Travelling is an expensive business: paying for flights, hotels and meals is guaranteed to hit your bank account hard. So the last thing you want when you arrive at your destination is to be charged through the nose to visit the tourist attractions you've dreamed of seeing. Here are some of the most pricey hot spots, with our pick of the free alternatives.

An icon on the Hudson River, you would be forgiven for thinking the Statue of Liberty is a free attraction – you need only a pair of eyes, surely? However, many tourists pay up to £23 ($30) for harbour tours and ferry tickets to Liberty Island.

Instead, keep your money for a trip to Bloomingdale’s and take the free Staten Island ferry. You’ll be rubbing shoulders with commuters instead of other selfie-snapping tourists, and – most importantly – you’ll get a spectacular view of New York’s harbour and the Statue of Liberty all for free.

No one ever said Dubai was cheap, but going to the top of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, is definitely one of its pricier moments. Visiting the viewing platform, although magnificent, is eye-wateringly expensive: during prime hours, it can cost up to AED 500 (£105/$136) just to get a 360-degree peek at the glittering city.

Instead, you can get spectacular views of Dubai's incredible skyscrapers, including the Burj itself, from the bar at Four Points by Sheraton on the Sheikh Zayed Road, or at Treehouse by Taj. However, if your heart is set on visiting what is undoubtedly one of the city's highlights, booking well in advance can give you access to promotions and reduced rates. You'll also get to skip the queues, always a welcome prospect.

While it’s certainly a beautiful sight, visiting Barcelona’s modernist building Casa Mila, or La Pedrera, will make a dent in your wallet. The Gaudi creation is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and houses a cultural centre for exhibitions, but tickets can cost as much as €41 (£37/$48). Fortunately, there's plenty more Gaudi to gawp at in this Spanish city, and much of it won’t set you back a single penny.

Parc Güell (pictured) and the Sagrada Familia are both free to admire from the outside, and there's just a small fee to visit certain parts of Parc Güell. The Sagrada Familia is a slightly more palatable €29 (£26/$34) for entry, and well worth it to see its incredible interior.

If you haven't got long in Paris, you might be tempted to cram all the sights into one day on board the hop-on, hop-off bus tour. But with passes costing up to €48 (£44/$57), it’s actually far cheaper and quicker to buy a handful of inexpensive metro tickets, travel on the very straightforward subway network and take in all the amazing free sights on your own.

There’s a raft of free sights to explore at your own pace in Paris. More than 50 museums in the city offer free entry on the first Sunday of every month, while landmarks such as the Notre-Dame cathedral and the Sacré Coeur are also free to visit.

The famous wax museum often has an almighty queue at its doors, but with tickets costing up to £70 (£90), it’s one of London’s most overpriced attractions.

Instead of spending all your hard-earned cash on a ticket to hang out with wax versions of your favourite celebrities, take in some of London’s best free attractions. Many museums don't charge for entry, from the National Gallery to the British Museum and the Tate Modern. And, of course, political landmarks such as the Houses of Parliament and gorgeous green spaces at Kensington Gardens or Regent’s Park are free too.

It has been in countless movies and if you’re visiting New York in the winter, it's a classic bucket list moment. But skating on the ice rink in the Rockefeller Center isn’t cheap as it can cost up to £116 ($150) at peak times.

But just a few blocks away, you can skate for free in New York’s Bryant Park. If you can, bring your own skates, or hire them for £15.50 ($20). Aside from skating in winter, the park hosts over 1,000 free activities and classes a year, including yoga, Tai Chi, juggling, fencing, knitting and more.

Gondolas aren’t only for Venice: they’re one way of seeing beautiful Amsterdam, too. But just like in Venice, this romantic form of transport doesn’t come cheap, costing up to €250 (£225/$289) for a two-hour ride.

If you’re trying to save on your Dutch adventure, opt for one of the city’s many free activities instead. There are plenty of walking tours to help you discover the area, gorgeous parks to relax in, and the largest public library in Europe, the Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam, which is free to enter and from which you can enjoy great views of the city.

