Free Opportunities to Travel
So a friend of mine recently showed me some great websites for free tours, and it got me thinking about how many cheap touring opportunities are out there, even in our home towns, that we never know about until someone points it out…
Tours and Guides
The site my friend introduced me to is called SANDEMANs NEW Europe and I cannot wait to try it out. It offers free walking tours in numerous cities around Europe and even a few outside of it. Their tours are typically around two and a half to three hours and hit major historical and entertainment sites around the city. What’s the catch you may ask? The goal of the company is to help travellers on any budget get the full experience of the city they’re visiting. They do offer paid tours as well (and during some points in the year only the paid tours may be available), but their free ones get great reviews.
There are other costless tours out there as well. City Free Tour offers walking tours in Paris and Amsterdam on a donation basis. Tour Guys offers free walking tours in Toronto and Vancouver, in addition to other paid tours. Searching “free tours” reveals way more options than you would think!
The names I’ve mentioned above are obviously privately owned companies, but many museums, libraries, parliament building, you-name-it offer complimentary tours on certain days or at certain times. For example, the Parliament of Canada is open to visitors seven days a week and tours are operated daily all free of charge. Another example is the British Museum which offers a variety of tours and talks free with your admission.
Public Transportation
No, I’m not talking about hitch-hiking! Many major cities offer at least one free shuttle, bus, or metro service that will take you through the major highlights of a city or up and down a major street from which you can either walk or catch a connecting service to get to you where you’re trying to go.
Entrance to Museums, Concerts, Sites, and Galleries
Simply typing in “free” and the city of your choice into a search engine will bring up lots of options. A lot of museums and art galleries will offer free admission days once a week or month, or may offer free entrance into particular exhibits (such as outdoor ones) all the time. Some places even offer free admission any day of the week if you come near closing. True, you will be in a bit of a rush, but if you were only wanting to see a couple of particular exhibits it could be worthwhile. A few places may even be free of charge, or donation based, all year round.
There is a lot more out there then I have mentioned above (think: free wi-fi spots, food, events, etc), but it gets you started on thinking about these free opportunities to take advantage of!
