The Cheapest European Cities to Fly To from the US

The gateways that price lowest from US cities, and how to reach the expensive capitals through them.

By WarBird Flight editors · Updated September 19, 2026 · 2 min read

The usual cheapest

Dublin, Lisbon, Madrid, Barcelona, Reykjavik, and Copenhagen tend to post the lowest transatlantic fares. London, Paris, Rome, and Amsterdam cost more except during sales, although London's sheer number of flights keeps it competitive from the Northeast.

Why

Aer Lingus, TAP, Iberia, Icelandair, and Norse compete hard on their home gateways, and the US carriers match them. The capitals carry more business demand and price accordingly.

Reach the rest

A cheap gateway plus a short-haul flight or a train often beats a direct fare to a pricier city. Open-jaw tickets, into one city and out of another, cost about the same as a round trip.

Two ways to book the gateway trick

Flying into a cheap gateway and continuing on is either one ticket or two, and the difference matters. A single ticket that a US or partner carrier ties together protects your bags and rebooks you if the first leg is late. A separately booked intra-Europe flight on a low-cost carrier can be dramatically cheaper, but you re-check bags, clear passport control at the gateway, and eat any misconnection yourself — so leave three to four hours, not one. A train onward from the gateway is often the calmest option: no bag limits, city-center to city-center, and no second security line. Price all three before deciding the headline gateway fare is the real cost.

One through-ticket — safest, bags protected, rebooked if late
Separate low-cost hop — cheapest, but self-transfer, leave 3-4 hours
Onward train — no bag fees, city-center arrival, no misconnection risk

Watch the checked-bag rules on the cheap fares

The gateway carriers that price lowest — the low-cost transatlantic operators especially — often sell a base fare with no checked bag and sometimes no free carry-on, which is a poor fit for a two-week Europe trip. The saving can evaporate once you add a bag each way, and a low-cost intra-Europe hop layered on top has its own, stricter bag limits and higher fees. Compare the all-in price with the bags you will actually carry, not the teaser fare. An agent can lay the fare classes side by side so the bag cost is visible before you commit.