“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! 

Popularity: 16% [?]

Prague boasts a world-class music scene, with concerts, operas, and ballets performed throughout the year in the city’s famous theaters. Best of all, tickets to these events are within even a Cheapo’s reach, as they cost a fraction of the going rate in other capital cities. You may even be able to score one for under $10.

If you’re planning a trip to Prague and are a fan of the performing arts, you owe it to yourself to check out performance schedules before you arrive, as you’ll want to consider all of your options. Of course, you could wait until you arrive to book last-minute tickets, but why limit your chances of securing a good deal?

Booking your seats online in advance directly with the performance halls gives you the most options for available seats, including the super-cheap seats. Also, when researching shows, consider choosing an afternoon performance, when seats can be less than half the price of an evening show.

Prague’s main performance halls 

Prague has three main venues for opera, ballet, and concerts: The National Theatre (Narodni Divadlo), the Prague State Opera, and the Estates Theatre.

The National Theater

Located along the Vltava River, the National Theater produces dramas, ballets, and operas, and is the most important theater in Prague. The neoclassical building, its golden rooftop gleaming, was constructed between 1868 and 1881.

The Estates Theatre

The charming and regal Estates Theater was built in 1783 and produces ballets and operas. It was here that Mozart conducted his Don Giovanni in 1787, and still today the Estates produces mostly Mozart operas.

Tickets for the National and Estates: You can book tickets for both venues through the National Theater’s website. Click the ”Tickets” link at the top to see the current season and check availability. Tickets are available in seven price categories. You will first need to create a free user account, before paying with a credit card or simply reserving the seats and paying for them in cash when you arrive at the theater. (Be careful: It’s so easy, in fact, that we accidentally reserved two seats for “Falstaff” in October while doing our research!)

You may also purchase tickets, without surcharge, through the Bohemia Tickets website. Tickets can be picked up at their offices in central Prague, emailed to you (for free), or they can send them to your hotel, for 200 CZK ($13).

The Prague State Opera

The city’s second most important opera house, the grandiose State Opera was built in 1888 and is situated just off Wenceslas Square. Opera performances here are often crowd-pleasers by the likes of Mozart, Puccini, and Verdi, in addition to special festivities around Christmas and New Year’s Eve. The State Opera performs ten months a year, with no performances during the summer.

Booking: Book tickets in advance directly from the State Opera’s website. There you can view performance schedules and click “buy tickets” to see available seats. The State Opera sells e-tickets directly through their site. When you buy an e-ticket, there is no need to exchange your email confirmation for an actual ticket at the theater.  

As with the National and Estates, you can also book, without surcharge, through “Bohemia Ticket.” 

Prices for all three theaters: Ticket prices vary, but can go as low as 100 CZK ($6.50) for the cheapest (and highest) seats. First and second-tier balcony seats are often in the 300-600 CZK ($19-48) range, while the most expensive orchestra (and prime mezzanine) seats normally cost 800-1,000 CZK ($51-$64).

A note about other ticket booking sites

In researching this post, we came across many other ticket booking websites. Put simply, we would always stick to the official theater websites or to their official partner “Bohemia Tickets.” Other sites often only sell the more expensive seats (not even bothering to offer the cheapies), then tack on “handling charges” and additional delivery charges. One site that we found would either deliver the ticket to your hotel or personally greet you with the tickets at the theater (holding a sign) for about $20.  Not so fast.

Have other tips for finding a cheap seat in Prague? Let us know!

Popularity: 20% [?]

We love Paris. We love classical concerts and operas. And we love saving money. Thus, we combined our loves and put together a list of five ways to do culture in Paris a la cheapo.

Free classical music

Pick up a Pariscope, the weekly listings guide (in French), at any magazine kiosk and flip to the classical concert listings. You’ll see many freebie concerts, often by young musicians and local ensembles, held on Sundays in churches around town.

We’re especially fond of concerts in the 16th Century Eglise St-Merri, in the 4th arrondissement, which presents free concerts on Saturdays and Sundays throughout the year. (Incidentally, the bell tower contains the oldest bell in Paris, cast in 1331!)

Cheap seats for concerts in major venues

Paris boasts world-class performances in state-of-the-art musical halls. Best of all, many of these venues receive government support to help keep ticket prices affordable — or at least some ticket prices affordable. (Don’t be thrown by expensive seats. Hunt around a bit on the websites and you’ll find the cheap seats!)

The Salle Pleyel is a brand new performance hall, offering performances by classical stars and touring orchestras. Tickets can be found for major concerts from €10. (Check out our earlier post on the Salle Pleyel.)

