If you're planning a city break and budgeting for metro tickets, a new Greenpeace study makes useful reading. It compared long-term public transport tickets across the capitals of the 27 EU countries plus the UK, Switzerland and Norway, looking at price, what the passes cover, discounts for vulnerable groups, and VAT.

The headline figure: London has the most expensive monthly ticket in Europe at €162. Amsterdam comes second at €107, with Paris third at €77 – three cities that are already famously expensive for visitors. So if you're heading to any of them for a week or more, transport costs deserve a line in your budget.

Prices are also climbing fast. Since 2023, fares rose in 14 of the 30 capitals studied. Nicosia saw the sharpest jump at 67%, followed by Amsterdam (55%), Madrid (50%) and Bratislava (32%). Berlin and Vienna weren't far behind at 29% and 26%, while Copenhagen, Bucharest, Vilnius, Brussels and London all went up at least 10%. One reason fares stay stubbornly high: EU tickets carry an average of 11% VAT, and seven countries have raised that rate since 2023.

But it's not uniformly grim. Four capitals got cheaper. Dublin cut long-term fares by 42.5%, the biggest fall anywhere in the study, with Oslo down 11.5%, Bern down 6.6% and Budapest down 5.8%. Twelve more cities held prices flat.

The broader picture: only eight of 30 European countries offer free public transport or genuinely affordable universal long-term tickets, though Spain and Slovenia have both introduced some form of national ticket since 2023. Luxembourg, Malta and Slovenia score best on that front, while Finland, Greece and Norway rank worst for affordability and slap above-average VAT on fares.

For the overall package – availability, affordability and inclusivity of long-term passes – Tallinn, Luxembourg City and Valletta share first place, followed by Prague, Rome and Athens, with Sofia and Vienna rounding out the top eight.

Why does this matter if you're a tourist buying single or day tickets rather than a monthly pass? Because a city's pricing philosophy usually trickles down. Tallinn has famously run free public transport for residents for years, and its overall affordability culture makes it easy to get around cheaply as a visitor. Prague, Rome and Athens pair excellent value passes with genuinely walkable historic centres. Meanwhile, in London, Amsterdam or Paris, a transport-heavy itinerary adds up quickly – worth weighing against cities where hopping on a tram costs next to nothing.

Greenpeace's pitch is for governments to adopt affordable 'climate tickets' to cut emissions and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Whether that happens is a political question, but for now, the takeaway for travellers is simple: if getting around cheaply is a priority for your next European city break, Tallinn, Valletta, Luxembourg City, Prague, Athens or Sofia will stretch your budget much further than London, Amsterdam or Paris.