You’re standing in the departure lounge at Athens airport, squinting at the board. You’re searching for boring old Stansted, but look at all those other places: Rome, Prague, Paris, Katowice. Wouldn’t it be terrific if the holiday weren’t over? If you could hop on a plane and head somewhere else? Two trips in one. Well, as always, your wish is our command.

Europe’s no-frills airlines have a no-nonsense attitude to pricing — so you no longer have to buy a return flight to make savings. These days, one-way fares are a bargain too, so it’s just as easy (and almost as cheap) to turn your holiday into a triangle: first to Athens, perhaps, for temples and tzatziki, and from there straight to Rome for pasta by the Pantheon — with all three flights from just £59.

Or how about some late-summer sun on the Costa Brava, then straight on to Sardinia for more of the same, but with a whole new set of beaches to explore? The total price starts at just £40.

The tricky part is making the connection in the middle: which airline flies cheaply from Amsterdam to Venice, or from Cologne to Lisbon? Here is our guide to eight of Europe’s best city-break triangles, each with a unifying theme. And don’t assume you have to start from London. There are now more than 20 low-cost hubs in the UK and Ireland — consult the box on page 9 to seek out options near you.

• Flight prices include all taxes and are for travel in October. Hotel prices are for a double

  SHOPPING TRIANGLE - Paris and Milan

  If you like your couture haute and your labels designer, it has to be Paris and Milan. Pack your plastic, persuade a friend to tag along and make straight for the big department stores on Boulevard Haussmann: Galeries Lafayette and Printemps. Next, take a quick taxi ride to Rue du Faubourg St-Honoré, where Joseph and Jil Sander have joined the big French names: Chanel, Lacroix, Hermès et al. Finally, it’s to the Left Bank, and Rue St-Sulpice, for more serious fashion at Séverine Péraudin (for evening wear), Vanessa Bruno (for work wear ... sort of), and Marie Mercié (for hats).

  Plastic still not melted?

  Then fly to Milan for a spree in the world’s fashion capital, where Armani (Via Manzoni 31), Moschino (Via della Spiga 30) and Gucci (Via Montenapoleone 5-7) await. You’ll find avant-garde threads on Corso di Porta Ticinese; and, once you’re down to the loose change, aim for Il Salvagente (Via Fratelli Bronzetti 16), the best of the city’s factory outlets. No surplus store was ever so stylish.

  How? Luton to Paris and Paris to Milan with EasyJet; Milan to Luton with Ryanair. Fares from £23 + £22 + £14 = £59.

  Where to stay: by the Jardin du Luxembourg, in Paris, you’ll find the Hôtel Clos Médicis (00 33-1 43 29 10 80, www.closmedicis.com; from £110), with classy rooms in a stylish 18th-century town house. Nearby is the pretty Hôtel des Grandes Ecoles (01 43 26 79 23, www.hotel-grandes-ecoles.com; from £70).

  In Milan, the Antica Locanda dei Mercati (00 39-02 805 4080, www.locanda.it; from £97) has crisp, country-style rooms; or there’s the cheaper, but pleasant, Hotel London (02 7202 0166, www.hotel-london-milan.com; from £67).

  BEACH TRIANGLE - Costa Brava and Sardinia

  If the drawing in of nights is provoking tearing out of hair, then treat yourself to the sunnier shores of the Costa Brava and Sardinia. Start in Gerona, with a handsome cathedral at its medieval core and a road that leads to the sandy bays of the Costa Brava. This is a macho coastline, with hairpin roads tumbling into sheltered villages, and excellent watersports. All without the summer crush.

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