Zoos are a hit with the kids when you're on holiday and San Diego's is one of the most popular attractions in the city. But if you're bringing the family, be prepared to pay: entry to the zoo starts from £47 ($60) per person and can cost up to £535 ($690) for the special VIP experiences.

Instead, make the most of the many fun free things to do in San Diego. You could visit the 70 miles of beautiful beaches, head downtown to Seaport Village for shopping, or enjoy the Spanish Colonial Revival architecture and free park tours in Balboa Park.

With rates upwards of €100 (£90/$115) for less than an hour on board, Venice’s popular gondola rides are pricey, not to mention crowded, loud and far from intimate thanks to the constant influx of tourists to the destination.

Rather than splashing your cash on a gondola ride, see Venice on foot. Explore the beautiful Basilica di San Marco, which is free to enter, stroll across the many bridges and people-watch from a café along the canals.

Skiing all across the world is expensive, but especially at Ski Dubai, where prices start from AED 185 (around £39/$50) and jump to AED 616 (£130/$167) for a private lesson. While the indoor resort is vast, with 74,000 square feet of indoor ski area, we say save the money for slopes with real snow and mountain views.

Believe it or not, there really are some free attractions to enjoy in Dubai: take in one of the world’s largest shopping centres, Dubai Mall, which has its own aquarium, admire the 7-star Burj Al Arab from the shores of the Persian Gulf, or explore the Al Fahidi Historical District to see how the city once looked before the oil boom.

Of course you’ve heard of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. You’ve seen the photos of people pretending to hold it up with their hands, or tipping it over with one finger. But have you ever heard of anyone going inside? Probably not, because it costs €18 (£16/$21) to get in, and there's little reward once inside.

Instead take your photo outside and move onto the Pisa Baptistry nearby. And while this domed building isn't exactly free – it will set you back €5 (£4.50/$5.80) to get in – every so often a guard will demonstrate the incredible echo that ricochets off the ceiling.

If you want the bragging points of doing the world’s highest bungy at 764 feet, money may be no object, but most of us would double take at the price of the AJ Hackett Macau Tower Bungy, at 3,988 Macanese Pataca (£382/$493). At least, for that princely sum, you get a T-shirt, photo and video footage and a free tower admission ticket.

For a free and far less terrifying Macau experience, visit the historic centre, a UNESCO World Heritage Site stuffed with forts, temples and churches, most of which can be explored without paying any entrance fees.

To test out Auckland’s SkyJump you'll need some serious mettle and money. With brave jumpers plummeting 630 feet off the city’s Sky Tower at 50 miles per hour it doesn’t come cheap: it costs NZD 225 (£117/$151) for just a few seconds of that adrenaline buzz.

For glorious views and a more wallet-friendly outing, head to Auckland's Westhaven Marina with a cold beer, where you can enjoy the twinkling lights of the city reflected on the water and the sounds of hundreds of boat masts clinking in the breeze. For more great, free views of the city, head to Mount Victoria, which is easily reached by foot, bicycle or car.

It's many a movie-lovers' dream to visit Los Angeles’ famous Universal Studios, where you can experience everything from Harry Potter-themed attractions to going behind the scenes of countless blockbusters. But while there’s plenty you can pack into a day here, the tickets certainly don’t come cheap, costing up to £100 ($129) for a single day pass, and soaring if you want to skip the queues or would like a VIP experience. Taking the entire family could well be an eye-wateringly expensive outing. 

But you don't have to visit Universal to get star struck. For a free day out, walk in the footsteps of Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman as you browse the shops on Rodeo Drive, stroll down glamorous Sunset Boulevard and gawp at the legendary Hollywood Walk of Fame, where hundreds of film stars have been immortalised in the form of handprints and signatures.

It’s one of the most popular things to do in Sydney, but climbing the city’s Harbour Bridge can cost up to AU $388 (£224/$287). For that price, you’ll ascend the bridge at dawn, enjoy great views of Sydney, learn about the history of the bridge and get a group photo taken.

But really, what's a view of Sydney Harbour without the bridge itself? Forego the expensive climb and stroll across the icon at street level for free, then stop on the shore to get a stunning shot like this one. Looking for more budget travel inspiration? Here is the best free attraction in every state in the US.