And if you’re not careful, you could spend a fortune before the time it takes to listen to Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21.

For a trip down the less-touristy path, follow our tips on the best cheap (and free) activities in this stately city in Austria.

Cheap and free things to do in Salzburg

Toy Museum

Bürgerspitalgasse 2
Tel.: +43-662-62 08 08-300
Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday
Admission: €5

To every city’s expensive modern art museum, there is a cheaper, quirkier collection to check out. Enter Salzburg’s Spielzeugmuseum (Toy Museum), home to Austria’s largest collection of European toys. If you’re a die-hard toy train fan, you’ll find plenty to feast your eyes on; if not, the inoffensive €3 admission is worth it for a chuckle.

If you have children in tow, make sure to stop for one of the Punch and Judy shows, offered every Tuesday and Wednesday at 3 p.m. Check the museum’s Web site for a complete list of children’s programs.

Schloss Mirabell

Mirabellplatz 4
Tel.: +43-662-80722334
Hours: 8 a.m.-6 p.m
Admission: Free

One of Salzburg most photographed attractions is also free to visit! Schloss Mirabell is as elegant as can be, with marble statues, grand hallways and perfectly manicured gardens stretching in all directions. The palace was built under Prince Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau as a present for his concubine Salome Alt.

Nowadays, Schloss Mirabell is best known for being a coveted place to tie the knot; couples must reserve their weddings here at least a year in advance. The palace also offers a concert series, though attending a performance is not free.

Museum of Historical Musical Instruments

Bürgerspitalgasse 2
Tel.: +43-662-62 08 08-300
Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday
Admission: €5 (or free with admission to the Toy Museum)

If you visit the Toy Museum, your ticket is also valid for admission to the Museum of Historic Musical Instruments. If the centuries-old pianos start giving you déjà vus of the exhibit at Mozart’s House, check out the collection of audio samples demonstrating the ancient instruments’ sounds.

The organ in St. Peter’s Church. JNH53

St. Peter’s Church and Catacombs

Sankt Peter Bezirk 1
Tel.: +43 -662-844576
Hours: Open daily from 8 a.m.-12 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.
Admission: Free (€1 to visit the Catacombs)

The self-proclaimed “oldest cloister in the German-speaking world,” St. Peter’s Church dates back to 696. (The church also boasts the oldest library in Austria.) Visiting the church is free, so stop by to admire the Baroque-style ceilings or to catch a performance on the church’s organ.

Outside, St. Peter’s Cemetery houses centuries-old tombstones. For €1, visitors can access the Christian catacombs in the cliff face above the cemetery.

Hangar-7

Salzburg Airport
Wilhelm-Spazier-Str. 7A
Tel.:+43-6620-2197
Hours: Open daily from 9 a.m.-10 p.m.
Admission: Free

Located near the Salzburg airport, Hangar-7 is a restaurant and bar complex that also houses “The Flying Bulls” aircraft. While the aircraft exhibit — complete with large Red Bull logos stenciled on each plane’s side — smacks of sponsorship, Hangar-7 does showcase some interesting work from a variety of international artists. Though Hangar-7’s dining options come with a hefty price tag, stopping by to gaze at the art (and marvel at the super-modern building) is completely free.

The post Salzburg: Our favorite free (and cheap) things to do appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Related: 12 Simple ways to save big on your trip to Berlin

That said, there are still plenty of free or relatively cheap museums in Berlin. We’ve put together a list below, and included some additional tips for how to get more cultural bang for your buck.

Free museums

Nearly 50 museums and historical sights in Berlin do not charge an entry fee. Here are some of the highlights.

Allied Museum
Housed in the Outpost Theatre, a former movie theater for American soldiers in the heart of the former American sector, the Allierten Museum (Allied Museum) traces the history of Allied forces in Berlin from 1945 to 1989. (Address: Clayallee 135)

The Berlin Wall Memorial is a powerful experience. Photo: Craig Nelson

Berlin Wall Memorial
Located on Bernauer Strasse in Berlin’s Mitte district, the Berliner Mauer Gedenkstätte (Berlin Wall Memorial) has preserved a section of the wall to offer a historical glimpse at Berlin’s divided past. (Address: Bernauer Straße 111)

Daimler Art Collection
Daimler’s contemporary art collection presents works across a wide spectrum of major 20th-century art movements up to the present. (Address: Alte Potsdamer Straße 5)

District Museums
Each Berlin district also has its own admission-free museum tracing the neighborhood’s history and development. Some examples include the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg Museum (Address:Adalbertstraße 95A), the Wilmersdorf-Charlottenburg Museum (Address:Schloßstraße 55) and the Mitte Museum (Address: Pankstr. 47).

