London, Paris, Rome, and Amsterdam are definite stops on the student travel trail in Europe, and you need to know what's free in those sometimes spendy spots. Get a list of the top free things to do in Europe, including what's free to do in these favorite European cities and as a bonus, Barcelona and Madrid. Scroll down to see 'em all.
© Kathleen Crislip1. Visit Pere Lachaise cemetery, resting place of notable notables like Marcel Proust and Jim Morrison.
2. See free movies at Parc de la Villette.
3. Hit the Paris beach: volleyball-worthy sand on the Seine.
4. Fashion gawk: see what non-backpackers are wearing on aves Rue de Faubourg St. Honore and Avenue Montaigne. Wow.
5. Free Friday nights at the Louvre: just for those under 26.
© Kathleen Crislip1. Hang out in Piccadilly Circus: perfect people-watching place.
2. Take the iToors Soho Podcast Tour: see some spots where famous scribblers wrote, misbehaved or almost starved in sometimes not-so-long-ago London.
3. Tour the Tower of London with a Yeoman Warder: yeah, free! You can get a bonus free tour, too.
4. See the British Museum: one of the world's best.
5. See street art in Covent Garden; hit a market: check out some photos from spots like Covent Garden and Borough Market before you go.
Bonus to your London budgeting: find out about the top
budget London shopping spots for women. Read a
backpacker's London travel guide, too.
About.com's Guide to the UK, Ferne Arfin, has found and listicized a fantastic fifty free things to do in the UK, which is roughly forty five more than we'd have stumbled upon ourselves while stumbling around Great Britain looking for things to do that cost not a farthing. See the whole
list of fifty free things to do in the UK on Ferne's site...
James Martin, About.com's European expert, calls Italy home part-time, and though he's no cheapskate, he knows a thing or two about what to see and do in bella Roma. In James's great list of the usual spendthrift's sights (scaling the Spanish Steps, forays to the Forum), get a bonus factoid: an Italian fellow named Roberto Cercelletta makes $180,000 USD scooping a bit more than three coins from the Trevi Fountain annually.
Yeah, so some (okay, all) of what you've heard that there is to do if you're walking on Amsterdam's wilder side are far from free. There's far more to this lovely city than the smoke and sin that get the notoriety, though, and About.com's resident Amsterdam expert, Shannon MacAllister, has put together a great list of free fun from her home in Amsterdam's
Oud Zuid, like the free ferry over the IJ.
Avant garde Berlin's a seriously good city for street art scenes, not to mention museums that will make you think. See some art at Hackescher Markt, for instance, or stroll to the East Side Gallery, a Berlin Wall section that's become a fantastic gallery of free for all art. Thoughtfully wander the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, or see Berlin's Museum Island, a UNESCO site in the River Spree where you'll find five museums and the Berlin Cathedral. About.com's Birge Amondson's got all the
free sights to see in Berlin...
Londoner Damian Corrigan spent some time in Spain as a temporary expat, working in hostels and teaching English and finding out what you'll like in beautiful Barcelona, like visiting the fully functioning (yeah, as a hospital) and architecturally gorgeous Hospital de Sant Pau or when the Picasso Museum is free, not to mention the best
free things to do in Madrid.
Not everything in life at the beach is free, but these
urban beaches in Paris, Amsterdam, Prague and other gotta-stop spots offer free sun, sand, and sometimes swimming right in the heart of the city summer.
