Winter city breaks from the UK and Ireland: Lapland from £34, Reykjavík from £36, Tromsø from £50, and snowy Oslo, Stockholm, Kraków and the Alps, with the cheapest trip to each.
Written By Rick Blyth
Happiest at 36,000ft as the sun rises above the clouds
18 min read
Published on 28/10/2026
Snow on the rooftops, the Northern Lights overhead, and a sauna to thaw out in afterwards. A winter city break doesn't have to mean grey skies and drizzle.
Rovaniemi, in Finnish Lapland, is £34 return from Birmingham. Reykjavík is £36 from Newcastle. And Tromsø, one of the best places in the world to see the Northern Lights, is £50 from Bristol.
Here are 12 proper winter city breaks: Lapland and the Arctic, the snowy Nordic capitals, the Alps, and two old towns that look their best in the cold. Each has the cheapest trip we found from the 23 airports we search in the UK and Ireland.
Go north for snow you can count on, and a real chance of the Northern Lights. Rovaniemi sits right on the Arctic Circle, and Tromsø well above it.
Reykjavík£36 from Newcastle
Tromsø£50 from Bristol
Rovaniemi£34 from BirminghamReykjavík £36 from NewcastleTromsø £50 from BristolRovaniemi £34 from Birmingham
LaplandRovaniemiWhy go: it's the home of Santa Claus Village, right on the Arctic Circle. On a clear night, the Northern Lights can dance over the forest.
🦌 Do: a reindeer sleigh ride, or a husky safari through the snowy forest.
🏛️ See: the Arktikum, a museum of Arctic life under a long glass roof.
🎿 Rather ski? Kittilä, the airport for Levi, one of Finland's biggest ski resorts, is £97 from London Gatwick and £107 from Liverpool.
Northern LightsReykjavíkWhy go: steaming outdoor pools in the snow, and Northern Lights tours that leave from the city on clear nights.
♨️ Soak: in a geothermal lagoon. The Blue Lagoon is close to the airport, so you can go on your way in or out.
🚌 Day trip: the Golden Circle, for the Geysir hot springs and the Gullfoss waterfall.
🛬 Where you land: Keflavík, about 50 km from the city, so allow time to get in.
Northern LightsTromsøWhy go: Tromsø sits about 350 km north of the Arctic Circle, right under the Northern Lights. Around midwinter the sun doesn't rise at all, and the sky glows blue in the middle of the day.
🚡 Ride: the Fjellheisen cable car up the mountain, for the view over the island city.
⛪ See: the Arctic Cathedral, all white triangles, across the bridge.
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Short days, long nights and a candle in every window. These four do winter properly.
Oslo£30 from London Stansted
Stockholm£29 from DublinHelsinki£46 from London Stansted
Tallinn£62 from London StanstedOslo £30 from London StanstedStockholm £29 from DublinHelsinki £46 from London StanstedTallinn £62 from London Stansted
StockholmWhy go: Gamla Stan, the old town, looks like a Christmas card in the snow, and the city skates outdoors in Kungsträdgården.
☕ Try: fika, a coffee and a cinnamon bun, somewhere warm.
👀 See: the 17th-century warship in the Vasa Museum.
OsloWhy go: you can take the metro to the snow. Line 1 climbs to the Holmenkollen ski jump, and the Korketrekkeren sledging run twists back down through the forest.
🛷 Do: hire a sledge at the top, whizz down, and ride the metro back up for another go.
🏛️ See: the Opera House on the harbour, with a sloping roof you can walk up.
🛬 Where you land: Torp, about 110 km south of Oslo, around two hours by coach, so allow time to get in.
HelsinkiWhy go: the sauna is a way of life here. Sweat it out in a public sauna by the sea, then, if you dare, take a dip in the icy Baltic.
⛴️ Do: the ferry to Suomenlinna, the island sea fortress, in the snow.
TallinnWhy go: a medieval old town of towers and red roofs, at its prettiest under snow.
🚶 Walk: to Town Hall Square, then up to the Kohtuotsa viewing platform over the rooftops.
🥃 Try: Vana Tallinn liqueur in a cellar bar.
For snowy peaks on the doorstep, fly to the Alps. From the middle of Innsbruck, you can be up in the snow in under an hour.
Geneva£38 from Bournemouth
Salzburg£49 from London StanstedInnsbruck£64 from BristolGeneva £38 from BournemouthSalzburg £49 from London StanstedInnsbruck £64 from Bristol
GenevaWhy go: Geneva is the airport for the French Alps. Chamonix, below Mont Blanc, is about an hour and a quarter away by road.
🫕 Eat: fondue in the old town, then walk it off along the lake.
SalzburgWhy go: Mozart's city, under its hilltop fortress, with snow on the mountains all around. “Silent Night” was first sung in Oberndorf, just outside, in 1818.
🏰 See: the Hohensalzburg Fortress, up the funicular, for the view over the snowy rooftops.
🎵 Hear: Mozart, in the city where he was born.
InnsbruckWhy go: a cable car climbs from the city centre to over 2,000 metres. Stroll the old town in the morning and stand in the snow above the clouds by lunch.
