For those looking to save some euros, one place to begin your research is by looking at Paris’ free museums and attractions (or those with reduced admission).

It is possible, after all, to take in a lot of the city’s culture without forking over too much cash. Here’s a quick guide to a few of our favorite free museums and tips for finding discounted admission.

Related:
• 47 ways to save on your trip to Paris
• 8 best cheap hotels in Paris for 2025

Always free museums in Paris

Some museums and many public monuments are free every day. This is great to know when you get caught in the rain and don’t want to kill time in a café.

Note that some of these have a (sometimes strongly) recommended “donation” ticket. While giving something isn’t required, it’s certainly a nice gesture.

Free museums include:

• The Musée d’Art Moderne, not far from the Eiffel Tower, is one of two modern art museums in Paris. Its special exhibitions cost 5-12 euros, but the permanent collection is completely free.
• Notre Dame Cathedral, and any church (other than Sainte Chapelle) for that matter, is fair game.
• The Musée Carnavalet in the Marais, allows you to tour the complete history of the city for free. (“Donation ticket” €5.) Temporary exhibitions can cost 10-13 euros.
• Arène de Lutèce, the city’s old Roman amphitheater, is just hanging out in the Latin Quarter waiting for visitors to drop in for a picnic while watching the local children play soccer.
• You can also walk through the courtyards and outer halls of the Hotel des Invalides and check out the canons guarding Napoleon’s tomb without paying to actually go inside.
• The Atelier Brancusi displays the sculptures of Constantin Brancusi just outside of the Centre Pompidou, including the famous sculpture l’oiseau dans l’espace. The workshop is completely free to visit.
• More museums that are free every day include: Maison de Victor Hugo, Musée de la Vie Romantique, Musée Curie, the Shoah Memorial, the Petit Palais – Musée des Beaux Arts, the Musée du Parfum-Fragonard and more. Note that many of these charge admission to special exhibits, but visiting the permanent collection is free.

Along with free fireworks over the Eiffel Tower, Bastille Day means free admission to many of the city’s museums. Photo: Yann Caradec

Sometimes free museums in Paris

If you’re planning your trip like a Cheapo, come to Paris on a weekend for the first Sunday of the month when many national museums are open for free, like the Pompidou and Musee d’Orsay.

Keep in mind that some museums will only offer the free first Sunday per month in the off-season. Look at the “practical information” section of the museum website you plan to visit and it should tell you.

To celebrate the national holiday, Bastille Day, national museums, like the Louvre, are also open for free on July 14 every year. (This could also be to distract the revolutionary-minded from storming any more prisons.)

Discounted with a Paris Museum Pass

Purchasing a Paris Museum Pass (available for 2, 4 or 6 days) will provide entrance to most national museums and monuments, including the Palace at Versailles and the Arc de Triomphe.

If you are a history and art buff, the pass will easily pay for itself. All you need to do is plan your visits in advance.

For example, a two-day museum pass costs €70. If you plan on visiting both the Conciergerie prison (where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned) and the adjacent Sainte Chapelle church, admission will cost a total of €26, if purchased independently. Throw in a ticket to the Louvre (€22), the Rodin Museum (€14), and the Centre Pompidou (€15), and in two days, you’ve saved a bit of cash.

We don’t mean to oversell the pass. However, if you are dedicated to visiting multiple museums, the pass can be a very good deal.

Free for visitors under 26 years old

• EU citizens under 26: All permanent collections of national museums and monuments are free for EU cardholders under 26 years of age.
• Other residents under 26 (with carte de sejour): Many Americans and Canadians may think this law passes them up. But wait! The thousands of study abroad students, au pairs, and English assistants who have legal residency in France or elsewhere in Europe are also covered by this law. So, if you’re under 26, head to the Musée d’Orsay or the Natural History Museum, wave your passport and carte de séjour, and you’ll get a free ticket.
• Children: Children often get into places for free. However, ages vary considerably, so be sure to ask at the ticket window.

And remember that free entry usually only applies to a museum’s permanent collections and often doesn’t cover special exhibits. However, these special exhibitions often offer discounted youth tickets.

Hotel des Invalides offers daily reduced admission rates late in the day. Photo: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra

Discounts and other deals

If a museum’s entrance is not free, you can often find various discounts if you know where to look. Work up the courage to ask if the price seems steep. Youth and “under 18” visitors can usually get reductions even if you don’t have EU paperwork, so visitors can still benefit from reductions.

Also, museums often work in tandem to offer discounts. For example, if you present your ticket to Palais Garnier when you visit the Musée d’Orsay, you’ll receive a discount (if you visit within 8 days). Obviously, right? Check out the offers posted at the ticket booth.

More info

The Paris Tourism Office has a website in English that can be useful for finding up-to-date information for any museum in Paris. Search by museum name, and soon you’ll realize how much money you can save (and how many Mona Lisa mugs you’ll finally be able to buy at the Louvre gift shop!). They even have an incredibly comprehensive list of all free and reduced admission museums and times.

Looking for even more free ideas? Here’s a list of 25 free things in Paris that we love and 7 things in Paris that are always free.

The post Paris: A list of free and discounted museums appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

That said, the line can be long, the temperatures inside less than appealing, and the entry fee isn’t exactly cheap.

More Florence travel tips:
• Best budget hotels near the Uffizi Gallery
• 10 Days in Italy: An itinerary through Rome, Florence & Venice

10 Tips for saving time and money at the Uffizi

So what’s a cheapo to do? Here are our best tips to make the most of your time and your euros at the Uffizi.

1. Get tickets from the official museum site

There are a lot of middleman and third-party sites advertising museum tickets in Florence. If there’s nothing available, and you’re desperate to go, by all means, you should consider it. Just note that you’ll pay substantially higher booking fees. The official site at firenzemusei.it is a bit more difficult to use, but you’ll get the best price. Middleman sites like Florence.net, charge an added commission.

2. Go early

If you’re willing to risk not getting a ticket for the added flexibility and a few euros in savings (€4 to be exact), be prepared to get up early and be in line at least 30 minutes before the museum opens at  8:15 am. Don’t try this during high season, as you’re unlikely to get a last-minute ticket for any time during the entire day, much less that morning.

