According to HRS, the Hotel Portal’s Eastern European Hotel Price Radar, Eastern Europe’s capitals are attracting increasing numbers of tourists and although prices in some major cities have increased compared with last year, trips to capitals from Baku to Warsaw continue to be relatively cheap.

With an average room rate of approximately £54, Riga, Vilnius and Tallinn continue to be attractive budget options for travellers given the varied architecture and colourful nightlife on offer.

Russian capital Moscow remains unchallenged at the top of the price ranking with an average room rate of nearly £138. This is a good deal more expensive than the second most expensive capital city, Baku in Azerbaijan, the venue for the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest, with an average rate of £101.

In the middle of the price range sit two favourite city break destinations: Prague and Budapest. In these popular cities, travellers can expect to pay a reasonable £63 per night.

The most marked price increase compared with May 2010 was Warsaw. The Polish capital saw an increase in average room rates of 19% with prices levelling off at £79 per night. The Slovenian capital Ljubljana and the Slovakian capital Bratislava also averaged considerable dearer than last year and the room rate in Tallin rose by around 15% to £60.

However, prices in Baku and Belgrade fell. For a city break in Serbian capital Belgrade, tourists can expect to pay almost 10 percent less than early summer 2010. This city, at the confluence of the Danube and the Sava is currently charging an average room rate of around £74 per night.