Theatre du Chatelet located at Place du Chatelet in the 1st arrondissement, offers modern and classical concerts, from recitals to full orchestras. Again, ticket rates are surprising reasonable, starting at €20 for most concerts. The theater has a Sunday morning concert series with all seats going for €23 (€12 under 26 years old, children free) and no tickets are sold in advance. The ticket office opens at 10 AM and seating is open. (More information, in French.)

Cheap seats for Dance

Theatre de la Ville, located across from Theater du Chatelet, provides modern dance performances. Tickets are quite reasonable, many priced at €10-15.

The celebrated 19th Century Opera Garnier presents mostly ballet and modern dance pieces. Even if you’re not a dance enthusiast, you can’t help but be impressed by the building’s neo-Baroque architecture, sweeping staircase, 2,200 seat grand salle, and ceiling by Marc Chagall.

Cheap seats for Opera

The Opera National de Paris operates both the Opera Bastille and the Opera Garnier. The Opera Bastille, a controversial building when it opened in 1989, presents operas throughout the year, and boasts that each of its seats provides an unobstructed view of the stage. Although ticket prices go as high as €150, seats for the same performance go as low as €5. (Seriously, check out the ticket prices for Wagner’s Parsifal.)

We’ll see you at the show… in the cheap seats!

Popularity: 14% [?]

We’re always keen to dispel the myth that you must be rolling in it (money, that is) to enjoy world-class entertainment. Take the Viennese opera. This Austrian gem is well within the range of Cheapos.

Here are our three best bets for landing a night at the Opera:

Try ’standing room only’

If you are willing to stand for the duration of the performance, then you can get some of the cheapest tickets in town. The cost of a “standing room only” ticket is between €2 and €3.50 per opera. These tickest are only available at the evening box office, which opens 80 minutes prior to show time.

Snag seats for a song

In the nosebleed section of the opera house, you’ll pay anywhere from €7 to €18 for a seat in the rafters (but what rafters they are!). Considering a spot in the front orchestra could cost you €200, we consider this is a huge score. Just bring some good opera glasses.

Take a tour and skip the show

If The Marriage of Figaro isn’t your idea of fun, opt for one of many daily guided tours of the ornate and scope-worthy opera house. For €5, you can get up-close and personal with the opera house, touring even the stage and the tea salon. For another euro and a half, visit the Opera’s museum, too. A recent exhibit showcased the original compositions (on-page edits and all) of Wagner’s “Ring of the Nibelung”.

And, one last note on all of this: If you’re a student, you’ll almost always benefit from additional discounts. Bravissimo!

Popularity: 12% [?]

New York calls itself the “media capital of the world” for good reason: countless newspapers, magazines, television networks, film studios, and communications companies are based in the Big Apple. Many popular American television shows are taped in the city, and several are broadcast live—often with the city’s pedestrians passing by in the background.

Here are three of our favorite ways to be part of a TV show, times to show up, and ways to get on camera.  The best part? Most of it is free.

1) The Late Show with David Letterman
Where: Ed Sullivan Theater (1697 Broadway, at 53rd Street)
When: Weekdays

Home to the “Ed Sullivan Show” from 1948-1971, the theater now hosts David Letterman’s popular late night talk show, broadcast on CBS at 11:30 PM.

Tickets in person: Tickets are free and may be requested by visiting the theater and submitting a written request for shows up to one month in advance. Audience members will be contacted by phone if their request is accepted. The ticket office is open weekdays from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM, and 10 AM to 6 PM on Saturdays and Sundays. 

Tickets in advance: To secure tickets in advance without visiting the theater, use the show’s online ticket lottery. Fill out a form and, hopefully, you will be contacted by phone and asked a trivia question before you’re granted your free tickets. Note: They are serious about this. When we were called, they asked us for the name of the owner of the “Hello Deli”. Luckily, we knew it was “Rupert.” A friend wasn’t as lucky and was turned down. Know your Letterman!

Same-day tickets: A limited number of same-day standby tickets are available on the day of taping by calling (212) 247-6497 starting at 11 AM. This phone number is only “active” when tickets are available. Seats for standby tickets usually are in the back of the theater, but hey, it’s a great last-minute way to see the show. Visit the show’s website for more information about obtaining free tickets.

Tip: Assistants from the show scope out the crowd before taping. They hone in on bubbly, smiley types who are “camera ready.” We suggest chatting up these assistants. In the best case, you will be ushered down to the first two rows. Score.