3. Reserve in advance

Go ahead and spend the extra €4 and book a ticket online. You’ll get in guaranteed, and you’ll also get to spend your time in the museum — as opposed to in line. Just remember to show up at least 15 minutes before your ticket time.

4. Go on a free day

In Italy, state museums are free of charge on the first Sunday of every month. If you can, arrange your Uffizi visit around these dates, but expect to brave the crowds (inside and out). Go early, and bring a book and a beverage to make the most of your time in the line.

The outdoor space between the two wings at the Uffizi. Photo: Andy

5. Time your visit for off-season

From November 1st through the end of February, tickets cost approximately half as much as during peak season. Compare €12 per person for a full-price ticket in late fall and winter to the €20 rate that reigns during the warmer months of the year. Unfortunately, there’s no discount in book-ahead fees. They’re always €4 per person year-round.

6. Bring the kids

Kids under 18 accompanying their families visit the museum for “free.” Why is “free” in quotation marks? Because if you reserve your tickets ahead (and you should to avoid waiting in line with your little ones), you’ll still have to pay the €4 reservation fee.

7. Explore conscientiously

The Uffizi is packed with world-class art around every corner. But even if you were an art history major, you may not be interested in absolutely everything. To save yourself from wandering around aimlessly, check out what interests you online before your visit to come up with a game plan.

Or if you want some general advice, head to the top floor where you’ll find treasures by Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and “The Birth of Venus,” and then work your way back down to the exit. Seeing everything is overrated, especially in summer, when the Uffizi is that particularly lovely combination of crowded, hot, and stuffy.

Exploring a hallway in the Uffizi Gallery. Photo: Larry

8. Come with the shirt on your back

Don’t drag extra jackets, bags, or really anything unnecessary into the museum. It’ll save you time from having to dump your bag/coat/umbrella before your visit and collecting everything when you’re ready to leave. Of course, if you can’t avoid it, the good news is the coat check here is free.

9. Skip the audio guide

Unless you’re a huge fan of audio guides in general, skip it. For €6 extra, we’d rather read up on the official website over a cappuccino just before our visit in a café with Wi-Fi, but it’s up to you.

10. Buy a Firenze Card

Let’s face it — if you’re interested enough in art to visit the Uffizi, you’re probably also on board to see Michelangelo’s David at the Accademia Gallery and a few other museums and sites around town. The Firenze Card will get you out of reserving ahead or waiting in line pretty much everywhere but the Duomo.

At €72, the price is up there, but it includes admission to up to 72 sites in the city in a 72-hour time frame. It’s well worth it if you plan to see three or four museums, especially during high season when entry fees nearly double. To fit in as many museums as possible, add the Firenze Card+ for €5 more so you can hop on transit and get around in a hurry.

Bonus Tip

If you find yourself in Florence and no tickets are available online, either call the Uffizi’s official reservation line or head to Orsanmichele Church (Monday-Saturday from 9 am – 4 pm) and ask if there are short-notice tickets available. You’ll still have to pay the €4 reservation fee, but you won’t have to wait in line.

Uffizi Gallery

Address: Piazzale degli Uffizi, 6
Hours: 8:15 am to 6:50 pm (Closed Monday)
Website: www.uffizi.it/en/

Have you been to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence? Share any tips or comments in the section below.

The post Florence: 10 Tips for visiting the Uffizi Gallery appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Unless that show is “Hamilton.”

Since opening at Broadway’s Richard Rodgers Theatre last July, the hip-hop musical tracing the unlikely story of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton has been playing to sold-out audiences.

Related articles:

• 7 ways to save on Broadway tickets

• Head Off-Broadway for Great Shows and Cheaper Tickets

• Cheap hotels near Broadway theaters

And not just your average sold-out audiences. “Hamilton” has attracted the world’s top celebrities — from musicians Jay-Z and Beyoncé to entertainment royalty Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg and even a bipartisan caucus of current-day political figures led by former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and President Barack Obama.

Hamilton is attracting huge audience and even bigger price tags. But there are still a few ways to score cheap tickets. Photo: Chip Pate

How Hot Is “Hamilton”?

Ask Laurens! (Sorry, that’s a thing from the show.) But seriously, even in the dead of winter, when many Broadway productions are scrambling to lure anyone into the theater, “Hamilton” was selling every seat and packing more into standing room. According to published figures, they were paying an average of about $165 per seat, with the top tickets on sale at the box office — when they have any — for a staggering $475 each.

Finding tickets at all is a real challenge. Standard and premium seats available from the theater are still being snapped up the moment new dates go on sale. As of early March, the revolutionary show was sold out 10 months into the future.

If price is no object — and that doesn’t apply to any of us cheapos — tickets are available on the secondary market. The best option is TicketMaster, which allows verified ticket holders to resell their tickets. But brace yourself: The cheapest ticket for a recent weekend performance was $695 for a seat the following day, and most offered further in advance were between $1,200 to $2,500. Yes, per seat.

You may need to empty the national bank, but at least your tickets will be real. With such exorbitant prices, forgeries are everywhere. The New York Times has reported that people try to enter the theater almost daily with fake tickets.

Related: Cheapo Guide to visiting New York City

There Are Cheap Options

It is a long shot, but don’t throw it away! If you want to see the ground-breaking musical — and even do it in true cheapo fashion — consider the ticket lottery and standing room.

Crowds line up for the Hamilton lottery outside the Richard Rodgers Theatre. Photo: Chip Pate

1. Ham4Ham In-Person Lottery (most of the year).

If you manage to win this “Hamilton” powerball, you’ll enjoy the best deal on Broadway — the opportunity to purchase one or two front-row seats for $10 each. That’s a sort of poetic price, since the hero of your show is also the face on your $10 bill. Hence, the catchy title, “Ham4Ham.”

To enter the in-person lottery, complete an entry form at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, 226 West 46th Street, beginning two and a half hours before the performance you want to attend. Entries are accepted for 30 minutes, closing two hours before the performance, when winners are drawn and immediately purchase their tickets. Usually, 21 front-row seats are available.

Hundreds show up for the in-person lottery, so your chance to win isn’t all that great. On the other hand, during the production’s first seven months, before winter set in and the lottery moved online, most lotteries included The Ham4Ham Show, a live performance outside the theater just before winners were drawn. Often featuring cast members from “Hamilton” and other Broadway musicals, the shows became so popular that many fans came just to see the performance. (You can see them on YouTube.) The Ham4Ham Show also has moved online for the winter and if it returns live this spring, it’s likely to be offered only on two-show days.

