FROM the first ‘we’re here, cheers!’ to a cheeky afternoon vino settled by the sea, wine can be the perfect holiday accompaniment.
Yet, with the average price of a glass nudging up to £20 in some parts of the world, it’s not always easy to find good wine for a decent price.
Fortunately, there are still some parts of Europe where you can ensure your bank balance can stay in the pink as you drink.
I’ve been visiting vineyards and tasting wines as a journalist for more than 15 years and even hiked the famous ‘Hollywood Hill’ Hermitage.
My experience of studying with the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) – one of the world’s most revered wine qualification providers – has allowed me to travel the wine world virtually, too.
Now undertaking the highest tier qualification, the WSET Diploma, I immerse myself in a different grape region every day. So it’s safe to say I know a where to find some of the biggest bargains around the world.
So whether you’re looking to let your hair down with friends or just want to feel your shoulders soften after a hectic summer with the rugrats, here are my go-tos for an affordable getaway woven with wine…
Athens, Greece
The capital of Greece plays host to some of the world’s best bars where you’ll be lucky to get change from a 20 euro note for a single drink.
Yet this doesn’t mean there are no bargains to be found in the city.
In the Plaka area, at the foot of the Acropolis Hill, regular happy hours promise glasses of wine for as little as €2 (£1.71).
These are typically malagousia (white) or agiorgitiko (red) wines – they’re not the very best Greece has to offer, but they’re chalice sized, drinkable, and a good choice for a laid back early evening drink with friends.
Cheap eats in Athens take the form of souvlaki – skewers of spit roasted chicken or pork served in pillowy pitta with chips.
At Souvlaki Livadia, close to the Omonia metro stop, skewers are just a few euros including free bread.
For an affordable place to stay, Hotel Marina Center, a 25-minute walk from the Acropolis, has rooms from €51 (£44).
Lourmarin, France
An hour on a bus from pricier Aix en Provence, the hilltop town of Lourmarin is officially recognised as one of France’s prettiest villages.
Its centre is all limestone buildings with wooden window shutters, crooked cobbled lanes, and overflowing hanging baskets.
And the town is as easy on the wallet as it is on the eye, especially when it comes to wine.
Tucked inside a cave beneath Lourmarin’s 15th century castle, Le Caves du Château offers tasting sessions of six wines for €15 (£12.84) which works out to just over £2 a glass.
The pours are generous and – if the owner takes a liking to you – you might even get an extra taste for free.
Visit on a Friday to take advantage of the market that floods Lourmarin centre every week. Colourful food stalls are leaden with dry-cured meats, cheeses, and breads, which you can put together as a picnic lunch for less than a tenner.
When it comes to shut-eye, meanwhile, Ò Mamma Mia has rooms from €75 (£64) a night.
Top wine tip: Depending on the day, you’ll get to sample blends made from juicy syrahs, spicy grenaches and rare serine grapes with dark cherry and berry flavours.
Porto, Portugal
The trick to getting a bargain wine in Porto, in northwest Portugal, is to seek out the street sellers.
Pop up stalls regularly set up in locations like Jardin Morro and along the banks of the Douro in the Vila Nova de Gaia area, selling glasses of Portugal’s signature vino verde wine for €3 (£2.57) and three shots of port for €5 (£4.28).
If you want to combine sightseeing with sipping, the Pink Palace is a real giggle.
Entrance to this rosé themed attraction is €25 (£21), but the price includes five samples of rosé wine, and there are dozens of interactive exhibits to discover – including a giant pink ball pool.
One of the cheapest things to eat in Porto is a classic francesinha – a multi decker, gravy-slicked sandwich. Each one will set you back about a tenner but is so big, you won’t need to eat for the rest of the trip.
On the accommodation front, there are plenty of affordable places to stay in Porto, from hostels with private rooms like Being Porto to B&Bs and apartments.
Centrally based Lusitana Hotel, for example, has doubles from €60 (£52) a night.
Bratislava, Slovakia
In the cobbled Old Town of the capital of Slovakia, the Slovak National Collection of Wines gives you 100 minutes to taste 80 wines for €40 (£34) which works out at 43p a sample if you can somehow manage them all.
To work up a thirst first, make the uphill walk to Bratislava Castle before returning to the Old Town to make a wish on the bronze Čumil statue, which emerges from a drain cover amongst the cobbles.
If you want more wine later, Grand Cru is the best wine bar in the city.
You won’t find wine for 50 cents a glass here, but you’ll get to taste gems like peachy devín and a grape called palava, all under the expert guidance of owner Martin.
For a place to crash out afterwards, We Stay has apartments in a restored 17th century Old Town building from €64 (£55) a night.
Top wine tip: You’ll taste your way through some better-known grape varieties like chardonnay and some that may be new to you such as peppery blaufränkisch and dunaj, bursting with red fruit.
Bari, Italy
Perched at the top of Italy’s stiletto heel, Bari is an fun port town where both life and prices remain largely unchanged by mass tourism.
Within the spaghetti streets of the Old Town, restaurants advertise offers like Antica Salumeria Di Lapesara’s two glasses of local wine and three cheeses for just €10 (£8.50).
