Tourist passes can save you money when you travel and want to visit local museums, but so can your membership to your local museum. Check with your museum, or the museums you want to visit, to see if your local membership will get you in abroad for free.


Many museums have partnership programs with similar museums in other cities. That means your membership at home will get you in for free or a discounted price while you’re on vacation.

A few examples are the Association of Science-Technology Centers passport program, de Young art museum’s reciprocal membership program, The Met’s partnership program, and the North American Reciprocal Museum Association. If you’re curious, contact your museum’s member services department, or check their site for member benefits—they’re probably listed there if there are partner museums. You can also visit the web site of the museum you want to visit to see if they list partner memberships. You’ll only spend a few minutes checking, but it could save quite a bit of your travel budget.


6 Easy Ways to Get Free Museum Admission | Travel+Leisure