2. Ham4Ham Online Lottery (winter)

Perhaps it was the brutal weather, or maybe the army of fans spilling into 46th Street, but whatever the reason, “Hamilton” shifted to an online lottery for the winter.

To enter, visit the official online lottery site starting at 9 a.m. the day you want to attend. Applications are accepted from 9 am to 11 am for matinee performances, from noon to 4 p.m. for evening performances that follow a matinee, and from 9 am to 4 pm on days with only an evening performance. Once winners are selected, they are notified by e-mail and have 60 minutes to pay online for tickets, which cannot be transferred to anyone else. Nobody is saying how many people enter each lottery, but there were enough the first day that the entire system crashed.

Expect a bustling scene on performance days outside the Hamilton Theatre. Photo: Chip Pate

3. Standing Room Tickets

When the in-person lottery is offered, standing room tickets are part of a duel process. After the $10 lottery tickets are gone, drawings continue for the opportunity to purchase standing room tickets at $40 each. Not many are available — maybe one dozen on a good night — but it is another cheapo way to see the wildly inventive and popular musical. (Public sale of standing room tickets disappeared when the online lottery began.)

And, If You’re a New York City 11th Grader …

You’re young, scrappy, hungry and lucky! Thanks to “Hamilton” producers and The Rockefeller Foundation, more than 20,000 11th-grade students will see “Hamilton” for $10 each in an initiative designed to bring the show’s historical perspective to New York City students attending high schools serving low-income families. It doesn’t help most of us cheapos see history unfold on stage, but it’s still a pretty impressive outreach. And it’s something that would make Eliza Hamilton, Alexander’s wife and founder of the city’s first private orphanage, justifiably proud.

The post New York: 3 Ways to buy cheap tickets to “Hamilton” on Broadway appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

So it’s not surprising that sometimes the lines go on for days and ticketing technicalities can be somewhat head-scratching. And not to mention: Only a limited number of tickets are available each day, so advance planning is strongly recommended.

Here’s our best advice on how to see this UNESCO World Heritage site without wasting any valuable tapas time waiting to get in.

Related: Search affordable hotels in Granada

1. Reserve your tickets in advance

Book your Alhambra tickets as far ahead as you can. The tickets are booked either for morning (8:30 am – 2 pm), or afternoon (2 pm – 6 pm) from October 15 – March 14, and 2 pm – 8 pm the rest of the year.

Note: Keep in mind that when you book your ticket you have to reserve a specific time to visit the Nasrid Palace, and if you’re late, you won’t get to see it.

2. Pick up your reserved tickets ahead of time

Grab the tickets you booked over the phone or online in a La Caixa cash machine before your visit, using the credit card you used to book the tickets. Doing this lets you skip the ticket collection line at the on-site ticket office.

If you haven’t purchased your tickets before you arrived in Granada, book them a day or so before your palace visit at the Alhambra ticket office in Granada’s city center (Calle Reyes Católicos, 40). You can pay cash or credit. Just be advised that you’ll have to use a Visa or MasterCard with a pin—one with a chip is ideal.

However you pick up your Alhambra tickets, you must collect them at least one hour before you’re scheduled to visit the Nasrid Palace.

3. Day-of ticket Alhambra purchase? Rise with the sun… and run!

If you must wait until the day-of your visit to buy, don’t plan on sleeping in. Throw back an extra strong café solo first thing and show up at the ticket office before it opens at 8:30 am to avoid the line and have the best chance of snagging a ticket.

Go to a person—it’s impossible to negotiate with the unsympathetic automated terminals. Of course waiting ‘til the last minute will cost you at least 10% more in entry fees, if you get in at all.

4. Visit the Alhambra during the off-season

Of course, you could just make your life easier by planning your visit during the off-season (between November and early March). That said, Granada’s most famous monument is popular all year long, even during the off season, so reservations (or early mornings!) are still a good idea.

Elaborate tile along the walls of Palicio Arabes inside Alhambra. Photo: plutor

5.Watch out for third-party websites

There are a lot of third-party websites selling expensive Alhambra tour packages. Search around for Alhambra tickets on the web, and you’re certain to come across agencies ready to sell you tickets and tours at inflated prices. You don’t need them.

The easiest and cheapest way to get Alhambra tickets is through the official Alhambra website, powered by ticketmaster: www.alhambra-tickets.es or buy calling +34 958 92 60 31.

For more details about purchasing tickets or visiting the Alhambra, visit this page on their official website.

The post Granada: How to buy Alhambra tickets, even at the last minute appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

However, as responsible Cheapos, we must point out that this is also a critical moment to examine the “small print” of your trip. After all, there might be a few tweaks you could make now to save some cash, or some overlooked details that might end up costing you if you don’t address them.

From travel documents to smartphone settings, here are 10 things to do before you leave that will help you avoid any unpleasant surprises later.

1. Is your passport valid. Really?

Let’s start with the basics. As elementary as it sounds, passport issues happen to both newbie and seasoned travelers. Double-check it now. Don’t just make sure that it’s valid when you take off, but throughout the entire course of your trip. Americans, by the way, can spend up to 90 days (within a 180-day period) inside the 26 countries that are part of the Schengen agreement.

Secondly, do you need any special travel visas for your trip? Probably not, if you’re staying within Europe. However, you might need a visa if you try to venture outside the area (for example, taking a boat from Helsinki to St. Petersburg). Here’s a list of visa requirements by country for US citizens.

2. Call your bank and credit card companies.

This one is never fun, but it’s always helpful. Call your bank prior to leaving and let them know that you’ll be abroad. You don’t want your first purchase in Rome to prompt the overzealous Chase fraud team to block your ability to take out cash or pay for something.

But wait, there’s more! While you have them on the phone, ask them:

• How much do they charge for ATM withdrawals? (This could be a flat fee or a percentage of the withdrawal amount.)

• Do they have a partnership with a bank in the country that you’re visiting? (You might find that withdrawing cash from some ATMs are free.)

• How much will they charge you to use your debit card?