It’s easy to find bargain bites in Bari, too.
The city is teeming with places that serve panzerotto (a type of pasty) or pucce (filled bread rolls) for as little as €2 a portion.
If you’re self-catering, pop to Strada Arco Basso. Known as ‘the street of the nonnas’, it’s an alleyway where local matriarchs make and sell fresh orecchiette pasta every day – you can pick up a bag for just €2.50.
For a wallet-friendly place to stay, Arvian B&B near the Old Town has rooms from €115 (£98) a night.
Top wine tip: In this part of the world, you can expect local grape varieties like verdeca and fiano (white) and aglianico and primitivo (red).
Kos, Greece
The birthplace of Hippocrates, or the ‘Father of Medicine’, Kos offers wines that are its own kind of medicine.
A 15-minute Uber ride from the centre of Kos Town, there’s a cluster of vineyards the serve affordable wine flights.
At family-run Hatziemmanouil, where the tasting terrace is topped with wine barrel tables in view of the vines, you can taste eight wines for €20 (£17) and the price includes a small board of cured meat, cheeses, breads, and tomatoes.
A short walk away, Ktima Akrani is a little pricier – with four wines costing €15 (£12.84) – but offers a tasting terrace that is all plump sofas, rattan, and wood, so it’s worth the extra pennies if you want a touch of lux.
To bed down, Bristol Sea View Hotel has apartment rooms from €94.50 (£81) a night.
Top wine tip: Count on tasting syrahs, grenaches, and one of Greece’s flagship grapes, citrussy assyrtiko.
Béziers, France
This castle crowned hilltop city in southern France is surrounded by the Languedoc wine region, so it’s a great spot for a bargain drink.
If you’ve hired a car, you can also motor out into the vineyards of Fos.
Here, wineries like Domaine Ollier Taillefer offer tastings like six wines for just €10 (£8.50) and if you buy a bottle or two to take home, they sometimes waiver that cost.
The wines aren’t too badly priced at Béziers market, either – wine bar Jaja (a slang word for table wine) serves glasses from €4 (£3.50).
If you’re trying to save your cash just try not to be tempted by the croque truffle, which sells for nearly forty quid a metre at a stall across the street.
Or on the edge of the Old Town, Maison Carne serves wine by the centilitre, where you’re left in charge of the pour.
You’re only charged for the centilitres you drink and the rest is taken away at the end of your experience.
For a cheap place to stay, Hotel Paul Riquet, a five-minute walk from the Old Town, has rooms from €42 (£36) a night.
Top wine tip: The area is best known for its syrah, grenache, carignan and chardonnay wines.
Bilbao, Spain
Once you’ve ticked off Bilbao’s gargantuan Guggenheim art museum and ridden the funicular up Mount Artxanda for panoramic views of the city, it’s txakoli time.
This light, slightly sparkling wine is Bilbao’s signature drink, and it’s served in bars all over the city, for a few euros a glass.
Plaza Nueva in the Old Town is the best place for a txakoli crawl. All four sides of this suntrap square are lined with bars, with al fresco seating areas.
As well as serving wine, these joints serve pintxos – northern Spain’s equivalent of tapas, but typically served on cocktail sticks rather than in bowls or on plates.
Sold for €2 to €3 a portion, options include stuffed mushrooms, cured ham on mini baguettes, tortilla, and gilda (olives, anchovies, and pepper on a stick), and three to four can make a decent substitute for lunch. Favourite haunts include Café Bilbao and Taberna Ona.
To sleep it all off, Casual Mardones Bilbao has rooms in the Old Town from £92.45 a night.
Ohrid, North Macedonia
This red-roofed town on the banks of Lake Ohrid is dubbed North Macedonia’s Lake Como, although the cost of living in the two locations is incomparable.
Of course, prices are a little higher in the city’s bars and restaurants, but they’re still pocket friendly.
Near the lively Old Bazaar area, places like Star Cinar sell local wines for a few euros.
The food here is affordable, too. Share a platter of five dips and bread for £4 or tuck into a mućkalica (smoky stew) for less than £5.
For more choice, head to Winery Mal Sv. Kliment in the Old Town, where you can sample wines made from local grapes like ohridsko crno and pamid for less than €5 (£4.20) a glass in a cool, stone walled, tasting room.
One of the cheapest ways to stay in Ohrid is to book a private villa.
Dozens of options, like Villa Malezan and Villa Dvor, can be booked for less than £50 a night.
Dolenjska, Slovenia
A 50-minute drive or one hour 45-minute bus journey from Slovenian capital Ljubljana, Dolenjska is the land of Cviček – a light, fruity, lower alcohol, traditional red wine that’s so loved by locals it has its own wine princess.
This part of Slovenia is ideal for a girls’ escape.
Dozens of stone vineyard outbuildings have been converted into cottages with facilities like wine barrel hot tubs and saunas.
Many of them, including Matjaz’s Homestead, offer wine blending experiences which let you blend your own bottle of Cviček wine in the cellars – for just €5 (£4.28) a bottle.
Stays in Dolenjska’s vineyard cottages can be booked for as little as €100 (£85) for four people.