Best Cities for Expats in Europe
Under €2,500/Month
Real monthly budgets, honest visa situations, and what life actually looks like — for seven cities that keep coming up in expat conversations for good reason.
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Most "best expat city" lists rank places by vibes. This one ranks them by what they actually cost to live in, month to month, for a single person renting a one-bedroom apartment in a decent neighbourhood and not living like a student.
The €2,500/month ceiling is intentional. It is roughly the income floor for a location-independent professional on a modest remote salary or a comfortable pension from a Western country. Every city here fits comfortably under that number, and several fit under €1,500.
The budgets below cover: one-bedroom apartment in a central or well-connected neighbourhood, groceries for one, eating out 3–4 times a week, local transport, phone and internet, and a small cushion for day-to-day spending. They exclude flights home, health insurance, and one-off costs like furniture or visa fees.
🗺️ At a glance — all seven cities
| City | Monthly budget | 1-bed rent | EU/Schengen | English | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇪🇸 Valencia | €1,200–1,700 | €750–1,100 | EU + Schengen | Moderate | Lifestyle, beach, retirees |
| 🇵🇹 Porto | €1,300–1,800 | €800–1,100 | EU + Schengen | Good | Remote workers, golden visa path |
| 🇬🇪 Tbilisi | €750–1,200 | €400–700 | Non-EU | Growing | Budget, freelancers, digital nomads |
| 🇵🇱 Krakow | €900–1,300 | €550–800 | EU + Schengen | Good | Value, culture, EU base |
| 🇪🇪 Tallinn | €1,400–1,900 | €750–1,050 | EU + Schengen | Excellent | Tech, entrepreneurs, e-residency |
| 🇭🇷 Split | €1,100–1,600 | €650–950 | EU + Schengen | Good | Lifestyle, sea, slower pace |
| 🇵🇹 Braga | €1,000–1,400 | €550–800 | EU + Schengen | Good | Budget Portugal, young crowd |
🇪🇸 Valencia, Spain
Valencia
Spain's third city — beach, year-round sun, and a cost of living that Madrid and Barcelona left behind a decade ago
Valencia consistently ranks as one of the best-value cities in Western Europe for expats, and the reputation is earned. It has a real city underneath — university, culture, nightlife, good food — without charging you Madrid prices. The beach (Malvarrosa) is 20 minutes by tram from the city centre.
Rent in central neighbourhoods like Ruzafa, El Carmen, and Benimaclet sits between €750 and €1,100 for a one-bedroom. The market has tightened since 2022 but remains affordable by Western European standards. Finding a flat as a foreigner is not difficult if you use local letting agents rather than tourist-oriented platforms.
Visa situation: EU/EEA citizens register locally (NIE number) within 90 days. Non-EU citizens need a visa. Spain's Digital Nomad Visa (launched 2023) covers remote workers earning over €2,334/month gross, requires private health insurance, and is valid for one year with a renewable path to long-term residency. The Non-Lucrative Visa (NLV) is the classic retirement route — passive income of roughly €2,400/month minimum, no working allowed.
- Internet: average 200–500 Mbps fibre, gigabit available; coworking spaces from €150/month
- Healthcare: public system accessible after registering residency; private insurance around €50–100/month
- Language: Spanish is essential for daily life outside expat-heavy areas
- Downsides: July and August are brutally hot; rental market tightens each year; Spanish bureaucracy moves slowly
🇵🇹 Porto, Portugal
Porto
Northern Portugal's real city — rougher and cheaper than Lisbon, with a growing tech and creative scene and a genuine path to EU citizenship
Porto's trajectory over the last decade mirrors what happened to Lisbon — rising rents and growing international attention. The difference is it still hasn't caught up. Rents in Bonfim, Cedofeita, and Paranhos run between €800 and €1,100 for a decent one-bedroom — meaningfully cheaper than Lisbon for equivalent quality.
The city has a solid base for remote workers. Coworking spaces are abundant, English is widely spoken in professional circles, and the same D8 digital nomad visa and NHR tax regime that apply in Lisbon apply here. The golden visa fund investment route also routes through Portuguese legal infrastructure, making Porto a natural base for people pursuing Portuguese residency with EU citizenship as the eventual goal.
Visa situation: EU citizens register freely. Non-EU citizens use Portugal's D8 Digital Nomad Visa (income threshold around €3,040/month gross) or the NLV for passive income holders. Portugal's AIMA immigration agency backlogs mean appointments take months to schedule — apply early, and don't count on anything moving fast.