Then call your credit card company or companies (if it’s not the same as your bank). Same drill: Tell them your travel dates and countries, and ask about their foreign transaction fees. If you have multiple credit cards, you could find that one is much cheaper to use than the other. You might just be surprised!

Also, if renting a car during your trip, ask if the card automatically provides insurance coverage—and clarify what that coverage is.

For more on this subject, read our guide to questions to ask your bank before leaving.

3. Get smart about your phone.

While you’re having fun with customer service professionals, why not call your mobile telephone carrier? What happens if you don’t call before arriving in Europe? Well, to begin with, you might find that your US or Canadian phone doesn’t work. More drastic, however, you might wind up with all kinds of crazy international data roaming charges.

First, tell them your travel dates and countries. They’ll make sure your phone is set up to work in those countries. Then, they will try to sell you international calling, text and data packages. Offers differ depending on the carriers, but most of the companies offer similar options. I’ve used AT&T below as an example, but you should check prices with your carrier.

• Calling packages usually cost a set monthly amount to lower the per-minute charges for making and receiving calls abroad. This could make sense if you’re planning to make lots of calls, but never makes sense for me. Without a calling package, AT&T charges $1.50 a minute to make or receive a call in Europe. If you buy a $30 calling package, you’ll get 30 minutes of calling (or $1 per minute). This could never be considered a steal (although the per-minute rates do fall if you buy a more expensive package with more minutes).

I typically make phone calls only in last-minute or urgent situations, and these calls are almost always less than a minute long. I’ve resigned myself to paying the regular $1.50 per minute rate for these. However, if you plan to make more calls or do business, it’s worth considering.

• International texting plans, in my opinion, are a great deal, as they make texting in Europe much cheaper. With AT&T, for example, without a plan texts are $.50 to send from abroad, but with a $30 plan you can send 200 texts (or $.15 each). A $10 plan (50 texts) and $60 plan (600 texts) are also available. (See international texting rates on AT&T.)

• And then there’s the data package. If you’re a power user and really know how to efficiently measure your data use, go for it. AT&T, for example, offers a $30 data package that covers 120MB of cellular data. They estimate that this should be enough to send and receive a whopping 1,300 emails, although that certainly doesn’t include using the Web, posting to Facebook or using Yelp. (Here’s a tool to estimate your data needs.)

To sum up my Cheapo strategy, I buy a texting plan, only use my telephone for quick and urgent calls, and turn off my data roaming. I only use my iPhone’s email and browser when I’m connected to free Wi-Fi. And when I do have Wi-Fi, I use my Skype app to call home for free.

For much more on this, check out our guide to using an American smartphone in Europe.

4. What’s your baggage policy?

Take out your flight confirmation and double check your luggage allowance. How many bags are you permitted to check, and how heavy can they be?

These days, most American carriers flying to Europe allow Economy passengers one free checked bag weighing up to 50 lbs (23 kg). Extra checked bags or heavy luggage will almost always cost you dearly—unless you have status with the airline. Check with your carrier before you get to the airport and have to do some frantic unpacking and repacking.

Don’t forget that you’ll probably be putting on weight during your trip — or rather, your suitcase will. You’ll be accumulating souvenirs, clothing, your allotted two bottles of wine, books and other mementos. It’s better to start your trip well under the weight limit.

Also check the size of your carry-on. Your carrier will tell you the exact dimensions allowed for both checked and cabin baggage. Take a tape measure to it if you’re unsure.

5. Pack, downsize, repack.

Now for the grueling part. If you’re like me, you’ve got a suitcase and a carry-on packed with absolutely essential clothing (for every type of weather and situation), four or five pairs of shoes (the trip will be a great time to start jogging again!) and toiletries (including a bottle of Listorine).

Now pause and reflect: You’re going to be rolling, lifting, lugging and man-handling those beasts through airports, through train stations, onto buses and up hotel staircases. You’re going to be inching around them is a tiny hotel room, packing them into laughably small elevators, and searching for places to stick them on a high-speed train.

The time to downsize your luggage is now. Do you have a smaller suitcase available? Make it work—and yes, this will require ditching some extra sweaters, redundant pairs of jeans, shoes-that-would-have-looked-great-with-that-shirt… Out! Hold onto lighter sweaters, shirts and jackets that can be layered.

The same goes for your carry-on. Keep the essentials and give a hard look at the rest. Keep the guidebooks, of course, but consider ditching the novels and other books that you’re bringing along because “you’ll finally have time to read it.” Chances are you won’t. But you will be lugging it with you all over the continent. As for your laptop, if at all possible, leave it at home.

Side note on guidebooks: Yes, I still bring and love guidebooks. You can read them everywhere, on the plane, on trains, and over breakfast. Sure, you can hunt down information on the web once you arrive, but do you really want to? You’ll get distracted by work emails and waste time. What a buzz kill. Grab a Rick Steves’ or a Rough Guide and try to unplug.

6. Don’t waste money getting money.

The cheapest way for North American travelers to get euros is to use their ATM cards to withdraw money from bank ATMs. These ATMs are very easy to find throughout Europe. But what about arriving with some euros in your billfold? It’s really not that necessary, as you’ll find ATM machines in every major European airport as well, and, if the line is too long, you can also use credit cards to purchase items in the airport, like train tickets, food, and other necessities.

If arriving without a euro-cent in your pocket makes you (understandably) uncomfortable, go ahead and exchange some euros at your home bank before leaving. But chances are they’re going to give you a lousy exchange rate, and might even tack on a fee as well. And don’t even get me started about exchanging money once in Europe—especially at the airport! Again, exchange rates will be lousy and you might be charged a fee. Walk straight past them and to the nearest ATM.

It goes without saying that you should also hunt around for old euro coins and bills from previous trips before heading over. Have a friend or family member who’s traveled to Europe recently? Buy their old bills before you leave (at the current exchange rate). Hopefully they won’t charge you a fee…

Get those TGV tickets before you leave. Photo: To Lillqvist

7. Book high speed rail tickets in advance through official railway sites.

European high-speed rail tickets are cheaper the earlier you book. If you’re planning to take a high-speed train during your trip, buy those tickets as far in advance as possible (most are available up to three months in advance). Note that advance purchase is not necessary for slower local and regional trains. This is only for fast trains between major cities.