Holocaust Memorial
You’ll be amazed how disorienting and moving it is wandering through the concrete pillars erected on uneven terrain in the beautifully haunting Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. (Address: Cora-Berliner-Straße 1)

Knoblauchhaus
Erected in 1760, this house lets the visitor delve into the world of the Biedermeier period by exploring the original furnishing and objects owned by the Knoblauch family. (Address: Poststraße 23)

Topography of Terror
This museum, located at the former SS headquarters, documents Nazi institutions of terror during this dark chapter of Germany’s history. (Address: Niederkirchnerstraße 8)

Tränenpalast
Until 1990, this building located at Berlin’s Friedrichstrasse station was the departure hall for border crossing from the GDR to West Berlin. The scene of many heartbreaking goodbyes between Germans from the West and those from the former East, Berliners soon aptly dubbed the place “Tränenpalast” (Palace of Tears). (Address: Reichstagufer 17)

Museums under €10

Here’s a list of museums in Berlin with tickets for under €10 and also offering free admission to those 18 and under.

Berlinishe Galerie
A Museum of modern art, photography and architecture, Berlinische Galerie presents art from Berlin from 1870 to the present day. Adult admissions: €7 (Address: Alte Jakobstraße 124–128)

Märkisches Museum
Take a stroll through Berlin’s history in the permanent collection of Berlin’s city museum. Adult admission: €5 (Address: Am Köllnischen Park 5)

Mies van der Rohe Haus
Located far off the tourist beat in a residential neighborhood in Berlin’s Hohenschönhausen district, this house was designed by the famous Bauhaus architect Mies van der Rohe. Adult admission: €5 (Address: Oberseestraße 60)

Museum für Kommunikation
The Museum für Kommunikation (Communication Museum) is worth a visit for the three robots in the atrium alone. Adult admission: €4, free admission for children 17 and under (Address: Leipziger Straße 16)

Museumsdorf Düppel
This open air museum is a reconstructed medieval village where you can briefly live like its 1259.  Adult admission: €3 (Address: Clauertstraße 11)

Museums entry packages

If you’re a true culture nut and plan to hit Berlin’s museums in a major way, you can also save on admission fees by purchasing a Berlin Museum Pass, which grants free admission to 50 museums and exhibitions over three consecutive days.

The three-day pass costs €24 for adults and €12 for students. If you’re not quite that ambitious, you can also purchase other passes for a shorter period of time, such as the one-day pass for Museum Island.

Related: Which museum pass in Berlin makes the most sense for your trip?

The post Berlin: 15 Free and affordable museums under €10 appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Whenever people visit Venice,  they often visit the city’s best known museums, including the Doge’s Palace, the Galleria dell’Accademia, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and the Palazzo Grassi. However, because of their popularity, these museums are often very crowded and have long lines that can fatigue even the most tireless Cheapo.

If you want to explore some museums off the beaten path, check out the following recommendations. These lesser-known museums are generally not as crowded as their better known counterparts, meaning you will be able to enjoy the history and beauty of Venice in a much calmer and relaxing way.

Museo Storico Navale (Naval History Museum)
Riva S. Biasio Castello (Vaporetto Stop: Arsenale)
Tel.: +39 (0)41 2441 399
Hours: 8:45 a.m to 1:30 p.m. (Monday to Friday), 8:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Saturday)
Admission: €1.55 (free for school groups)
Web site

Situated in Campo San Biagio, the Naval History Museum was founded in 1919. The building used to be an old grain warehouse, though at the end of the 17th century, Austrian-ruled Venice decided to use the building to archive ship models from the Arsenale (Venice’s state-owned shipyard).

Together with some adjacent buildings, the museum holds a very large collection of models, original plans, original ships (including some historic gondolas) and much more. A visit to the museum will provide you with a good history of Venice and her powerful naval fleet.

Museo Di Arte Orientale (Oriental Art Museum)
Santa Croce n. 2076 (Vaporetto Stop: San Stae)
Tel.: +39 (0)41 520 0345
Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Tuesday to Sunday)
Admission: €5.50 (adult), €3.00 (reduced)
Web site

The Oriental Art Museum is situated in the ancient palace of Ca’ Pesaro, which also houses the Modern Art Museum. This museum hosts one of the most important collections of Japanese art of the Edo period.

Outside the Museo Fortuny. Photo by gwenflickr.

The collection was a gift from Prince Henry of Bourbon, who traveled throughout Asia in the late 19th century. The museum holds more than 30,000 artifacts, from swords and daggers to a wide selection of Indonesian and Chinese art.

