Photograph by Mike Kirwan

Ah, springtime in Paris…

Paris comes alive in the spring, a time when the city thaws out from the doldrums of gray winters.

Parisian boutiques roll out daring new designs, restaurants update their menus to include fresh legumes ripe for the season, and locals trade in their husky scarves for leaner neck wraps.

We’ve already told you about UNESCO’s secret Paris garden. While Paris itself goes through a bit of a rebirth, so too do the city’s parks, and none more so than the Parc Floral de Paris. Contained within the enormous Bois de Vincennes, the Parc Floral de Paris is a vast aggregation of 3000 manicured plant varieties set around a tranquil, artificial lake. Best of all, visitors can literally enmesh themselves amongst the flowers on small grass pathways that maze through the Versailles-worthy gardens. Homemade picnics are encouraged. The park’s amphitheater hosts a wide array of events all year, including the annual jazz festival.

The Parc Floral de Paris is a world class botanical garden and perhaps one of the city’s best kept secrets. Aside from the summer’s jazz festival the park doesn’t attract wide swaths of tourists. Their absence makes for a nice respite from the hoards of springtime visitors throughout the center of the city.

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Photograph by Rita Crane

Apparently the French Ministry of Culture caught on that €8 is a lot to pay just to get lost trying to find the Mona Lisa.

For younger visitors, there’s a better way. The Louvre is absolutely free for everyone under 26 years old, every Friday evening. The free hours are from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Who knew the Louvre was the place to be on a Friday night?

This Friday, March 23rd, 2007, there’s the added bonus of free music to compliment your art. Students from the National Conservatory of Music will be playing in front of their favorite pieces of art throughout the museum. Two for the price of none!

Take metro lines 1 or 7 to Palais Royal Musée du Louvre. The station connects to the museum underground.

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Photograph by Wayne Zakaria

Berlin will host a huge European Union birthday bash this weekend as it celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome with a mixture of politics and a bonanza of Cheapo entertainment.

While European leaders sign the Berlin Declaration on European Values, museum lovers can attend the “Night of Beauty” on March 24. One €14 ticket gets you into 14 museums and galleries, which will stay open until 2 a.m. and feature special exhibitions and performances.

Those who want to keep going all night can play at more than 30 Berlin bars and clubs, where DJs and musical acts from across Europe will be entertaining partygoers. €12 gets you a ticket into all participating clubs.

On March 25, things get really cheap—free, in fact—with an outdoor concert at the Brandenburg Gate, starting at noon and lasting into the night. Acts include the Blue Man Group and Joe Cocker.

Berlin proved its party-throwing prowess with the World Cup last summer, and we expect nothing less than a wunderbar celebration. Prost!

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photograph courtesy of mike_nl

There is only one thing we Cheapos like better than getting something for cheap, and that’s getting something for free. In Berlin every Thursday evening, you can get something priceless for free: entrance to the city’s world-renowned museums.

Every Thursday for four hours before closing time, entrance to all the permanent exhibitions at Berlin’s state museums won’t cost you a cent. Some of the museums have opening hours extended until 10 p.m. on Thursdays as well, giving you plenty of time to take advantage of this deal.

The famous Ishtar Gate from ancient Babylon at the Pergamon Museum? Free!

The original bust of Egyptian queen Nefertiti at the Altes Museum? Free!

Helmut Newton’s photos at the Museum for Photography? Free!

Looking for something a little lighter? We recommend the Museum of Decorative Arts for a look at everyday design over the ages.

You get the idea. Now go get some culture.

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photograph courtesy of Jill Stowe

Sunday. A day of rest. A day for movies. A day for a good book. A day for lunch with the family. A day for coffee with friends. And quite wonderfully—particularly, we suppose, for budget travelers—a day for visiting ancient Greek sites.

Every Sunday from November 1 through March 31, admittance into all of Greece’s ancient Greek sites is free. From the Parthenon to the ancient theater of Epidavros to Mycenae, admission is free on Sundays.

So finish drinking your frappé and get some culture. Seriously. It’s free.

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