Important: When you buy these tickets, it’s almost always cheaper to purchase them directly through the official railway websites than through a ticket agency or third-party reseller. The official websites for major European railways are:

• Austria (ÖBB): www.oebb.at
• Czech Republic (CD): www.cd.cz
• Dutch Railways: www.ns.nl
• Finland (VR): www.vr.fi
• France (SNCF): www.voyages-sncf.com
• Germany (Die Bahn): www.bahn.de
• Great Britain (all rail operators): www.nationalrail.co.uk
• Hungary (MAV): www.mav.hu
• Italy (Trenitalia): www.trenitalia.com
• Ireland (Iarnród Éireann): www.irishrail.ie
• Poland (PKP): www.pkp.pl
• Spain (Renfe): www.renfe.com
• Switzerland: www.sbb.ch

Once you purchase your tickets, read the email confirmation closely. Do you need to pick up the tickets at the train station, or can you print your tickets off at home? If they are “e-tickets” that can be printed off at home, be sure to print off the actual ticket, and not just the confirmation email. Most e-tickets include a bar code that will be scanned once aboard by a (snappily dressed) conductor.

A “continental” (France, Italy, Spain, etc.) adapter, left, and a UK adapter (right). Photo: elwillo

8. Adapters, converters, and chargers, oh my!

Take inventory of all of the electronic devices that you’ll be bringing along, and make sure that you’ve packed all of their power cords and connecting wires. Remember that plugs differ between European countries. An outlet in the UK differs from those in France, Italy and elsewhere on the Continent. Buy the right adapters for the countries you’ll be visiting now, rather than later from an overpriced souvenir shop.

I like to pack all of my cables and cords into a Ziploc bag. It keeps them contained and I can usually tell if I’m missing something. (For example, I always seem to forget my camera’s battery charger!)

A few words about the difference between “adapters” and “converters”. Adapters are cheap little devices that literally adapt your plug to fit into a foreign outlet. Most American electronics run on 110 volts, while their European cousins run on 220 volts. Fortunately, this isn’t a big deal for most modern devices (smartphones, laptops, cameras, etc.), as most will run on either current—if they are marked “110-220 volt”. If, however, you’re traveling with a 1950’s retro hairdryer, well, first read the bit above about over packing, and secondly, bring along a converter to convert the 220 voltage down to 110. If not, the surge of electricity will fry your beloved device.

9. Renting a car upon arrival? You might want to rebook it now.

Does your car rental begin upon your arrival in Europe? That makes sense if you’re immediately hitting the road and not spending the night in the city into which you’ve just flown. However, this doesn’t make sense if you’re going to hang out for a day (or more) in your arrival city. You’re going to end up wasting money.

Let’s say you fly into London, Paris or Rome, rent a car, and then drive into London, Paris or Rome for a few days. Now you’re paying for the car, and you have to keep it in an expensive garage. To make matters worse, you might attempt to actually use it to get around the city (leading, inevitably to great frustration, needlessly elevated blood pressures, and silent meals).

If you’re in this situation, look through your rental details and see if you can change your pickup date to the day that you’re leaving town. Many car rental companies are quite flexible about making these changes.

Related: Search and compare car rental quotes on EuroCheapo | Check out the current EuroCheapo package deals for great discounts for US travelers heading to Europe.

And yes, you’re responsible for tickets (and boots) that you pick up along the way. Photo: Pasa

10. Know your coverage.

One last suggestion for those renting a car: Do some pre-trip research to understand your insurance coverage before you get there. Does your rental include insurance? Many European rentals automatically include liability insurance, which covers damage to things outside the car. For damage to the car itself, you’ll need a CDW, or “collision damage waiver”, which might already be included in your rental. If it’s not, you may be able to purchase it online in advance cheaper than you will once at the agency. (Note that these CDWs typically come with a high deductible, which can be lowered if you upgrade to a more expensive CDW. Got that?)

Did you buy travel insurance? Does it cover your car? Know what you’ve already paid for. (For more on this, check out this article on whether you should buy travel insurance.)

Finally, the credit card that you use may also automatically insure your rental, although it may not cover certain types or classes of cars, and may not give you the level of coverage you desire. Ask your credit card company about coverage when you call with your other questions (see #3 above).

When you’re standing at the Hertz or Europcar counter signing your paperwork and trying to shake off the jet lag, you’ll be so excited to hit the road that an insurance add-on will be an easy up-sell. I’m not saying not to take the insurance (I often do). Just know if you’re already covered.

Other check-list items

What other tips do you have for ways to save on your European adventure before you leave home? Share with us in the comments section below, and if we like them, we’ll add them (and you!) to our list.

Now, take a deep breath and relax. You’re headed to Europe!

The post Pre-Trip Checklist: 10 ways to save time and money before you leave for Europe appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

That’s why no trip to the city is complete without attending at least one show.

Even the most casual observers are familiar with Broadway, the glitzy home of “Wicked,” “The Lion King” and “The Book of Mormon.” (And, indeed, I wrote a post last week about how to score cheap seats to Broadway shows.) But some of the best shows take place in smaller theaters — where tickets are a fraction of the cost and, sometimes, the stars are shining just as bright.

Related: Best cheap hotels near Broadway theaters

Broadway, Off and Off-Off: What’s the difference ?

Theater in New York City falls into three categories: Broadway, Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway. And while it’s true that the flashy mega-musicals like “The Lion King” and “Wicked” are all playing on Broadway, the distinction has nothing to do with show’s content or quality. It’s all about the theater.

Broadway shows are performances taking place in one of 39 venues officially designated as Broadway theaters and ranging in size from about 600 to 1,900 seats. Most, but not all of them, stand around Times Square.

But ask someone about the term “Off Broadway” and you’re likely to get a blank stare or even concern about seedy theaters in dangerous parts of town — which couldn’t be further from the truth. It simply refers to smaller theaters all around the city, each with roughly 100 to 500 seats.

Then, there’s a third designation, “Off-Off Broadway.” The nonprofit Theatre Development Fund describes them as “more adventurous” offerings in “small or unorthodox” theaters seating fewer than 100 people.

Off Broadway: High quality and cheaper seats

Mega-shows perform on Broadway because they need the larger stage to accommodate larger casts. Not to mention larger audiences paying larger prices to cover larger production costs. But it doesn’t mean they’re better shows.