- Internet: gigabit fibre widely available; coworking from €120/month
- Weather: cooler and wetter than Valencia — genuinely rainy from October to March
- Citizenship: A2 Portuguese required; five years of residency with minimal physical presence needed
- Downsides: bureaucracy is slow and frustrating; housing stock is often old and poorly insulated
🇬🇪 Tbilisi, Georgia
Tbilisi
The cheapest city on this list by a significant margin — a territorial tax system, 365-day visa-free stay for most passports, and no EU bureaucracy to navigate
Tbilisi sits in the South Caucasus, not technically in Europe, but it has been the most-discussed expat relocation city in European circles since 2022. The reasons are simple: most Western passport holders can stay 365 days per calendar year without a visa, the cost of living is roughly half of Portugal, and Georgia's territorial tax system means foreign-sourced income is not taxed in Georgia at all.
Rent in popular expat neighbourhoods — Vake, Vera, Saburtalo — runs between €400 and €700 for a furnished one-bedroom. These are central and walkable, with good cafes and coworking. English is increasingly functional in these areas, though Georgian and Russian are the languages of everything else.
Visa situation: EU, US, UK, Canadian, Australian and many other passport holders get 365 days visa-free per calendar year. After 365 days you must leave — a short border trip typically resets the clock, though this is increasingly scrutinised. For longer stays, Georgia offers a Remotely from Georgia work permit and a Small Business status for freelancers, both straightforward to obtain.
- Internet: fast fibre in central areas; coworking from €80/month
- Healthcare: private insurance essential — good private clinics exist and are cheap; public system is basic
- Downsides: no EU/Schengen access; infrastructure outside central Tbilisi is uneven; political environment has been turbulent since late 2024
🇵🇱 Krakow, Poland
Krakow
Poland's cultural capital — affordable, historic, well-connected to the rest of Europe, and consistently overlooked on expat shortlists
Krakow doesn't make enough expat lists. It is a proper European city — a real old town, a large university, good restaurants, and direct flights to most major European hubs — at prices closer to Tbilisi than to Lisbon. A decent one-bedroom in Kazimierz or Podgorze (the most popular expat neighbourhoods) runs between €550 and €800.
Poland's economy has grown fast and Warsaw salaries have risen accordingly, pushing up prices in the capital significantly. Krakow has followed more slowly and remains around 30% cheaper than Warsaw for equivalent accommodation. It has a genuine tech and BPO sector, which means a real professional community without being a tourist trap.
Visa situation: EU citizens move freely. Non-EU citizens outside the 90-day Schengen allowance need a Polish national visa or a residence permit. Poland does not have a dedicated digital nomad visa — the standard route is a temporary residence permit based on employment or running a business, which involves more paperwork than the equivalent in Portugal or Spain.
- Internet: excellent fibre infrastructure, among the fastest average speeds in Europe
- English: widely spoken by under-40s, especially in the large student and tech population
- Weather: proper Central European seasons — cold winters with snow, warm summers
- Downsides: winters are grey and cold; non-EU visa routes are not streamlined; winter air quality (smog) is a genuine health issue
🇪🇪 Tallinn, Estonia
Tallinn
The most digitally advanced city in the EU — e-residency, a genuine startup ecosystem, and a medieval old town that looks nothing like the rest of Northern Europe
Tallinn has a specific draw: the most functional digital government in the world. Everything from registering a business to filing taxes to signing legal documents happens online. Estonia's e-residency program lets you run an EU-registered company from anywhere. For entrepreneurs and tech workers, it solves problems that other cities on this list don't even address.
It is the priciest city here at the lower end of the budget. Rent in Kalamaja (the popular creative neighbourhood) or Kesklinn (city centre) runs €750 to €1,050. The city is small — around 450,000 people — and walkable. Helsinki is two hours away by ferry, which matters for people who want occasional access to larger Scandinavian infrastructure.
Visa situation: EU citizens register as residents with minimal friction. Estonia launched a Digital Nomad Visa in 2020 — one of the first in the world. It requires at least €3,504/month gross in remote income, is valid for one year, and can lead to Estonian temporary residence. Note: e-residency is a separate product and does not grant the right to live in Estonia.