👀 See: the Golden Roof, a balcony roofed in gilded copper tiles, in the old town.
Two old towns that look their best in the cold, with plenty of warm places to duck into.
Kraków£33 from NewcastleVienna£41 from ManchesterKraków £33 from NewcastleVienna £41 from Manchester
KrakówWhy go: one of Europe's biggest medieval market squares, dusted with snow, and candlelit cellar bars in Kazimierz to duck into.
🏔️ Day trip: Zakopane, in the Tatra mountains, about two hours away, for deep snow and wooden mountain houses.
🧂 Fun fact: deep in the Wieliczka salt mine, there's a chapel carved from salt.
ViennaWhy go: grand coffee houses for cold afternoons, an outdoor ice rink in front of City Hall, and hundreds of balls through the winter.
☕ Try: Sachertorte and a melange, Vienna's milky coffee, in a proper Viennese café.
The cheapest of the 12 from each of our airports, A to Z. Tap a trip to search it.
From Cardiff, Exeter, Glasgow Prestwick and Norwich, we found no trip to any of the 12 this winter. Search from your airport to see where it does fly.
You don't have to fly home in between. Fly on to the next city instead, with a night or more in each. You book each flight directly with the airline.
From Manchester, Oslo then Kraków is £52 for 4 nights: 1 in Oslo, landing at Torp, then 3 in Kraków. From London Stansted, Stockholm then Helsinki is £72, also for 4 nights: 3 in Stockholm, then 1 in Helsinki.
Oslo and KrakówFrom Manchester · 4 nights in allSearch trips from£52Fares follow demand. The same city can cost half as much again in a busy week as in a quiet one.
Across the months we searched, Salzburg started at £49 in the cheapest and £80 in the dearest. Tromsø ran from £50 to £75, and Reykjavík from £36 to £60.
So pick the quieter months if you can, and go outside the school holidays. In Lapland, the weeks around Christmas are the busiest of all.
On a low-cost basic fare, you may only get a small under-seat bag. Winter clothes are bulky, so wear your thickest coat and boots to fly, and pack the rest small.
📌 Key points
- Rovaniemi, in Finnish Lapland, starts at £34 in flights, from Birmingham.
- For the Northern Lights, Reykjavík is from £36 (Newcastle) and Tromsø from £50 (Bristol).
- Stockholm is £29 from Dublin, and Oslo £30 from Stansted or Manchester.
- In the Alps, Geneva is from £38, Salzburg from £49 and Innsbruck from £64.
- Quieter weeks cost less: Salzburg ran from £49 to £80 across the months we searched.
Tromsø, Rovaniemi and Reykjavík are the best bets here. Tromsø is from £50 in flights from Bristol, Rovaniemi from £34 from Birmingham, and Reykjavík from £36 from Newcastle.
The lights are never guaranteed. You need dark, clear skies, so give yourself a few nights.
Rovaniemi starts at £34 in flights, from Birmingham. It's £40 from Bristol or Liverpool and £41 from Manchester, and 11 of our airports fly there.
Kittilä, the airport for Levi, starts at £97 from London Gatwick.
In the quieter weeks, outside the school holidays. In Lapland, the weeks around Christmas are the busiest and dearest.
Prices move a lot from one month to the next. Salzburg ran from £49 to £80 across the months we searched.
No. They're for flights only, per person, out and home. Every trip shows how many nights you'll spend, so you know exactly what to book.
Yes. Free search shows trips leaving in the next 14 days. Premium members see about six months ahead, which covers the whole winter. See Premium for what's included.
Tell us your airport, roughly when, and for how long. We'll show you every city break that fits, cheapest first. Search city breaks from your airport.
Prices were found between the 31st of October and the 1st of November 2026: flights only, per person, rounded up to the next pound. Fares change every day, so search for today's.
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Cheap Return Flights Under £50 from the UK and Ireland This WinterReturn flights for £50 or less from each of our 23 airports this winter, airport by airport.Photos, cropped and framed: Aberdeen Airport by Colin Smith (CC BY-SA 2.0); Belfast Airport by ThameslinkConnect (CC BY-SA 4.0); Birmingham Airport by Thomas Nugent (CC BY-SA 2.0); Bournemouth Airport by Chris Downer (CC BY-SA 2.0); Bristol Airport by Captain Galaxy (CC BY 4.0); East Midlands Airport by Stephen McKay (CC BY-SA 2.0); Edinburgh Airport by Thomas Nugent (CC BY-SA 2.0); Glasgow Airport by DaHuzyBru (CC BY-SA 4.0); Leeds Bradford Airport by Mtaylor848 (CC BY-SA 4.0); Liverpool Airport by Andrzej Otrębski (CC BY-SA 4.0); London Heathrow Airport by Nick-D (CC BY-SA 4.0); London Luton Airport by Thomas Nugent (CC BY-SA 2.0); Newcastle Airport by Richard Vince (CC BY-SA 2.0); Southampton Airport by Richard Rogerson (CC BY-SA 2.0); Southend Airport by william (CC BY-SA 2.0)