Some of the best in New York City — actually, some of the best in the world — perform Off Broadway with smaller casts and smaller budgets in smaller theaters. One good result is smaller ticket prices as well. But another is a wider variety of shows. When you don’t need to attract so many people paying top dollar, you can afford to produce whimsical comedies, risqué dramas or philosophical pieces with more of an edge.

What does all of this mean for Cheapos?

Don’t focus only on Broadway! You can have a great evening of theater Off Broadway. And you may still catch some notable stars or even see the next big Broadway hit.

Not long ago, I sat just off the stage in an intimate, eight-row theater for the final Off-Broadway performance of “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.” For more than two hours, I laughed relentlessly through one of those whimsical comedies as stars David Hyde Pierce, Kristine Nielsen and Sigourney Weaver led a phenomenal cast through racy routines, philosophical rants and some of the finest acting you’ll ever see. Laughing just as hard, a couple of sections over, was the legendary Meryl Streep. A few months later, the show moved to Broadway, where audiences paid far more to sit in a theater over twice the size. The show eventually won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play.

For business reasons, most Off-Broadway shows will never make the trip to a larger, Broadway theater. But many are just as good artistically — if not better. Some may disagree, but for my money, Off Broadway is where the real action is.

The post Head Off Broadway for Great Shows and Cheaper Tickets appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

How bad can it get? A single orchestra (lower-level) ticket to The Book of Mormon, one of the hottest shows on Broadway, will set you back $169 to $299, depending on the seat location and day of the week. And that doesn’t even count the $8.50 service charge and any handling fees.

But don’t panic! It’s easy to enjoy the spectacle of Broadway without breaking the bank.

Here’s the big secret: You rarely have to pay full price. Except for a few blockbuster musicals that sell out every night or the occasional, short-running play headlined by some A-list Hollywood star, discounts are everywhere. You just need to know where to find them.

Related: Best cheap hotels near Broadway theaters

7 ways to save on Broadway tickets

Here are 7 ways you can save on tickets to most Broadway (and Off-Broadway) shows in New York:

1. TKTS Booth

You may have heard about the TKTS booth, an iconic fixture in Times Square for more that four decades, where tourists and locals alike line up to buy discounted seats for Broadway and Off Broadway shows that same day. TKTS also operates locations at the South Street Seaport in Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn where lines are much shorter.

The Good: All seats are 20-50% off, depending on the show, and it’s a fantastic option for someone deciding to see a show at the last minute.

The Bad: You’re never quite sure which shows will be available by the time you step up to the ticket window — and you’ll probably wait 30 to 60 minutes in line before you get there.

Insider’s Tip: Download the free TKTS app to track what’s available; visit the South Street Seaport or Downtown Brooklyn location to get next-day tickets for matinees only; and have a backup plan in case the show you want to see isn’t available.

2. Discount Codes

Theater producers regularly offer discount codes you can use at online ticket sites — Ticketmaster or Telecharge are the two most common — or at the theater’s box office. Plenty of websites list these codes. Two are BroadwayBox.com and NYTix.com.

The Good: Discount codes can land seats that are 20-40% off, often on par with prices at the TKTS Booth, and you can buy them weeks or months in advance.

The Bad: Producers can revoke discount codes at any moment, without notice. When does it happen the most? After shows receive Tony Award nominations, win some major honor or rave reviews are posted on opening night.

Insider’s Tip: Codes have expiration dates, but it’s not unusual for new ones to be issued as an expiration date approaches. Also, if you’re already in New York, buy directly at the box office to avoid paying the service charges tacked on by Ticketmaster and Telecharge.

You can join TDF as a local or “national” member.

3. TDF Membership

One of the best-kept secrets for finding truly cheapo seats is membership in the Theatre Development Fund, a nonprofit supporting the performing arts. Visitors living more than 100 miles from New York City can join for just $12 per year — less than the service charge for two tickets purchased online — and members enjoy huge discounts.

The catch: Not everyone qualifies, though membership is open to a lengthy list of people that seems to include everyone except middle-aged part-time workers or professionals in for-profit organizations. (Seriously, check the eligibility list to see if you or someone in your family qualifies.)

The Good: The prices can’t be beat and sometimes the seats are very good. Tickets run about $30 to $45 on Broadway, $20 to $30 Off Broadway and $9 Off-Off Broadway.

The Bad: You won’t know exactly where your seats are until you pick them up just before the show and only select dates are available for popular shows, if they appear at all.

Insider’s Tip: Monitor TDF listings regularly, since more popular shows often appear one to two weeks before the performance, and pay close attention to buying notes, including where your seats may be located and what theaters require when you pick up tickets.

HipTix is the Roundabout Theatre Company’s free program for theatergoers 18-35 years old. It sells tickets to all shows for $20.

4. Free Memberships for Young Audiences

In their ongoing effort to attract younger audiences, theater companies all over New York City offer free memberships that include cheap seats for people under 30 or 35 years of age. There are too many to list, but those staging Broadway productions include HipTix, LincTix and 30 Under 30.

The Good: The price, of course, which usually runs about $30 per show. Membership includes other benefits, as well, ranging from post-show parties to free stuff.

The Bad: There’s a limited number of member seats for each performance and, let’s face it, if you’re approaching middle age, you’re out of luck.

Insider’s Tip: Check membership guidelines for exact age requirements and join early if you’re out-of-town and want the best chance at the limited number of cheap tickets.

Lottery winners are announced before a performance of the “Book of Mormon”. Photo: andrepierre

5. Lottery Tickets

Some shows hold drawings where winners can buy one or two of the most inexpensive seats on Broadway. And sometimes those seats are some of the best, too — even on the front row, where the person sitting just behind you is paying $100 or $200 more. Rules vary, but most begin registration two-and-a-half hours before the performance and hold the drawing 30 minutes later. Details are available on official show websites, and Playbill.com publishes an overview of Broadway and Off Broadway policies.

The Good: Lottery tickets are dirt cheap, about $30 per seat, and it’s the only way to get cheap seats to blockbusters like Wicked and The Book of Mormon.

The Bad: There’s no guarantee you’ll win and lottery seats occasionally have a partial view (it will be stated in the rules). Oh, and make sure you bring cash; credit cards are rarely accepted.

Insider’s Tip: If you’re attending the lottery alone, double your chances of winning by finding someone else flying solo and agreeing to attend together if either wins.

