Photo courtesy of Fragonard’s official web site

In the list of Paris museums, one sweet-smelling attraction is sometimes overlooked. The Musee du Parfum, run by the famous perfume manufacturer Fragonard, has been offering a “behind the scents” tour of the perfume business for 25 years. And happily for us, the visit is free!

The museum is housed in a gorgeous 19th-century townhouse that drips with romantic ornamentation. The house was built by Joseph Lesoufaché, a student of Garnier, for whom the nearby Opera Garnier was named. (When we say “nearby,” we mean it. The museum is less than half a block west of the opera!)

The Fragonard Museum provides free guided tours throughout the day. Learn how perfume has been made through the ages, and inspect the elaborate tools used in their production.

Just don’t be surprised if you’re inspired to buy some wares at the end of the tour!

Visiting Fragonard’s Perfume Museum

Le musee du parfum
9, rue Scribe
Metro: Opera
Tél: +33 (0) 1 47 42 04 56

The museum is open Monday to Saturday from 9 AM to 6 PM, Sundays and holidays, 9 AM to 5 PM.

For more details, visit the museum’s website.

Join us again tomorrow, as our “Grand Tour” continues in Prague.

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“Artemis” by Rembrandt. One of the masterpieces on display at the Prado.

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, and visitors can still get a feel for the varying tastes of monarch’s past. The Prado is especially acclaimed for works by Spanish painters, including Velazquez, El Greco, and Goya, as well as “foreigners” Titian, Bosch, Rubens, and Rembrandt.

Visiting the Prado Museum…

The museum is open daily from 9 AM to 8 PM, and closed on Mondays.

General admission to the museum costs €6 if tickets are bought at the museum’s ticket office. Advance tickets (allowing you to skip the line) can be purchased online through the Prado’s website, for €9.

…for free

However, the Prado offers free admission at the end of every day for two hours (three on Sunday). From Tuesday through Saturday, the museum’s doors are wide open from 6 PM to 8 PM, and on Sunday from 5 PM to 8 PM.

With so much to see, we’d suggest visiting the museum multiple times for free. Popping in to tackle one artist or one section of the museum is not only doable in two hours, but could help prevent “museum burn-out.”

Tip: Check out the museum’s recommended list of 15 masterpieces on the Prado’s website. This virtual tour offers historical insights into the collection’s most famous paintings.

Also see: our list of budget tips for Madrid and our reviews of budget hotels in Madrid.

Next stop: Munich! 

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Bratislava, thankfully for us Cheapos, is a pretty reasonable city.  Most museums here do charge an entrance fee, of which the average cost is SKK80 (just over $4).

But, one of Bratislava’s national treasures is free and open to the public every day except for holidays and Mondays.

Bratislava Castle sits high on a hill. It’s a national landmark you simply can’t miss, visually or otherwise. The castle itself probably dates back to the 9th-Century and was first inhabited by the Celts. It’s known for the four, massive towers at each of its corners; these giants seem to dot the sky with importance.

Today, the Castle houses the Museum of History - an impressive collection of art, artifacts, and architectural marvels - all under the umbrella of the Slovak National Museum. Exhibits at the Castle include art and sculpture by Slovaks, venues exploring Slovakian culture’s reach across Europe, and lots of military objects, ceramics, and items of folklore. Note: From time to time, some exhibits do charge a nominal admission fee, typically SKK60 (about $3).

To visit the grand collection and see parts of the old castle, pick up a free ticket, available at the visitor’s center on the premises.

Note: Much of the Castle will be undergoing planned renovation from 2008-2011. While the castle doesn’t have its own web site, you can check for more details via the Slovak National Museum page, where you can also learn more about the current exhibitions that open to the public.

Join us again tomorrow, Cheapos, for more free tips. Next stop? Brussels!

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No trip to Paris is complete without a visit to the world-famous Louvre museum, home to the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and much more. Tickets aren’t exactly cheap (admission ranges from €6 to €13, with cheaper prices offered from 6 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays), but the creme de la creme of the museum world opens its doors for free on the first Sunday of each month! (The Musée d’Orsay and the Rodin Museum offer free admission on the first Sunday of each month as well).

Cheapos heading to the city of light in the near future are in for another chance opportunity: on July 14th, Bastille Day, the Louvre offers free admission as well. What better way to celebrate the French Revolution than by admiring some of the nation’s finest art for free?

Check the Musée de Louvre’s site for additional opportunities for a prix-free art fix.

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Michelangelo Buonarroti was born outside of Florence in 1475.  Though he spent much of his life working in Rome, he loved Florence and considered it his home.  Many of his greatest works still reside in Florence, and Florentines are exceedingly proud of their native son. 

