While researching new listings for the upcoming EuropeanHostels.com relaunch, we found our jaws dropping at the concentration of cheap hotels in several cities in Eastern Europe. Here, a brief digest of three cities particularly well suited to cheap sleepers.

Exhibit A: Budapest, which is just about neck and neck with Amsterdam in terms of cheap hotel numbers. We’ve identified 150 cheap sleeps in the Hungarian capital with nightly rates between €6 and €75. Perhaps it’s the city’s steamy baths that are fueling the demand for cheap beds. Whatever the explanation, it’s a budget traveler’s town, and it’s also a cheap city to reach from within Europe. We found some one-way fares on Wizzair from Frankfurt Hahn for fares as low as €33, including taxes and fees.

Dubrovnik, Croatia’s Dalmatian jewel, boasts 60 hostels and hotels with rates between €10 and €45. With rates like these, you should have plenty of dough left over to try Croatian specialities like girice and kamenice. Low-fare carriers flying to Dubrovnik include SkyEurope, Germanwings, Norwegian Air Shuttle, clickair, and flybe.

Sofia, the Bulgarian capital, clocked in with about 40 budget accommodations, which puts it in the same league as Vienna and Frankfurt. Rates at these 40 hotels fall between €7 (!) and €65 throughout the spring, when you can stroll down the shop-lined bulevard Vitosha and rest your feet (and wallet) in Yuzhen Park. Low-fare airlines flying to Sofia include SkyEurope, Wizz Air, Germanwings, and MyAir.

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