Museo di Storia Naturale (Natural History Museum)
Santa Croce 1730 (Vaporetto Stop: Riva di Biasio)
Tel.: +39 (0)41 275 0206
Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Wednesday), 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Saturday and Sunday)
Admission: €4.50 (adult), €3 (reduced)
Web site

Housed in the Fontego dei Turchi, a 13th-century palace and former warehouse used by Turkish merchants in the 1600s, the Museum of Natural History is one of the most interesting spots on the Grand Canal.

The second floor of the ancient palace is home to the museum, which was recently completely refurbished and re-opened in March, 2010. The collection includes plenty of fossils, along with exhibits on the Venetian lagoon and Giancarlo Ligabue, a Venetian paleontologist who discovered several dinosaur fossils in 1973.

Museo Fortuny
San Marco 3958 (Vaporetto stop: Sant’ Angelo or San Samuele)
Tel.: +39 (0)41 520 0995
Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (daily except for Tuesday)
Admission: €9 (adult), €6 (reduced)
Web site

This ancient Gothic palace houses the collection of Mariano Fortuny, a Spanish fashion designer who lived in Venice. The collection includes preserved structures, textiles, tapestry, art collections, precious fabrics and Fortuny’s famous lampshades.

The post Venice: Lesser-known museums worth visiting appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

For those of you who want to go off the beaten path, let me suggest four especially eclectic museums:

1. Deutsch-Russisches Museum (German-Russian Museum)
Zwieseler Straße 4
Tel.: +49 (0)30 50 15 08 52
Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Tuesday to Sunday)
Free entry
Web site

This historical collection on the eastern edge of the city is well worth the S-Bahn ride. Housed in a former Nazi officers’ school where the Wehrmacht officially surrendered to the Soviets, the museum offers a fascinating overview of German-Soviet relations spanning from 1917 to 1990.

You’ll see a whole lot of propaganda, odd uniforms, in-depth documentaries and even WWII Soviet tanks. Before the fall of the Wall, the museum was exclusively open to members of the Soviet Army. Today, anyone can visit, free of charge.

2. Jugend Museum (Young People’s Museum)
Hauptstraße 40-42
Tel.: +49 (0)30 90277 61 63
Hours: 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. (Wednesday and Thursday), 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. (Saturday and Sunday)
Free entry
Web site

While the Jugend Museum aims to educate young Berliners about the city’s diversity, the real treasures are found in the basement. Don’t be put off by the musky smell and charge forth past the human skeleton on display. Immerse yourself in the German tradition of Wunderkammern, or cabinets of curiosities.

Part ethnography, part zoology and part freak show, the 27 haphazardly curated cabinets feature anything and everything collected from the neighborhood—from centuries-old ceramics to a 1920’s toilet. It’s a fantastic little place to learn about Berlin’s present and past. (Full disclosure: The author used to work here.)

3. Abguss-Sammlung Antiker Plastik Berlin (The Ancient Sculpture Plaster Collection)
Schlossstraße 69 b
Tel.: +49 (0)30 33 77 83 32
Hours: 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. (Thursday to Sunday)
Free entry
Web site

Yes, it’s far from the city center; yes, it’s open only three hours a day, three days a week. But come on. It’s a roomful of plaster replicas of famous sculptures. Imagine all the hilarious photo ops. Enough said.

4. Buchstaben Museum (Museum of Letters)
Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 13
Berlin Carré, 2nd floor
Tel.: +49 (0)177 420 15 87
Hours: 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. (Thursday to Saturday)
Entry: €2.50
Web site

Dedicated to the world of typography, the Museum of Letters collects interesting store signs and stacks them from floor to ceiling. While they continue to search for a permanent space, the friendly curators (who are always up for a nice chat) open the crammed temporary showroom to public from Thursday to Saturday, two hours each day. You’re bound to discover something beautiful in the collection, even if it takes quite a bit of shuffling and restacking.

The post Berlin: 4 quirky—and mostly free—museums appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Here are a few museum discounts I’ve come across (or have already taken advantage of), followed by some additional Prague art museum and gallery cost-saving tips.

National Gallery (reduced every afternoon)
Various locations (see Web site)
Tel.: +420 224 301 024
Getting there: Malostranska metro stop
Hours: 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. (daily except Monday)
Admission: 80-150 CZK (adult), 40-80 CZK (reduced), free (first Wednesday of the month, 3 p.m.-8 p.m.)
Web site

Comprised of not just one gallery but rather of several, Prague’s National Gallery offers collections from the old masters, along with 19th-century, modern and contemporary art. Housed in some of the city’s most beautiful and historic buildings (works of art in themselves), the galleries offer a reduced price fare for the last two hours of every day (4 p.m. to 6 p.m.) as well as free admissions from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. every first Wednesday of the month.

