the Emerald Isle free from the sting of the euro, there is only one option. Whatever prejudices may linger, first-time visitors will discover that a new era of harmony in Northern Ireland has thrust Belfast into the throes of an extraordinary renaissance. Dazzling new shops, art galleries, restaurants and upmarket music bars have transformed this architecturally magnificent and historically intriguing city into one of Europe's most alluring destinations.

The political murals on the Shanklin road and other flashpoints of the Troubles are astonishing (and free) spectacles. Happily, the more hate-filled of these can be viewed as history, while other murals on the acres of walls include tributes to the somewhat contrasting local lads, George Best and C.S.Lewis.

Getting there: Flybe (www.flybe.com) from 12 UK airports to George Best City and EasyJet (www.easyjet.com) from seven airports to Belfast International.

Where to Stay: Ravenhill House (028 902 07444, www.ravenhillhouse.com), a welcoming guesthouse two miles from the city centre; £70

Tunis

Minarets, muezzins, smoky souks and wafts of spice are less than a three-hour flight away. Haggle for lamps, leathers and rugs as you wander the beguiling warren of twisting alleys. Here in gentler, easier Tunisia, the hassle factor is much lower than in, say, Morocco. So are the prices, with six-course feasts served in stone courtyards for less than £10pp.

Hop on the TGM train for the 65p ride to Carthage, armed with a £2.20 “Billet Groupé” communal entrance ticket to eight different archaeological splendours from the Salammbo Tophet to the Punic Harbours. The views over a sparkling Mediterranean bay are free at the nearby clifftop, bougainvillea-clad village of Sidi Bou Said.

Getting there: Tunis Air (020 7734 7644, www.tunisair.com) from Heathrow. British Airways (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com) from Gatwick.

Where to stay: Les Ambassadeurs (00 216 7184 6000; www.hotel-ambassadeurs.com), a comfortable, modern, three-star at the Medina entrance, is good value at £44

Porto

Portugal's second city is one of only a few where wine tasting is the leading attraction - and probably the only one where it is free. The wine is port, grown and fortified in the upper reaches of the Douro, and stored in the “lodges” of Vila Nova de Gaia across the river from Porto's main Ribeira tourist area.

Walk across the famous double-decker Dom Luis I bridge and look for familiar names such as Taylor's, Graham's or Cockburn's whitewashed on to the red-tiled roofs. At any of these, there is absorbing work to be done touring the cellars before exploring the intricacies or ruby, tawny or late bottled vintage.

Take care not to stagger into the Douro when you recross the river back to the Ribeira.

Getting there: TAP Air Portugal (0845 601 0932, www.flytap.com) from Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester. Ryanair (www.ryanair.com ) from Stansted, Bristol. Birmingham and Liverpool.

Where to stay: Hotel da Bolsa (00 351 222 026 768, www. hoteldabolsa.com), a three-star hotel in a superb Ribeira location; £68

All prices are for a standard double/twin per night for two people, including breakfast

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