Free and Cheap Things To Do

Phoenix

Arizona Capitol Museum

This museum dedicated to the history of Arizona is located in the old state capitol building.

Admission to the museum is always free, but they appreciate small donations (about $1-5 per person, suggested) for the maintenance of the museum. It has four floors of exhibits, plus a cafe and gift shop.

Phoenix Art Museum

This is the largest art museum in the American Southwest and contains many different types of art from around the world, including paintings, photography, miniatures, and fashions, both traditional and modern. Exhibits change periodically, and they frequently host special exhibits.

There is a gift shop and an on-site restaurant. The restaurant prices typically go beyond the standard I've set for inexpensive meals ($10 or less per meal), but there are some less expensive snacks, soups, and coffee, and on the first Friday of the month (see the Free Admission section below), there are special discounts.

Most of the time, this is one of the more expensive museums to visit, but during certain times, admission is free (donations appreciated and special exhibits may require extra fees, regular admission prices current as of April 2018):

• Adults: $18
• Children (ages 6 to 17): $9
• Seniors (age 65 and over): $15
• Students (with ID): $13
• Small Children (age 5 and under): Free
• Museum Members: Free
• Military Access Program^* (with military ID): Free

^*Military Access Program: Unlike the Blue Star Museum program, this one is not limited to a certain time of the year or to active military. It also applies to veterans and retired military personnel as well as immediate family. It can cover the price of special exhibits as well.

Free Admission: As of this writing (April 2018), people can get in free or with a voluntary donation during Wednesday afternoons and evenings, evenings on the first Friday of the month, all day on the second Saturday of the month, and in the afternoon on the second Sunday. However, these periods may be subject to change. See their website for the current free admission/voluntary donation hours:

Heard Museum

The Heard Museum specializes in Native American art in all of its many forms, both traditional and modern. Exhibits change from time to time, but there are some permanent collections, including a famous collection of more than 1,000 katsina dolls that once belonged to the late Senator Barry Goldwater.

There is a gift shop and an on-site cafe. The restaurant prices typically go beyond the standard I've set for inexpensive meals ($10 or less per meal), but there are some less expensive snacks, soups, and desserts. Note: There is an extra $3 fee for splitting dishes, and the tip rate for groups of 6 or more is 20%.

Most of the time, this is one of the more expensive museums to visit, but during certain times, admission is free (special exhibits may require extra fees, regular admission prices current as of April 2018):

• Adults: $18
• Children (ages 6 to 17): $7.50
• Seniors (age 65 and over): $13.50
• Students (college with ID): $7.50
• Small Children (age 5 and under): Free
• Museum Members: Free
• American Indians: Free

Free Admission: On the first Friday of each month (except for March), general admission is free to the public, although this may not apply certain special events and exhibits.

Tempe

Tempe History Museum

The Tempe History Museum is located next to the Tempe Public Library. It has exhibits about the history of the city from the earliest settlements, the evolution of the Normal School that eventually became Arizona State University, and the music groups that came from the area. There is also a gift shop.

Admission to the museum is free for everyone, and there are also special free events, including lectures, concerts, and film showings.

ASU Art Museum

The museum is located on the edge of Arizona State University's Tempe campus and is part of the Nelson Fine Arts Center. However it is open to the general public, not just students. The exhibits change throughout the year, but they mostly focus on contemporary and Latin American art. There is also a gift shop.

Admission to the museum is always free to everyone, whether they're students or not.

Mesa

Arizona Museum of Natural History

This is a fun museum, best known for its dinosaur exhibit with an indoor waterfall that floods on a regular schedule. It also has exhibits about various other aspects of Arizona history, including Native Americans, the Lost Dutchman Mine exhibit, and the old territorial jail.

The best part of this museum is the interactive exhibits, like the gold-panning in the courtyard. Grab a pan and join in! This is a great place to bring kids or to be a kid again for awhile. I keep trying to crack the safe, but still no luck.

This museum is on the edge of what I consider inexpensive ($10 per person) because the usual adult tickets are above that, but there are cheaper prices for seniors, students and children, and there are occasional free events (prices current as of April 2018):

• Adults: $12
• Children (ages 3 to 12): $7
• Seniors (age 65 and over): $10
• Students (age 13 and over, with ID): $8
• Small Children (age 2 and under): Free

Mesa Grande Cultural Park

This is an open air museum affiliated with the Arizona Museum of Natural History. The site is the remains of a Hohokam temple mound, built during what we might think of as the Middle Ages in Europe, roughly AD 1100 to around AD 1400.

If you have an interest in archaeology or ancient peoples of the American Southwest, this is a good place to go, but because it's outdoors, it's closed during the hot summer months. You can only visit from October to May.

There is a small admission fee:

• Adults: $5
• Children (ages 3 to 12): $2
• Special rates for field trips or groups of 15 people or more.

Idea Museum

This museum specializes in arts and activities for children, and they have classes for children and occasional special events.

There is an admission fee, except for certain free days and special discounts:

• Everyone over age 1: $9
• Infants under age 1: Free
• Free admission for everyone on certain Sundays.
• As a Blue Star Museum, there is also free admission for military personnel and their family members between Memorial Day and Labor Day every year.
• There are also discounted admission prices for families with an Electric Benefits Transfer (EBT) card (as of April 2018, the discounted price is $3 per person, limited to 6 family members).

Chandler

Arizona Railway Museum

Located on the edge of Tumbleweed Park in Chandler, where the Chandler Ostrich Festival is held every year, this is largely an open-air museum.

There is a small indoor museum on the premises with train-related artifacts and a gift shop (with restroom), but the big attraction is the trains that are parked in the yard. The number of train cars that are open for guests to enter can vary from time to time, so different visits to the museum can be a different experience. Every year in February, they hold a special free event called Arizona Railway Day, when more cars are open than usual, and that is the optimal time to visit. The cars are actually privately owned and are sometimes removed for travel or opened or closed to visitors by the owners.

One of the cars that is often available to enter is one that was used in filming the 1980 slasher film Terror Train, where a group of college kids having a costume party on a train are being murdered. Jamie Lee Curtis played the heroine, and David Copperfield was the magician that the kids hired to entertain them. The people who now own the train car told me that when they bought it and restored it, they had to clean up a lot of fake blood left from the filming.

Aside from the special free events, there is a fee for visiting, but it is still very affordable (prices current as of April 2018):

• Families: $15
• Adult (over age 12): $5
• Child (ages 2 to 12): $2
• Infant (under age 2): Free
• Active Military (this is a Blue Star Museum^*): Free

Note: This museum is seasonal, only open September through May.

^*Blue Star Museums usually give free admission for military personnel from Memorial Day through Labor Day, but since this museum isn't open during the summer, they've decided to offer free admission from Labor Day through Memorial Day instead.