6. Rush Tickets

Don’t want to take a chance on winning lottery tickets just before the show? Some theaters sell a limited number of lottery-priced discount seats, usually as soon as the box office opens, for same-day performances. “Rush,” as it’s called, is either for students only (“student rush”) or anyone at all (“general rush”). Details are available on official show websites, and Playbill.com publishes an overview of Broadway and Off Broadway policies.

The Good: You don’t need to hit the lottery to score some of the cheapest seats on Broadway and you can get your tickets early in the day — with plenty of time for Plan B if no tickets are available.

The Bad: The number of rush tickets varies by performance and there’s usually a limit of one or two per person.

Insider’s Tip: Arrive early! It doesn’t hurt to wander by a couple of hours before the box office opens and, if there’s no crowd, come back a little later.

7. Last-Row Seats

Some theaters offer last-row seats for $30 to $50. These are not true discounts — they’re just the least-expensive seats in the theater — but you will be paying $30 less than the person sitting right in front of you.

The Good: You can buy these long in advance.

The Bad: If you buy online, you’ll still pay service and handling charges.

Insider’s Tip: Buy early! Since they’re few and cheap, they may not last long.

With so many options, it can seem daunting to navigate the world center of theater to find good seats at a good price. But the fact is you can find discounts — and even truly cheap seats — with just a little research. And if you end up saving $50 to $100 per ticket, that can be well worth the time.

The post 7 Ways to Save on Broadway Tickets appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Discounted West End tickets

If your heart is set on a big-budget West End show, don’t be disheartened by the often shockingly high ticket prices quoted on theater websites. There are still plenty of ways to bag a bargain ticket, particularly if you’re flexible with which show you see.

Leicester Square is littered with cheap ticket shops, but make your first stop TKTS, the only official discount ticket booth run by the Society of London Theatres. TKTS sells lots of half-price and discounted tickets, and the stock is replenished throughout the day (so you don’t have to be in the queue at 9 a.m. to secure your seat). The booth is open Monday to Saturday until 7 p.m.

Travelex £12 tickets
National Theatre
Website

Travelex’s partnership with the National Theatre has become one of the most popular affordable passports to theater in London. Seeing a production at the National Theatre should come high up on any theater buff’s wish list. Occupying an iconic space on the South Bank, the National is home to three different auditoriums and produces more than 20 productions a year.

With Travelex, savvy theater-goers can bag one of 95,000 £12 tickets on sale throughout the year. At some performances this equates to almost half the seats! Keep checking the National Theatre website for details about which productions are being offered at £12 and act quickly when you see one you like–they get snapped up quickly! You can book online, over the phone (020 7452 3000) or in person.

10p tickets
Royal Court Theater
Website

Yes, you did read that correctly. Chelsea’s lovely Royal Court Theatre actually sells tickets for just 10p each every day. As you may expect, they’re not the best seats in the house (they’re actually standing tickets with a restricted view), but nonetheless, they will set you back a meager 10p, so you can’t really argue with that.

Four 10p tickets go on sale every day for performances in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs an hour before the performance starts, so get there early to claim your place in the queue. Tickets are sold at one per person.

If you would rather book your seats in advance then opt for the Royal Court’s £10 Mondays, when every ticket for performances in both the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs and Downstairs cost just £10 each. Get online and book your ticket early though, as Monday nights always sell out fast.

Free theater

The More London Free Festival is a four-month extravaganza of free culture in a fantastic location at The Scoop amphitheater, right by the River Thames at London Bridge. The program runs from June to September and encompasses a mixture of theater, music and film. Details of the 2013 season are due to announced in May, so be sure to keep an eye on the website if you’re visiting London over the summer.

Also check out the program at the Southbank Centre, where free outdoor performances regularly take place over the summer months.

Pub theaters

London’s pub theaters are a unique and quirky way to enjoy some culture in a truly relaxed environment, plus tickets are much more reasonably priced than glitzy West End shows. There are countless options and the quality of the performances will vary from production to production, but with tickets costing as little as £6 in some places, it’s worth the gamble.

Some of my favorites are:

• Upstairs at the Gatehouse located above The Gatehouse Pub in pretty Highgate Village.

• The Kings Head Theatre at the back of the Kings Head Pub on Upper Street in Angel.

• The Landor above The Landor pub in Clapham North.

Your London theater tips?

Have another favorite way to score cheap theater tickets in London? Tell us about it in our comments section. Also, stop by our London guide for more budget tips for visiting London.

The post London: How to find cheap and free theater tickets appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

But we do have four or five days that are wide open and free for a quick jaunt elsewhere. So we turned to one of our new favorite flight search sites, Dohop.com, to see what the options were on Saturday, January 5th in the land of low-cost carriers. Ideally we’d like to pay well under $100 to head to either Rome, Berlin or Barcelona.

After a few searches, we had a winner: $60 for a one-way ticket on Ryanair from Paris (BVA) to Rome (CIA), a full 45% cheaper than the next cheapest price on easyJet. Seems awfully good, right?

Well, here’s where things unwind a bit.

To pass "security," watch this quick advertisement from FedEx. Grrrrrr....

Please just show me the price

Ryanair is a little touchy when it comes to showing their fares and routes on other flight search sites. While they appear in Dohop’s search results, clicking the “Go” button doesn’t link directly to the same result on Ryanair’s site, which would let you book the flight and move on with your day.

Instead, Ryanair requires partner search engines like Dohop, Kayak and Skyscanner to link to Ryanair’s homepage and then travelers must re-enter their search dates.

Okay, not a huge deal.

But before doing a search, you have to agree to Ryanair’s terms and conditions. Just to see that route and price you already saw elsewhere.

Okay, whatever.

But after agreeing to the terms, you have to first complete a “Security check” that grants you permission to use the site (funny, we thought agreeing to the terms granted us permission to use the site).

But click wisely, dear Cheapos, for this Security Check is also an advertisement and will quickly shoot you elsewhere if you click on its image. In my case, it was a giant kangaroo prompting me for a “hopping good” deal on cable TV services. When we stopped back the next day, the ad was for FedEx.

(Spoiler alert! The “security password” is “Ship with FedEx.” Are they going to send TSA after us?)

