It’s no secret that sight-seeing can be expensive. This year, for example, a 90-minute guided tour of Buckingham Palace’s East Wing will set you back £90 per person. Yet exploring doesn’t always have to leave such a hole in your wallet. With a little planning, you can see many of the world’s top sights for free. Here’s how…

Gratis in Italy 

Dozens of landmarks and museums across Europe open their doors for free on certain Sundays every month – Italy is especially good for this. On the first Sunday of every month, entry is free to Rome’s magnificent Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, where Emperor Augustus built a palace. The usual cost is £15 (colosseo.it).

Meanwhile, Florence’s 101-room Uffizi Gallery, featuring masterpieces by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian and Michelangelo, operates a similar policy on the first Sunday of each month, waiving the £21 ticket price (uffizi.it).

On the first Sunday of every month, entry is free to Rome¿s magnificent Colosseum

On the first Sunday of every month, entry is free to Rome’s magnificent Colosseum

Fun on Sundays

But it’s not just Italy that operates a free-first-Sunday policy. It’s the same in Spain at Barcelona’s Palau Guell mansion (usually £10, inici.palauguell.cat), and Madrid’s Picasso Museum (£13, museupicassobcn.cat).

In Vienna, each of the museums at the Austrian capital’s 17-location Wien Museum are free on first Sundays too (individual prices vary, wienmuseum.at). And in Estonia’s capital Tallinn, the City Museum has a similar policy (linnamuuseum.ee), while more than 20 museums in Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital, are free on last Sundays of the month, including the Open Air Museum of Lithuania (£8, lemu.lt) and the splendid Palace of the Grand Dukes (£11, valdovurumai.lt).

The splendid Palace of the Grand Dukes in Vilnius, Lithuania, if free on last Sundays of the month

The splendid Palace of the Grand Dukes in Vilnius, Lithuania, if free on last Sundays of the month

Midweek bargains

Copenhagen’s Glyptoteket art gallery with its world-class sculptures including works by Rodin and Degas, plus paintings by Paul Gauguin and Renoir, is free on the last Wednesday of the month (usually £17, glyptoteket.com). Meanwhile in Bratislava, Slovakia’s capital, the City Gallery, home to more than 2,000 pre-1900 paintings and sculptures, is free every first Wednesday of the month (£8, gmb.sk).

One of the rooms filled with antique sculptures collected by Carl Jacobsen in Copenhagen's Glyptoteket art gallery

One of the rooms filled with antique sculptures collected by Carl Jacobsen in Copenhagen’s Glyptoteket art gallery

Go Greek

Between November 1 and March 31, Athens’ lofty Acropolis offers free entry on the first Sunday of every month (usually £17, odysseus.culture.gr). Temperatures can reach a balmy 20 degrees or more at the start of winter and beginning of spring – perfect for sightseeing. Guided and audio tours are available for an extra cost, but there are enough signs at the site to explore it by yourself. Gates open at 8am.

Between November 1 and March 31, Athens¿ lofty Acropolis offers free entry on the first Sunday of every month

Between November 1 and March 31, Athens’ lofty Acropolis offers free entry on the first Sunday of every month

Happy anniversaries

Many monuments waive their admission fees on special occasions and anniversaries. For example, Paris’s Louvre – with the Mona Lisa – is free on Bastille Day on July 14 (usually £19, louvre.fr). In Italy, both the Colosseum in Rome (usual entry £15, colosseo.it) and Florence’s Uffizi (£21, uffizi.it) allow free admission on Liberation Day on April 25 as well as Republic Day on June 2.

In Spain, the fabulous Palau Guell – the intricate palace in Barcelona built by Gaudi in the 1880s and much-admired by architecture lovers – has open days on the feast day of Saint Eulalia on February 12 and St George’s Day on April 23 (usually £10, inici.palauguell.cat).

Paris¿s Louvre ¿ with the Mona Lisa ¿ is free on Bastille Day on July 14 (usually £19, louvre.fr)

Paris’s Louvre – with the Mona Lisa – is free on Bastille Day on July 14 (usually £19, louvre.fr)

Attend Mass

General admission to the Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudi’s towering, uncompleted, gothic cathedral in Barcelona, normally costs £22 (sagradafamilia.org). However, the Archdiocese of Barcelona holds an international mass every Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 9am, which are both free to attend. Visitors don’t need tickets, but capacity is limited. Entrance is via the Nativity facade of the basilica.

General admission to the Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudi¿s towering, uncompleted, gothic cathedral in Barcelona, normally costs £22 (sagradafamilia.org). However, the Archdiocese of Barcelona holds an international mass every Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 9am, which are both free to attend

General admission to the Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudi’s towering, uncompleted, gothic cathedral in Barcelona, normally costs £22 (sagradafamilia.org). However, the Archdiocese of Barcelona holds an international mass every Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 9am, which are both free to attend

Global free-for-all

Visit a participating museum on International Museums Day (May 18) to take advantage of this International Council of Museums initiative, which sees institutions around the world ditch their admission fees.

More than 37,000 museums in 158 countries took part last year, from the National Coach Museum in Lisbon to the MUCA Museum of Urban and Contemporary Art in Munich. The full list of participants for 2025 has yet to be revealed (icom.museum).

Royal and historic coaches at the Museu dos Coches in Lisbon, Portugal

Royal and historic coaches at the Museu dos Coches in Lisbon, Portugal

Timing is everything

Some museums offer free entry during periods when there’s usually lighter footfall. In Madrid, for example, the Museo del Prado, with its Goyas, El Grecos and Rubens (usual entry £13, museodelprado.es), and the Museo Reina Sofia, home to Picasso’s classic painting Guernica (£10, museoreinasofia.es), offer free admission two hours before closing each day.



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