Consider flights to rural airports as entry points to some of Europe’s less-visited cities rather than as a nuisance.

Budget airline customers frequently view their arrival at a local airport and the subsequent flight to their ultimate destination as the price they must pay to obtain a cheap ticket.

If you take a budget airline to Paris, you will probably arrive at Beauvais-Tillé Airport, which is located about 85 kilometers northwest of the city.

If Milan is your target, you may arrive at Orio al Serio International Airport, which is located nearer Bergamo than Italy’s famous fashion district.

Consider this an opportunity to explore some of the lesser-known cities in Europe rather than a drawback.

Explore the allure of Treviso, Italy, where prosecco is freely flowing and canals meander around the city. Although the nearest airport to Venice, Marco Polo, is primarily served by low-cost carriers, you can probably find more reasonably priced tickets to Venice Treviso Airport.

If you decide to go directly to Venice, be prepared for a bus ride that will take more than an hour. However, Treviso’s lovely downtown is only a short 10-minute bus trip away.

Treviso has its own canals, shaded by overhanging trees and bordered by noble homes. Townhouses with lovingly faded frescoes line the center cobblestone alleyways, and the 13th-century Palazzo dei Trecento stands majestically in the Piazza dei Signori.

The sophisticated pubs of the city are ideal for an aperitivo of local sparkling wine before dinner, as it’s only a half-hour drive from the renowned prosecco-making hills of Conegliano.

Discover the magnificence of the Middle Ages in Girona, Spain. Girona-Costa Brava Airport is the second closest to Barcelona, a popular tourist destination, but it’s still a hundred kilometers distant.

As its name suggests, the airport is located considerably closer to Girona, which is only a short 16-minute bus trip away.

History buffs will find the ancient center of Girona, with its massive military fortification remnants, winding Jewish Quarter, and majestic cathedral made of pale stone, to be a veritable gold mine.

According to price comparison website Numbeo, Girona provides gourmets with rich tomato-based fish stews and garlicky chicken and prawn dishes at rates that are about 25% less than in Barcelona.

Set off on an academic adventure in Cambridge, UK, where travel to the capital might be challenging even with the abundance of airports in London. Even though Stansted Airport tickets are usually the cheapest, visitors must endure a 50-minute bus or rail ride into the city.

But you can travel to the historic city of Cambridge, known for its centuries-old university, in just thirty minutes by rail.

See the opulent chapel at King’s College, which was built under the sponsorship of five separate English kings, for an example of magnificent architecture. Cambridge embodies beautiful beauty and rural appeal with its parks and riverbank banks. Bicyclists throng its cobblestone streets, and quaint cafes may be found around every corner.

Walking around Cambridge exposes medieval-era university institutions with neo-classical colonnades, Gothic spires, and rococo archways.

Admire architectural wonders at Beauvais, France, where the airport, Beauvais-Tillé (marketed as Paris-Beauvais for commercial purposes) is located more than an hour’s drive from the country’s capital.

However, you can get to the center of Beauvais in just 15 minutes by bus. Beauvais has a rich cultural history even though it is smaller than Paris.

The main draw is its opulent Gothic Cathedrale Saint-Pierre, which has the largest vault in the world and towering towers.

A 19th-century astronomical clock inside the cathedral shows the locations of the planets in the solar system as well as the time in eighteen cities across the globe.

The Musée de l’Oise, which was once the bishops of Beauvais’ episcopal palace, is filled with antiquated ceramics, relics from archaeology, marble statues, and paintings from the 19th and 20th centuries that evoke a sense of a fantasy.