We entered the advertisement’s security words, but were told we made an error and included the wrong information. We were presented with a new Security Check and a more standard reCAPTCHA form to try again, but then received a 500 server message.

"€51.99" for the evening flight from Paris to Rome.

Getting a little bummed out.

We then clicked back to the homepage, re-entered our search for the third time, and—success!—saw our chosen route and rates.

Finally there it was: €51.99 to go from Paris to Rome. Not bad. Right? (We’ll dismiss the slight difference between $60 and €51.99, which is currently $68, as a currency exchange oddity.)

Too bad we’re not able to take the morning flight for €34.99.

Please just let me figure out how much this is “really” going to cost

Now the fun part: the small print.

Reading Ryanair’s fare details on their website, it shows a €6 web check-in fee. Can I get around the fee by checking in at the airport? Of course not. All travelers are required to check in via the web. And if you booked your flight through a call center or at the airport, you’ll need to pay €12 to check in.

What if you arrive at the airport having forgotten to check in online? [insert sinister laughter from Ryanair here] No problem! If there’s time to re-issue an “alternative form of Boarding Pass” Ryanair will do so, but you’ll be charged a Boarding Pass re-issue fee at the rate set in their Consolidation Table of Fees.

According to this chart, there is no re-issue fee if you booked via Ryanair.com. Ok, that’s nice. However, if you booked through a call center or at the airport, you’re getting charged €60. Not so nice.

Here’s a quick run down of the other charges you can expect, courtesy of the Consolidation Table of Fees and based on booking through Ryanair’s website:

• Booked with a credit card: 3% of total transaction value

• Priority boarding fee: €5

• Reserved seats: €10 (but higher on certain routes)

• Musical instrument: €50

• Flight change fees: €30 to €60, depending on the route and whether it’s low or high season

• Carry on baggage: 1 bag for free. All other bags must be checked.

• Fee for checking 1st bag under 15 kg (33 lbs): €15 to €30, depending on the route and whether it’s low or high season

• Fee for checking 1st bag under 20 kg (44 lbs): €25 to €40, depending on the route and whether it’s low or high season

• Fee for checking 2nd bag under 15 kg (44 lbs): €35 to €50, depending on the route and whether it’s low or high season

• Excess baggage fee per kilo if you exceed the limitations set above: €20 per kilo.

So what’s it really cost?

Our trip is for one person traveling with one carry-on and one large suitcase that weighs 50 lbs. So first, the easy part: Shove at least 6 lbs of the weight from the large suitcase into the carry on. No joke – figure it out.

Bam! We just saved €54 (6 lbs = 2.72 kilos. 2.72 kilos x 20 Euros per kilo over.)

Now the rest of the tally:

$68 ticket + €25 ($32.75 USD) luggage fee + 3% transaction charge ($3.02) = $103.77. As much as we’d like to avoid doing the “Ryanair sprint” and not get the worst seat in the house, we can’t rationalize paying an extra cost just to board the plane.

And while this final price almost satisfies our original goal of keeping the flight cost below $100, we can’t help but feel a little, well, gross after going through this whole process. We’d prefer to feel inspired while we plan our trips and right now we’re just feeling kind of stressed out.

Sure, we got a decent deal on the flight, but I guess we’ll have to leave our trombone at home, dare we risk yet another fee.

Has Ryanair brought you down?

Are you down on Ryanair or do you take a different view? Maybe we’re overreacting. After all, those flights can really be cheap. Tell us what you think, Cheapos.

The post Ryanair, we love you but you’re bringing us down appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Here’s our overview of the two main museum pass options for Amsterdam:

Museumcard
Website

The Museumcard (in Dutch, Museumkaart) is valid for admission at almost every museum in the country, and covers entrance fees for more than 30 venues in Amsterdam. From the Anne Frank House to the Filmmuseum and Jewish Historic Museum, the Museumcard has your back for all the big guys and more.

Is it expensive? It’s probably one of the best deals in the country. Adults pay €40, kids 18 and under pay €20, and the card is valid for one year. Cardholders can flash their cards and head straight into the museums, whether it’s passing through the Rijksmuseum for a five-minute check up on Rembrandt’s Nightwatch or stopping for a drink at the Van Gogh Museum’s cafe.

Ideally, this card is for the museum junkies who need a daily cultural, historical or art fix during their time in Amsterdam. And it’s perfect for those on a one-week stay or longer. (Obviously, the card is a no-brainer for residents.)

Some tourists on a short stay buy the card and then resell it when they leave. Note that this is against the rules, and that you have to write your name and birth date on the card (no photo is taken). Card checkers, however, are laid-back with this policy. However, we don’t recommend trying this.

The Museumcard’s Web site is in Dutch. Foreign tourists can purchase the card inside major Museums throughout the city.

“I amsterdam” City Card
Website

What was once known as the “Amsterdam pass” has evolved into the catchy “I amsterdam” hook that’s spread like wildfire throughout the city’s bustling tourist shops. It’s a more “all-in-one” package for visitors than the Museumcard, and is a great grab for those who want to see a lot of the main attractions.

The card will not only give you access to museums and free public transportation on trams and buses, it will also offer a free canal cruise and discounts at several gift shops, restaurants, bike rentals and other attractions.

Sounds like a deal? It is, mostly. The Anne Frank House is not included in the list of free museums, but the card covers Van Gogh, Rijks, and many of the smaller-size exhibitions.

The 25% discount on restaurants and rentals list many options, however, most businesses on the roster have a reputation for already offering inflated “tourist prices.” And 25% off an attraction might sound tempting, however “attraction” is synonymous with “waste of time” when it comes to places that are chains throughout Europe (the Dungeon and Ice Bar, for example).

Still, a free cup of coffee at bistro La Place, a free croquette roll at authentic Dutch food bar Van Dobben, 50% off parking and unlimited free public transport are all big pluses.

The prices are reasonable:

24 hours : €59

48 hours : €74

72 hours : €87

96 hours : €98

Read more about the perks of the I am Amsterdam Card.

Your choice?

So what will it be: diving into a sea of rich culture with the Museumcard or sampling the surface of Amsterdam’s fun zone with the City Card? The choice is yours, but remember to weigh time and cost when making your decision.

Have you purchased either pass? Tell us about your experience in the comments section.

The post Amsterdam’s Museum Pass Options: Which is a better deal? appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.