Although visiting the city can get pricey, many of Michelangelo’s treasures can be experienced cheaply, or for free! Angela K. Nickerson, author of A Journey into Michelangelo’s Rome, takes us on a budget-friendly tour of Michelangelo’s Florence.

Michelangelo in the Museums

The Bargello: Via del Proconsolo, 4  

Perhaps the best bargain in Florence, the Bargello is a small museum with an amazing collection of sculpture, all for one of the lowest museum prices in Florence (€4).  Here Michelangelo’s Bacchus holds court alongside his Brutus.  Bacchus was Michelangelo’s first commission in Rome, and it failed to meet his patron’s approval because he depicted the god of wine as a drunk.  However, his Brutus—a piece done in his later years—was well-loved, though it served as a scathing commentary on Florence’s political situation.  Donatello’s David is another gem on view at the museum.

The Academy: Via Ricasoli, 60

Home to Michelangelo’s David as well as some of the Captives (originally designed for Pope Julius II’s tomb in Rome), The Academy (in Italian-Accademia), is home to one of the most famous sculptures in the world.  The David cemented Michelangelo’s reputation as the greatest sculptor in Italy and won him a lifetime of work.  While the David is a gorgeous example of finished work, the Captives show how Michelangelo could take one unspectacular and enormous block of marble and create art.

Opera del Duomo:  Piazza del Duomo, 9  

Never crowded, the Opera del Duomo is a less expensive museum option (€6).  Michelangelo’s Florentine Pieta occupies a well-lit alcove in this lovely gallery.  Intended as his own tomb marker, the Florentine Pieta (1548-55) was abandoned, but the figure of Nicodemus still stands as a self-portrait.

Casa Buonarroti: Via Ghibellina, 70  

Also off the beaten path, Casa Buonarroti offers a chance to see the work of a young Michelangelo for a small fee (€6.50).  Scholars can access a large collection of his papers, drawings, and correspondence too.  But the casual visitor shouldn’t miss “Battle of the Centaurs” and “Madonna of the Steps”, both sculpted by Michelangelo while he was just a teenager. (So much for teenage indifference!)  “Battle of the Centaurs” shows a young artists’ mastery of movement and anatomy in a writhing mass of bodies.  And “Madonna” is the first of many sensitive portraits of mothers and their children, all created by an artist whose own mother died when he was six-years-old.

Michelangelo in the Churches

Santa Maria del Fiore (the Duomo):  Piazza Duomo, 17

The Duomo—whose sanctuary itself is free to visit—had only been finished for about 30 years when Michelangelo was born, and it was hailed as one of the world’s architectural wonders because Brunelleschi was the first architect to successfully build a dome after the fall of the Roman Empire.  Having grown up in the dome’s shadow, Michelangelo sent for its dimensions when he set out to design the dome over St. Peter’s in Rome. (Bonus tip: Remember, while you’re there, you can visit the Church of San Benedetto for free as well.)

Santa Croce: Piazza Santa Croce, 16

Michelangelo was buried in his home church of Santa Croce, and he is in good company alongside Dante, Galileo, and Rossini among others.  The church, however, charges €4 admission to see the tombs as well as the beautiful architecture.

Michelangelo for Free

Piazzale Michelangelo: Viale Michelangelo

Built to honor the great artist, the Piazzale Michelangelo is the best place to take a panoramic photo of Florence and the Arno River. Take a picnic or just hang out for a free hours and enjoy the people-watching.

Loggia della Signoria: Piazza della Signoria

According to legend the face carved into the doorframe of the Signoria was created by a blindfolded Michelangelo on a dare. During the Renaissance, the Piazza della Signoria was the site of Michelangelo’s David and remained as such until the late 1800s.  A replica stands there today amid other notable pieces of art including Giambologna’s “Rape of the Sabine Women” and Cellini’s “Perseus”. 

About the author: Angela K. Nickerson, author of ”A Journey into Michelangelo’s Rome” (Roaring Forties Press, 2008), married a Roman and fell in love with a country.  She now leads small groups of travelers on trips to Italy, but her wanderlust is relentless.  Living by the motto “Just go!” Angela jumps on a plane wherever and whenever possible.

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Photo courtesy of Jeremy Barnett 

Poland is a country rich with history, and if you can experience it for free—all the better! Here’s a guide to a week of free museums. No need to spend a zloty to experience a wealth of Krakow’s art and history. 

Monday: Old Synagogue
24 Szeroka Street in Kazimierz

One of Europe’s most historic Jewish places of worship, the Old Synagogue is located in Krakow’s Jewish district, Kazimierz. It is an extension of the City of Krakow’s Historical Museum, and is considered the quintessential Jewish monument of Krakow. As such, it’s filled with relics of Kazimierz’s past including religious items, historic photos, and documents.

