The Museo Nacional del Prado is Madrid’s most famous museum. Opened to the public in 1819, today it boasts a world-class collection of European artwork, including more than 7,000 works spanning from the 12th century to the early 19th century. At any time, about 1,300 pieces of art are on display. The museum started out as a royal collection of art, » Read more

In London, it’s no big secret that that many activities surrounding Trafalgar Square are free. You can view the paintings at the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery, or hang out in the square and check out its sculptures without paying a pence. Lunchtime concerts at St. Martin’s in the Fields However, an oft-overlooked freebie occurs several times a » Read more

Lisbon is a city full of fabulous museums and botanical gardens… with entrance fees. However, Parque Eduardo VII, in central Lisbon, is a happy, freebie exception. The Parque Eduardo Named after King Edward VII of Britain (following his 1903 visit to Portugal), the park boasts two greenhouses (“estufas”) filled with tropical plants. These beauties sit atop » Read more

Wawel Royal Castle is an architectural marvel located in Krakow, Poland. The fortress stands prominently on Wawel Hill, an area that’s been inhabited for thousands of years. (Seriously, it’s believed that mammoth hunters lived on the hill 50,000 years ago.) During the Renaissance, King Sigismund I ”The Old” commissioned the finest artists around to decorate Wawel Castle as his royal palace. » Read more

On the South bank of the Arno River, up a majestic hill and down a winding, cobblestone path known as the Viale Michelangelo, you will find the Piazza Michelangelo (sometimes referred to as Piazzale Michelangelo). The piazza was constructed in the 1890s, beautifully landscaped and lined with copies of Michelangelo’s sculptures. Today, look past the street vendors » Read more

Photo courtesy of hidden europe magazine Cheapos clearly like to get under the skin of a city, probing well beyond the regular sights to get a feel for what makes a community tick. Faith is often still part of the fabric of European life, but getting a feel for it as a foreigner isn’t always easy – » Read more

Photo by ladgie353 A quick tour of Southeast Dublin will land you in the cobblestoned Merrion Square, home of many of Dublin’s government buildings. Here you’ll find at least two great structures well worth a visit. Leinster House, the former residence of the Duke of Leinster, today houses Parliament, and is surrounded by gardens and sculptures. Nearby, on Upper » Read more

Things can get pricy pretty quickly in Copenhagen, but you can still grab some wheels for free. The city’s free bike program, called “Bycyklen Kobenhavn,” was a pioneer in the urban bike program phenomenon. The city provides 1,300 free bicycles to anyone to zip around the city center. The program is popular with visitors and » Read more

Built in 1905, the Fisherman’s Bastion is a wide, turreted monument in the neo-Romanesque style of architecture. You can reach it and the views are pretty much the same. The whole thing looks like a medieval wonderland. Hungarians refer to the Bastion in their native tongue as, “Halaszbastya”. It was originally intended for basic decorative purposes, » Read more