Among its offerings, the Sternberg Palace—a Baroque landmark—displays European Art from the classic through the Baroque era. Veletržní Palace, the seat of the National Gallery, houses four floors of 19th- to 21st-century European and Czech art. The House of the Black Madonna, designed by Josef Gocár, is one of Prague’s finest examples of cubist architecture and home to the Museum of Czech Cubism.

Prague Castle Picture Gallery (free Monday afternoon)
119 08 Prague 1
Tel.: + 420 224 373 531
Getting there: Malostranska (line A). Then tram 22 or 23 to Prazsky Hrad.
Hours: 9 a.m.-6 p.m. (summer), 9 a.m.-4 p.m. (winter)
Admission: 150 CZK (adult), 80 CZK (reduced), free (Monday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. during the summer)
Web site

Offering free admission every Monday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., the Prague Castle Picture Gallery features approximately 100 paintings that were part of the personal collection of Emperor Rudolph II. The roots of the collection go back to the 16th century and include works by Rubens, Titian and Codazzi. It’s a small but sweet collection that’s well worth seeing, and it provides another opportunity to see the famous Prague Castle.

Museum of Decorative Arts (free Tuesday afternoon)
17. Listopadu 2
Tel.: +420 251 093 111
Hours: 10 a.m.-7 p.m. (Tuesday), 10 a.m.-6 p.m. (Wednesday to Sunday)
Getting there: Metro line A, Tram Nos. 17 or 18, Bus 133 to Staromestská stop
Admission: 120 CZK (adult), 70 CZK (reduced), free (Tuesday evenings)
Web site

One of my favorite museums, Prague’s Museum of Decorative Arts offers free admissions every Tuesday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Housed in a beautiful Neo-Renaissance building, the museum showcases modern-day and historical crafts, as well as applied arts and design.

Just across the street is one of its branch museums, the Rudolfinum Gallery, which displays avant-garde and contemporary international art. The Rudolfinum Gallery is housed in the same buildings as the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.

A special combined admission price to both the Museum of Decorative Arts and the Rudolfinum Gallery (180 CZK for adults, 100 CZK reduced) offers a significant discount.

Václava Špály Gallery (free Thursday night)
Národní 30
Tel.: + 420 222 356 213
Getting there: Národní Trída metro stop
Hours: Noon-8 p.m. (Tuesday to Wednesday and Friday to Sunday), noon-10 p.m. (Thursday)
Admission: 60 CZK (adult), 30 CZK (reduced), free (Thursday from 6 p.m.-10 p.m.)
Web site

With a concept centered on finding a link between contemporary art and the public, this private gallery offers free admission every Thursday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Offering some of the most interesting exhibitions in the city, Václava Špály presents the work of mainly Czech artists.

The Golden Ring – City Gallery Prague (free exhibit)
Tynska 6 Praha 1
Tel.: +420 224 827 022-4
Getting there: Metro A/B Mustek or A Staromestska
Hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. (Tuesday to Sunday)
Admission: 120 CZK (adult), 60 CZK (reduced)
Web site

One of the six exhibition spaces that comprise the City Gallery Prague, The Golden Ring presents Czech art from the 20th and 21st centuries. As is the case with the other branches of the City Gallery Prague, the gallery offers no special reduced price hours.

However, a new series focused on young and emerging Czech artists—called “Start-up”—is free. You’ll find it on the ground floor of this very unique space, which was originally two medieval buildings, now unified into one.

Bonus Museum Tips

 Most galleries and museums in Prague offer a family discount (you usually have to have one kid and two adults) as well as discounts for students, seniors and groups. Often, children under a certain age can get in for free. Check the Web sites of the museums and galleries that interest you.

The post Prague: Art museums with reduced or free admission appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Here’s our “Cheapo Strategy”: During the week, keep busy with biergartens and Bavarian buildings. But on the weekend, take advantage of the several city museums that charge only €1!

Art on a shoestring

Each Sunday, many of Munich’s best-known museums offer reduced entrance fares to visitors.

For instance, you can tour the Alte Pinakothek’s collection of European art, the modern art at the Lenbachhaus, Roman and Greek architecture at the Glyptothek, and the sculpture and musical instruments at the Bayerisches National Museum’s, each for a small €1 admission charge.

If you want to hold onto every last euro, Munich can be even friendlier on your wallet.

Entrance to the unique collections at the Kartoffelmuseum, the Siemens AG company museum, and the Geologisches Museum are free seven days a week.

While you’re at it

Be sure to check the museums’ websites for any upcoming events. For instance, the Glyptothek, Munich’s museum of classical Roman and Greek art, hosts a “Lange Nacht der Museen” twice a year, when the museum’s doors stay open till 2 a.m.

Tell us: Have any other Munich tourist tips? Add them below!

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