November 21st, 2003 | The lowdown by Johanna Lee

Free Berlin.

Free Berlin starts with New Berlin, a magazine and tour company that is geared toward young, budget-oriented, English speaking tourists in major European cities. In Berlin, they hook you up with their free magazine, a high quality and compact alternative travel guide which provides eating, clubbing, and cultural information and a comprehensive map section. New Berlin has a tour that they advertise as free, the general introduction to Berlin tour. It is technically free, but after 3.5 hours with your motivated and entertaining tour guide, you can't help but tip a generous 5 or 10 euros. They also offer paid tours such as the Pub Crawl, Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp Memorial Tour, the Third Reich, and the Red tour or Secrets of the Communist Capital, with prices ranging from EU8 to EU10.

If you come to Berlin on a Thursday, you've got it made. All public museums are free from 6pm to 10pm every Thursday, but be warned: if you come at 5:55, they're going to charge you and not tell you that in five minutes entrance is gratis. Be sure to come at 6:00 and just walk right through. There are about 21 public museums, including the popular Old and New National Gallery, Hamburger Bahnhof, the Museum for Photography and the Pergamon museum.

Free internet can also be found. The best option is at the British Council, across the street from the S3, S5, S7, S75 and S99 S-bahns (trams) stop Hackescher Markt. Just walk in and sign in at reception and you can use the public computers in their lobby for as long as you want (although there is supposed to be a 30 minute limit). The connections are fast and the wait time can be killed with a mute BBC news channel or U.K. newspapers. The other, more out-of-the-way and somewhat uncomfortable option at the Haus Amerika-Gedenkbibliothek, located at Bluecherplatz 1 across the street from the U1 and U6 U-bahns (subway) stop Hallesches Tor, is recommended if you want to check your e-mail before visiting the Jewish Museum, which is also off this stop. The only catch is that you have to stand and the wait time is not as nicely accommodated, since you have to wait in front of the coat check.

Other money saving tips: Never, I repeat never, use the Deutsche Telekom pay phones to call the U.S.; just saying, "Mom, I made it safely to Berlin, bye" costs about $4.39. Calls within Germany or to German cell phones are reasonably priced. For international calls, call centers located in immigrant-dense areas offer a better rate.