More often than not, the best things in life (and travel) are the ones that cost the least. We continually found free (or very inexpensive) things to do while traveling the world that ultimately became some of our sweetest memories.

 

In no particular order, here’s a list of 45 free or cheap things we LOVED doing (eating, watching) on our travels:

 

1.Long days spent on a train, watching the scenery go by. In particular, the mountain views in Norway and Switzerland and the rolling hills of central Italy were not so shabby, either.

 

 

2. People watching while sipping on a $2 cup of espresso in pretty much any European piazza, as our kids scare off pigeons and play in the fountain.

 

3. Sharing one large cup of gelato with our kids while walking along a beach in Uruguay.

 

4. Finding amazing local playgrounds in places like Paris or Munich and letting our kids run and scream like banshees while we sit on a bench and watch.

 

5. Going to local farmer’s markets to shop for our weekly produce, cheese, bread, olives and more (this is awesome almost everywhere, but Europe and Turkey in particular).

 

 

6. Going for hikes in the colored hills of southern France.

 

7. Eating sandwiches in a tiny bar in the Gorges du Verdon, France, with stunning views all around us.

 

8. Taking the commuter ferry with the locals in Venice and taking in the sights from the water. Who needs a gondola?

 

Technically not IN Venice, but we took the local ferries to get to the nearby islands of Burano and Murano.

 

9. Practicing our fledgling Spanish skills with taxi drivers in Argentina.

 

10. Spending a few dollars in Cambodia to buy sections of bamboo stuffed with sticky white rice, black beans and coconut milk, steamed over a fire, and then eaten by peeling back the bamboo and grabbing a chunk of steaming, sweet, delicious rice.

 

11. Whizzing through the streets of Kigali, Rwanda on a moto with the wind whipping in my face and a new suitcase from the market in my lap.

 

12. Chasing lizards up trees and between rocks in the courtyard of our Rwandan guesthouse.

 

13. Getting cheeky with the monkeys while walking over a bridge in Rishikesh, India.

 

 

14. Devouring freshly baked pita bread dipped in humous while sitting on a quiet street in Jerusalem.

 

15. Slurping up liquados, freshly blended fruit smoothies, on desperately hot, humid Argentine summer days.

 

16. Geocaching together with new friends in the red rock formations of Northern Argentina.

 

We could add climbing in said amphitheater to the list as well. 🙂

17. Listening to two strangers play guitar and sing an Argentine jazz standard in a natural amphitheater carved out of red rock.

 

18. Biting into piping hot, savory, deep-fried chicken empanadas on a road trip through the Andes mountains.

 

19. Walking through the streets of old Tokyo to cram ourselves into a minuscule restaurant booth, where we’d order Okonomiyaki (savory egg/cabbage/pork “pancakes”) and listen to it sizzle and cook on the griddle table in front of us.

 

 

20. Spending the day soaking up the sun and sand on a quiet, uncrowded beach in Sicily.

21. Driving up Mount Etna and letting our kids scramble up the hills of volcanic dust and jump around craters.

22. Standing on the deck of a ferry from Greece to Italy, with the wind wildly whipping both our hair and the flag of Greece, and watching its islands fade from sight as the sun sank below the horizon.

23. Joy riding through the farm roads of Yangshuo, China on borrowed bikes from our hostel, peering up at the karst hills rising majestically around the rice fields and river.

 

 

24. Shopping for used shoes and a sweatshirt in a bustling, sensory-overwhelming Rwandan marketplace, before grabbing mandazis (deep fried donut balls) and mini bananas for a mid-afternoon snack.

25. Feeling cultured as we listened to superb classical street performers all over Munich.

26. Rocking out with a band in a Parisian subway station and watching them spin and twirl our 8 year old daughter in an impromptu subway dance party.

 

 

27. Watching tango dancers strut their stuff in the streets of Buenos Aires.

28. Sharing a few appetizers with our kids late in the evening at a restaurant right on the beach of the Red Sea, Israel and dipping our toes in the water’s edge.

29. Exploring the ancient village of Bethsaida, finding a quiet spot under a few olive trees, and taking an impromptu fully-clothed swim in the Sea of Galilee.

 

 

30. Becoming a small town’s most interesting evening event as our family got haircuts for all the boys in a barber shop in Jordan (and a surprise facial for Ryan, LOL!).

 

31. Oohing and aahing over the monstrous malls in Dubai, with enough fascinating statues and water fountains and huge tropical aquarium tanks and indoor snow skiing to be an attraction all on their own, whether we went shopping or not.

 

 

32. Scrambling up a hill to peer into un-supervised ancient Lycian tombs as the setting sun turned the sky into a burning amber of glowing colors, after swimming all day at a beach with some of the warmest water and most powdery sand we’ve ever experienced.

 

33. Sitting at reclining tables and eating gozleme (savory Turkish “crepes”) while the best fans ever sprayed us with a very fine mist of water to cool us on unbearably hot days.

 

34. Relishing every sticky sweet bite in our quest to find the very best piece of baklava (a honey and nut pastry) in the Middle East.

 

35. Relishing every creamy sweet spoonful in our quest to find the very best gelato in all of Italy.

 

36. Going for a hike with the kids in a bog at the Tierra del Fuego National Park in Ushuaia (the “end of the world” at the southern tip of South America) and spying beautiful miniature red foxes.

 

 

37. Taking the commuter train out of Kuala Lumpur to meet up with friends at an Indian Festival at the Batu Caves and check out the world’s tallest golden statue of an important Hindu deity.

 

38. Driving up to the magnificent Daintree Rainforest and exploring the beach at Cape Tribulation, imagining British navigator James Cook declaring “here began all our troubles…”

 

39. Saving money in pricey Australia by soaking up the sunshine on the super fun esplanade in Cairns, where we could joins the locals and swim safely (no jellyfish – hurray!) in the wonderful free public pools right along the ocean.

 

 

40. Slipping as we tried to scramble over the hundreds of thousands of amazing small, black, volcanic stone pebbles that covered the beach on part of the south Icelandic coast.

41. Shivering (and not really caring) as we explored the “iceberg graveyard” in eastern Iceland, getting our first look at these beautiful, turquoise, hulking pieces of ice that break off from the massive glaciers further inland and get trapped before heading back out to sea.

 

 

42. Taking a stroll through quaint Cotswald villages in England, and sharing a few scones with cream and jam and a pot of tea as the perfect excuse to get warmed up on a bitterly cold day.

43. Visiting Rock of Cashel in Ireland while driving to the Dingle Peninsula and finding out it was a free family day, and then exploring the mysterious and romantic ruins and Celtic crosses almost all by ourselves before warming up with a bowl of Irish stew at a local pub.

 

 

44. Taking advantage of London’s many free and simply phenomenal museums, like the British Museum and the National History Museum. So freaking awesome.

45. Running wild and playing delightfully (adults included) among the fairy-esque stone formations in Urgup, Cappadocia, just waiting for the inevitable moment when a hobbit or elf would pop into view.

 

 

And after writing this list, I am full of longing to get back out on the road again, like, tomorrow. Happy sigh…