- Internet: consistently top five in Europe for speed; public Wi-Fi everywhere in the city
- English: very widely spoken — the working language of the tech and startup community
- Weather: cold — Baltic winters are long and dark; summers are short but genuinely good
- Downsides: small city with limited cultural variety; January and February are harsh; not a warm weather destination
🇭🇷 Split, Croatia
Split
Croatia's second city — Adriatic coast, full EU and Schengen membership, and a pace of life that suits people who are done rushing
Split joined the Schengen zone in January 2023, removing the last practical friction for EU residents. It is a coastal city of around 170,000 people built into a Roman emperor's palace — Diocletian's Palace is not a museum, it is a functioning neighbourhood with bars, restaurants, and apartments inside 1,700-year-old walls.
Rent is lower than Valencia or Porto for comparable quality. The lifestyle pitch is specific: sea, warm weather, slower tempo, a genuine local culture that hasn't been completely overrun by tourists outside July and August. Split suits people optimising for quality of daily life rather than career networking. For a buzzing metropolitan tech scene within Croatia, Zagreb is the better choice — Split is for those who have made the trade deliberately.
Visa situation: EU citizens move freely. Croatia launched a Digital Nomad Visa in 2021 — valid for one year, renewable once, requires proof of remote income above roughly €2,300/month. The application goes through the Croatian Ministry of the Interior and is considered straightforward by people who have used it.
- Internet: solid fibre in the centre; coworking options exist but fewer than in larger cities
- English: good in Split, especially among under-40s and anyone in tourism or hospitality
- Seasonal contrast: winters are quiet and very local; summers are crowded and expensive in tourist-facing areas
- Downsides: limited flight connections outside the summer season; fewer professional networking opportunities than larger cities
🇵🇹 Braga, Portugal
Braga
Portugal's most affordable major city — a university town an hour from Porto that most expats skip entirely, which is exactly why the numbers still work
Braga is Portugal without the Instagram attention. It is a proper city — 200,000 people, a large university, a tech and startup scene that has grown quickly — but it hasn't been discovered by the international expat wave the way Lisbon and Porto have. Rent reflects this. A one-bedroom in a good central neighbourhood costs €550 to €800, which is where Porto was five years ago.
The practical infrastructure matches what the rest of Portugal offers. Fast fibre, good public transport, easy access to Porto by train (about 55 minutes, frequent service), and the same legal environment: the D8 visa, NHR tax regime, and five-year path to Portuguese citizenship all apply identically. The city's young demographic keeps it energetic without the overtourism tension starting to appear elsewhere in Portugal.
Visa situation: Identical to Porto — same Portuguese immigration system, same visa options, same AIMA backlog delays. The D8 visa income threshold (€3,040/month gross) applies regardless of where in Portugal you live. Apply early; processing timelines in 2025 remain long.
- Internet: same national providers as everywhere in Portugal; gigabit available
- English: good in the university-heavy population, less consistent in older neighbourhoods
- Porto access: 55 minutes by train gives you a larger city for anything Braga lacks
- Downsides: smaller international expat community than Porto or Lisbon; same AIMA bureaucratic delays as the rest of Portugal
🔍 How to choose between them
The budget differences between these cities are real, but they are rarely the deciding factor. Someone choosing between Tbilisi and Valencia is not usually doing it because one is €400/month cheaper. The more useful questions are about what you actually need from where you live.
If EU/Schengen access matters: Tbilisi is off the table. Every other city on this list is inside the EU or Schengen zone, which means free movement and a straightforward path to longer-term residency.
If you want a path to an EU passport: Portugal is the clear answer — five years with minimal physical presence and an A2 language test is a more realistic citizenship timeline than anywhere else on this list. Braga and Porto both qualify for the same program at lower cost than Lisbon.
If low tax on foreign income is the priority: Tbilisi is the only city here where foreign-sourced income is genuinely untaxed at the national level. All the EU countries have real income tax systems, though Portugal's IFICI regime offers preferential rates for qualifying new residents.
If you want a small, slow city with good infrastructure: Split or Braga. Both are walkable, affordable, and have the kind of daily life where €7 buys a good restaurant lunch — at least nine months of the year.
If you are running a company or want to incorporate in the EU: Tallinn is the only city here where the administrative infrastructure is built specifically for you. Estonia's digital government is a genuine advantage for anyone running a business remotely. Everything else requires a local accountant and patience.
Budget figures are estimates for a single person and reflect 2025 conditions. Rents and prices shift — verify current listings before making any decisions. Visa rules change; always check official government sources for current requirements.