Tuesday: Museum of Municipal Engineering
15 Sw. Wawrzynca Street in Kazimierz

If you’re into gizmos and gadgets, then this museum is for you. The space feels like a virtual time machine into innovations past. Take in the old vehicles and other means of public transportation that date back to the early 1900s and explore technology’s impact on everyday life over the last two centuries.

Wednesday: Tourism Board

There’s a reason they call it “hump” day, folks. Take a break from museum wandering and check out Krakow’s tourism board web site for listings of free events. On the way, pick up a few paczki (pronounced poonch-keys). What a difference a day, and a doughnut, make!
                                                                                                                                                                          

Thursday: Czartoryski Palace Museum
19 Sw. Jana Street in Nowy Swiat

The Czartoryski is Krakow’s treasure trove of exhibitions. Founded in 1796 by Princess Isabella (credited with the motto “The Past to the Future”) the museum is most famous for housing Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Lady With An Ermine” along with Rembrandt’s “Landscape with the Good Samaritan”, and many more artifacts from the 13th to 16th centuries.

Friday: Dom Slaski (aka The Silesian House)
2 Pomorska Street just outside of Nowy Swiat

This museum is free everyday of the week (bonus!), but after all your other museum-hopping, you only have Friday left! First used as a Gestapo police headquarters, the Dom now hosts exhibits about World War II martyrdom and anti-nazi resistance. Admission itself is free, but it’ll cost a little extra if you want to take pictures.

Saturday: City of Krakow History Museum
35 Rynek Glowny in the Old Quarter

A patriotic little building proudly boasting the history of Krakow and its citizens, the History Museum has a compilation of old maps, documents, pictures, and city stamps. Its most appealing feature is a collection of colorful and intricate Krakow Christmas Cribs or szopkas.

Sunday: Archeology and Ethnography Museum
3 Poselska Street in the Old Quarter

Once used as a prison in medieval times, the Archeology and Ethnography Museum is home to the only known representation of a Slovanic deity, a four-faced 8-foot stone idol of Swiatowit. In addition, the museum always has a number of permanent and temporary displays.

Bonus Sunday: Museum of History of Photography
16 Jozefitow Street just outside of Nowy Swiat

Filled with exhibitions of present and past photography, daguerreotypes, cameras, and photo equipment, the Museum of History of Photography is a must-see for the still image artist-at-heart.

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Tourist discount cards can provide great value and a major convenience. But, they can also create a major headache when trying to evaluate their value. Today, we turn to Barcelona…

The Barcelona Card

The city-run Barcelona Turisme office issues the Barcelona Card as a two-day pass (€25), three-day pass (€30), four-day pass (€34), and five-day pass (€40). Prices are 20% cheaper for children, and all passes booked in advance on the official website receive a 10% discount.

Benefits of the card are varied. Pass holders enjoy, among other things:

• Free public transportation throughout most of Barcelona (including the airport train).
• Free admission to 12 museums, and reduced admission (50%-10% off) to another 20 museums.
• Various other discounts, ranging from 10% to 35% off at cultural, entertainment, leisure, and nightlife spots.

Is the card a good deal?

Well, it’s complicated. We fired up our old Commodore 64, tapped out some quick algebra equations and came to this conclusion: The card isn’t for us.

Quite simply, most of the museums offering free admission with the card are not on our list of “must visits,” or, if they are, they’re already pretty cheap. (For example, the Botanical Garden only costs €3.50 full-price.) Most of the museums that we’re certain to visit offer only discounts. (For example, the Picasso Museum is 50% off €9, the chocolate museum is 30% off €3.90, and three major art museums are only 20% off their admission charges of €6-8.50). Other non-museum discounts would just get lost in the shuffle (although we appreciated the 20% discount offered by the Michael Collins Irish Bar).

The transportation savings, however, could make the card a deal. If you were already going to purchase a three-day city transit pass for €13.70, you could upgrade to the Barcelona Card three-day pass for €30, which would include the transit pass. Is it worth the addition €16.30? Perhaps, if you take advantage of the 12 free museums. You decide.

After all the calculations, we had stressed ourselves out trying to make it work. That’s no way to spend a vacation.

A better option: The articketBCN

We prefer the cheaper (and less-stressful) articketBCN, which offers free admission to six major art museums in Barcelona for €20 and is valid for six months.

Museums include the Museu Picasso, Fundacio Caixa Catalunya, Fundacio Antoni Tapies, Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA), CCCB, MNAC, and Fundacio Joan Miro. Tickets may be purchased at any of the museums or at the tourist information center. We’d combine our articket with a T-10 pass transit book of 10 rides on the Metro or bus for €6.90.

