Best and worst city break providers

There are hundreds of companies that will put together a city break package for you, but there’s only one that’s been awarded Which? Recommended Provider (WRP) status, and, amazingly, it’s the UK’s biggest tour operator. 

Jet2holidays is now even bigger than long-established holiday giant Tui, taking more than six million people away each year. But despite this rapid expansion, and the fact that its holidays are relatively cheap (£104pp/day on average), it’s still one of the top rated providers of city breaks in our survey of more than 8,000 holidaymakers. 

Not only does it combine great city-centre hotels with top-rated flights (including 22kg of luggage), but it also offers consistently great customer service. Its European city breaks are available in 30 destinations.

If you’re looking for further-flung city breaks, Trailfinders and Virgin Holidays matched Jet2’s excellent 81% customer score. However, neither made the grade as a WRP in these tough times; Trailfinders because of its average three-star value for money rating (it’s the priciest long-haul provider in our table), and Virgin because it refused to commit to not increasing the price of your holiday after you have booked.

Steer clear of the cheap city break providers at the bottom of our table. Nearly a quarter of holidaymakers told us they’d experienced a problem on their recent break with Lastminute.com. And eDreams customers complained that it was very difficult to get through to anyone on the phone when they tried to contact customer services.

You can compare customer scores and prices in the table below and, for extra peace of mind, all the companies awarded Which? Recommended Provider (WRP) status guarantee that they will not apply surcharges in 2024 – so the price won't go up after you book. 

For more independent travel advice and recommendations, subscribe to Which? Travel

Best and worst city break holiday providers

Why city break packages are best

It’s tempting to book flights when you see a great deal to a city that’s on your bucket list and then worry about the hotel later. You might even get a better price doing it this way. But what you won’t get is the legal and financial protection that a city break package offers.

Package holiday protection kicks in if you bought your flights and another part of your holiday, such as accommodation, from a single company, with one payment. You’re then financially protected, under Atol, if your provider goes bust. And if your holiday proves to be a let down, or if things go wrong, your protected under the Package Travel Regulations. 

All of the providers in the table above sell Atol protected packages.

Find out more: What is a package holiday and why should you book one? 

Which city break holiday companies does Which? recommended?

Jet2 City Breaks – 81%

Jet2holidays has gone from strength to strength, and despite growing to be the UK’s biggest package tour operator, it has maintained a personal touch. 

Customers were impressed with its city breaks brand, Jet2 City Breaks, which includes 22kg of luggage at no extra cost and provided great customer service.

And crucially, you’ll fly with Jet2, our top-scoring airline - also a WRP - one of only two airlines to be rated five stars for customer service.

Which? verdict: The only Which? Recommended Provider for city breaks in our survey, Jet2CityBreaks shines with five-star customer service at a very reasonable price.

Read the full Jet2 City Breaks review or visit Jet2 City Breaks directly.

The biggest city break providers

British airways city breaks 79%

You know what you’re getting with a BA city break. It received a five-star rating in the description matching reality category, and was one of the top-five city break providers in our survey.

The problem with a BA city break is that you have to fly with BA, a thoroughly mediocre airline that gets just two stars for value for money and was responsible for thousands of cancellations last year (see our ratings of the Best and worst airlines)

Which? Verdict: Well-rated city breaks that are worth a look, but Jet2 city breaks are better, according to our survey.

Read the full British Airways city breaks review or visit British Airways city breaks directly.

Tui city breaks 78%

There’s nothing wrong with Tui’s city breaks. It gets five stars for ‘description matching reality’ which means that the breaks met holidaymakers’ expectations. It’s just that there are better operators out there that cost the same price or less.

Which? verdict: For the same rate (£104pp per day), you can nab a short-haul city break on a better airline, with a better-rated provider - Jet2 city breaks.

Read the full Tui city breaks review  or visit Tui city breaks directly.

EasyJet city breaks 75%

EasyJet city breaks are affordable. At an average cost of just £86pp, per day, according to our survey, they are almost on a par with the bargain basement prices of Lastminute.com. 

However, its customer service received an average three star rating and holidaymakers found their experiences a bit hit and miss. 

Which? Verdict: There are cheaper and better-rated companies in our table of city break providers. 

Read the full easyJet city breaks review or visit easyJet city breaks directly

Cheap city breaks 

You would expect top-rated city breaks to come at a premium. In fact, for breaks within Europe, the only Which? Recommended Provider, Jet2 city breaks, is towards the lower end of the scale, at just £104pp per day.  

For budget options that don’t compromise too much on quality, it’s also worth trying high street travel agent, Hays Travel, one of the best tour operators for beach holidays, and not too shabby for city breaks either.  It charges just £98pp per day on average, according to our survey of 8,000+ holidaymakers. 

Travel Republic is even cheaper, at just £89pp per day on average, despite receiving the same respectable customer score as Hays - 79%. 

How we researched holiday companies

In August 2022, we asked 8,361 Which? Connect panel members and the public to complete an online survey about their experiences of booking and going on holiday in the past two years. We only reported on companies when we received at least 30 responses.