How to Find Free Guilt-Free Travel

About half way through writing Sustainable Australian Travel For Dummies, I realised that many of the natural and cultural attractions I was listing around Australia are free to visit. That is the beauty of sustainable travel - much of your travel experience can be done on the cheap - whether it be visiting many of the free galleries and museums on offer, bushwalking, watching the world go by in the park, or simply window shopping or visiting a local market. Maybe I should have included an icon that provided people with an indication as to whether something was free to visit or not, because it appears that "free travel" is something that an increasing number of people are interested in doing as a way of gaining a more intimate feel of the community they are visiting (and saving some money as well, of course).

National Geographic have certainly picked up on this free-travel phenomenon by developing a series of free-city guides on their Traveler website. They have listed a variety of cities from around the US and the world that provide a plethora of free travel activities. For example, under art and music they list free concerts being held (many of these are held outdoors in summer); the days in which museums and art galleries are open for free; and any free films and talks being held in universities and libraries. Or under culture they list the many free guided tours often available for historical or culturally significant neighbourhoods, parks and buildings. And under outdoors they list all those parks and beaches that anyone can visit. Reading a site like this certainly opens up a range of travel activity opportunities that you might not have initially considered, especially if you were just relying on your standard travel guide book.

Although National Geographic's free-city guide site provides a great overview of free travel activities, I have found the popular Time Out guides provide the most detailed up-to-date listings of travel activities in the city you might be staying - many of which might be free if you look hard enough. Although their main focus has always been concert and theatre listings, they also have detailed info about anything of cultural importance, including museum and gallery information, sporting events, tourism attractions and the best places to eat and drink. I certainly recommend you pick up a Time Out guide whenever you first land in a city that sells them (check their list of cities here) - you can just about plan the whole week by sifting through all their activity and event listings. Released every week (usually Thursdays) the Guides are produced both in magazine format and online and are not only great for travellers but residents as well - there are so many free things to see and do in my local city Sydney that I just wasn't aware of until I read my local Time Out guide.