And then we’d chill out and enjoy some art!

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If you’ve ever visited the fabulous Uffizi museum in Florence, you probably know that your first hour (or two) there can often be spent waiting in a long, slow ticket line. And, that’s if you’re lucky. After all, the museum puts a daily cap on total entrants, so if you arrive on really busy days or after lunch, you can find yourself without a ticket at all!

Enter the sleek new website of the “Polo Museale Fiorentino,” the city’s governing board for 20 museums, including the Uffizi, the Accademia, the Pitti Palace, the Museum of San Marco, and more. On the site, you can take virtual tours of each museum, read about upcoming exhibits, verify opening hours, and map out locations.

But our favorite feature: The site now offers online ticket booking for all museums, allowing users to bypass the long queue and restricted entrance schedule.

How it works

The process is simple: You choose the museum you wish to book, pick a date, and then select an available entrance time. (At the Uffizi, for example, you may choose entrances in 15-minute intervals.) Proceed to the checkout, pay with a credit card (a €3 processing fee is added), and a confirmation will be emailed to you. Take this email with you to the museum (arriving, of course, during the scheduled time slot) and hand it over at the “pre-booked tickets” counter to pick up your tickets.

Yes, the site adds a €3 booking fee. But we’ll happily fork that over in exchange for a speedy (and guaranteed!) welcome.

Other museum ticket booking websites are out there, and we’ve recommended them in the past, but they tack on far more than €3 to your ticket. One of the most popular sites adds €11.50 to each ticket! Save it for post-museum Chianti, folks!

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Denmark, home to Hans Christian Andersen and all those friendly, tall—and it must be said—great Danes, was recently proclaimed the happiest place on earth. In a number of population studies, pollsters asked residents to rate their level of happiness and other factors, and it seems the Danes have a real twist for felicity.

All this happiness, in spite of high taxes and hefty price tags? After all, according to the Big Mac Index, a Happy Meal must cost at least $5 in Copenhagen! Yet we agree: Denmark is a happy (and happening) place!

Here are five of our favorite and free ways to boost your serotonin in Copenhagen:

1) Get cultured

In 2006, the National Museum and the Statens Museum of Kunst became free to the public. And, every Wednesday, a number of other major museums and galleries open their doors without a charge. We suggest the Tøjhusmuseet, where the relics of the Royal Danish Arsenal are housed, and the Hirschsprungske and Ordrupgaard Collections, two museums with some of the best French and Danish art from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. For more info and to browse current exhibitions, go to the Copenhagen Tourism’s art museum page.

2) Park yourself

Copenhagen has some of the most expansive and pretty parks in Europe. Retreats like Orsteds Park, Frederiksberg Garden or Vondelpark are free to enter and stroll. Both have incredible sculptures and fountains and a host of traveling street performers. We also recommend the Botanical Gardens.

3) Get thee to church

Seriously, not only are Copenhagen’s many religious establishments architectural marvels, but they’re free to visit, and often host free concerts. Some charge a nominal fee for truly spectacular shows, like the Danish boys choir Christmas concert at the Church of Our Lady (Vor Frue Kirke), founded in 1209.

4) Grab a bike without paying

Yes, it’s that easy. You see a bike. You need a bike? You take the bike and ride it. A minimal deposit (about $3) gets returned when you bring the bike back to any number of designated spots. The promotion runs annually from May 1st to December 15th. More info can be found here.

5) See the statues

Go for a walk near the Copenhagen harbor, and spend some time gazing at the Little Mermaid. (She can’t charge you a krone to check out her scales.) Near City Hall, visit with Hans Christian Andersen. Later, walk the stone path at the Thorvaldsens museum in Slotsholmen.

Whatever you do, take lots of photos… or take brochures. After all, they’re free!

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Ok, so a recent installation at the Tate Modern in London kinda cracked us up.

The exhibit, by Colombian artist Doris Salcedo, is called Shibboleth and is a 167-meter long crack in the floor. Museum goers are invited to interact with the exhibit. A story in the AFP says, “some visitors have been so distracted by the impressive surroundings that they have unwittingly fallen into the crack, around one foot (or 30 centimetres) wide in places.” The crack gets filled next April.

For more on the artist, check out the Tate’s site.

Across town at the National Portrait Gallery, a huge pop art exhibit opened today. The usual suspects—Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and David Hockney—are among the 52 artists represented. The exhibition runs through January 20th, 2008. More info at the Gallery’s Web site. Price: £10.

And, if you’re in London—whatever you do—please, for the love of art, go to the annual Frieze Art Fest. It’s on until October 14th and, though it will set you back £18.50, you’ll feast on the works of more than 1,000 artists the world ’round.

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