2) Total Request Live (”TRL”)
Where: MTV Studios - 1515 Broadway at Times Square
When: Mondays through Thursday at 3:30 PM

MTV, the music television behemoth, broadcasts this hour-long musical show from its headquarters overlooking Times Square four days a week. The show is a medley of music videos, celebrity interviews, and live performances, taking place inside the studio and sometimes on the street. Tourists can watch the show taping from the sidewalk (and get in everyone’s way) or get plucked from the crowd to be a part of the in-studio audience.

Advance tickets: You may email MTV to request a “chance for studio audience tickets.” Check out this page for details. According to MTV, audience members must be between the ages of 16-24 or at least look like they are.

Same-day tickets: We know (on younger brother authority) that if you want to land a same-day spot in the studio audience, you’d better get in line early and “look the part.” Meaning? Get there before 2 PM (the show airs at 3:30 PM) and wear your best retro sweatshirt. A few dozen stand-outs will get ushered upstairs for the live studio show.

Otherwise, you can watch the show tape from below and be seen, if only as a tiny speck, within the larger crowd and street shots.

3) NBC Studios
Rockefeller Center -30 Rockefeller Plaza, between 49th and 50th Streets
When: Daily and Nightly

This is the mother load. “30 Rock,” as it’s often called, houses the NBC television network’s studios and corporate headquarters. Shows produced there include Saturday Night Live, The Today Show, NBC Nightly News, Late Night with Conan O’Brien and more.

A studio tour ($18.50) takes you behind the scenes in many of the network’s studios, although it doesn’t get you tickets to any of the shows. (You might, however, see some stars walking through the hallway or in rehearsal, like on Saturday when SNL cast members are hard at work. We got to see Will Ferrell, Jimmy Fallon and Sean Hayes, when we swept through last time.)

Tickets to NBC shows taped in the building are offered in advance by email or telephone. Each show has its own ticketing policy and details are offered on this page of the NBC website. The Today Show broadcasts live from its windowed street-level studios at Rockefeller Center every morning from 7 AM to 10 AM, with its hosts taking frequent trips into the noisy crowd. Bring a smile—and scream.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Photo by xavier_s

The French Open tennis tournament, officially known as Roland Garros, kicked off Sunday in Paris. Hardly a cheapo event, but tennis fan Cheapos can get the “Evening Visitor” passes at 10 euros for play after 5 p.m. on certain courts. Availability is based on the number of seats vacated by people who have already left the stadium for good. On a clear day, you can often expect play up until 9 p.m. The offer is good for the first week of the tournament through Sunday June 3 inclusive. The “Evening Visitor” passes will be available at the ticket windows at the Porte des Mousquetaires for those outside the stadium. To get to Roland Garros, take the metro line 10 and get off at Porte D’Auteuil.

Popularity: 6% [?]

 
Photo by www.sallepleyel.fr

There are a lot of great concert venues in Paris but few can match the fine-tuned acoustics of the new Salle Pleyel. Recently reopened after an extensive two-year renovation, the Salle Playel is crisply minimalist in design and optimal in sound quality. The music hall is located at 252, rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, in the glitzy 8th arrondissement.

Those looking for an ornate, old-world concert halls experience like you’d find at the Opera de Paris, won’t find it here. The Pleyel is a venue constructed around its acoustic quality. Side balconies have been created solely to improve the hall’s sound distribution, resulting in a nearly 20% optimization of the room’s volume and reverberation time. What the Salle Pleyel lacks in belle epoque touches it makes up for in its cool contemporary design and unmatched acoustics–making it a must see (and listen) for any concert-goer in Paris.

The Pleyel welcomes orchestras, jazz and traditional performers from around the world with ticket prices ranging from cheapo (€10) to extravegant (€130).

Tip: €10 stand-by tickets are available an hour prior to concerts for those under 27, over 65, and unemployed.

Popularity: 7% [?]

It’s occurred to most of us at one time or another—is it worth buying metro tickets in cities where public transportation ticketing is based on the honor system? Travelers on a budget might consider saving money by “riding black,” and in Prague, at least, they’d have ample company.

A recent study published by Czech newspaper Mlada Fronta Dnes found that one in six riders goes without a valid ticket. If you’re caught by one of the city’s plainclothes inspectors and you pay up right away, the penalty is CZK500 (€18; $23).

Of course, riding black goes against the spirit of the system and we don’t recommend it. But knowing the odds is a valuable piece of information, especially in cities with more expensive forms of public transportation. In Prague, you’re better off buying the CZK14 ticket (€.50; $.65) than risking it.

Popularity: 5% [?]