Free things to do

A quiet walled garden with an old brick wall, climbing greenery and a gate opening onto a green lawn.

The Begijnhof: Amsterdam’s Hidden Medieval Courtyard Where the City Falls Silent

The Begijnhof is a walled medieval courtyard of houses and gardens hidden in the middle of Amsterdam, built for a lay sisterhood…

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Barcelona

The Squares of Gràcia: Where Barcelona Eats Dinner Outdoors, Away From the Tourist Grid

Gràcia was an independent town until 1897 and still feels like one: a dense grid of low-rise streets north of the Eixample,…

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Dubai

The Coffee Museum: Qahwa and Wind Towers in Al Fahidi

The Coffee Museum is a small, free museum in a restored wind-tower house in Al Fahidi, devoted to coffee history and, best…

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Dubai

Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary: Wild Flamingos Inside the City

Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected wetland at the tip of Dubai Creek where thousands of wild flamingos gather against…

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Dubai

Alserkal Avenue: Dubai’s Warehouse Arts District in Al Quoz

Alserkal Avenue is a contemporary-arts district in a converted warehouse compound in Al Quoz, packed with independent galleries, artist studios, design shops,…

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Rome

Quartiere Coppedè: Rome’s Fairy-Tale Art Nouveau Quarter

Quartiere Coppedè is a tiny cluster of around forty fantastical buildings near Rome's Trieste district, designed by Gino Coppedè in the 1910s–20s…

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Copenhagen

Superkilen: Nørrebro’s Wildly Colourful Park Made of 60 Countries

Superkilen is a free, half-kilometre public park in Nørrebro furnished with objects from around 60 countries — a fountain from Morocco, an…

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Berlin

Tempelhofer Feld: Berlin’s Dead Airport Turned Giant People’s Park

Tempelhofer Feld is Berlin's former Tempelhof airport, closed in 2008 and turned into a free public park where the two 2 km…

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Rome

The Aventine Keyhole: Rome’s Secret Framed View of St Peter’s

The Aventine Keyhole is a tiny hole in the green door of the Knights of Malta priory that frames the dome of…

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Tree-lined gravel avenue carpeted with autumn leaves running between old headstones in a park-like cemetery.

Copenhagen

Assistens Cemetery: Copenhagen’s Prettiest Park Where Andersen and Kierkegaard Rest

Assistens Cemetery in Nørrebro is a leafy 1760 graveyard that Copenhageners use as a park — a quiet, local alternative to the…

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