Itineraries > Saratoga On The Cheap!

If you are low on cash, or just saving your pennies for the ponies, we have some money saving adventures for you!

The bugle will soon sound and another season of the Saratoga Race Course will be under way. High society, celebrities, horse trainers, owners and jockeys will answer the call. Horse racing fans and fun seekers will choose their favorite picnic spots. Buses, cars, limousines and vans will clog the city streets once again. It’s August in Saratoga Springs!

For many, the summer season in Saratoga is all about a day at the race track -- or maybe an evening under the stars at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, a charity gala, an art exhibit, a polo match or 18 holes of golf. Museums, restaurants, bistros, sidewalk cafes, art galleries and theaters thrive.

But for those low on funds... dreams of inside seats at SPAC fade fast at $95 each for Rush as well as many other popular artists. Lawn seats? Still $60 each. Eighteen holes of golf at Saratoga National Golf Club costs $185 during the track season.. The Live on Stage Wine & Food Festival? $150 per person.

So leave your ballgown and dancing shoes in the closet when you head to the Spa City with this itinerary. Proof you don't have to spend big bucks in Saratoga to have fun. There's plenty to do -- either free or cheap!

1. Arrive at 6:45 a.m. or earlier to see horses work out at Saratoga Race Course on Union Avenue. Gates are open. Morning visitors are welcome except on Travers Day. Take a tram tour of the backstretch area for a behind-the-scenes look at thoroughbred racing. It's free!
2. Take a trolley to see the sights. CDTA operates a Saratoga Visitors Shuttle an open-air trolley. Cost: 50 cents one way, $1 round-trip. Hours: 10 a.m. to after 6 p.m. every day but Monday. Leaving from Skidmore College, it stops on Broadway and continues to the Hall of Springs at Saratoga Spa State Park.
3. Watch live racing on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday in August at Saratoga Harness Track. First post is at 7:35 p.m. Trotters and pacers compete over a half-mile oval. Parking and admission, free. 584-2110                      
4. Saratoga is a friendly place to walk, bike and tour. Stop by the Saratoga Springs Visitor Center at 297 Broadway. Mary-Jane Rau Pelzer, the center’s events coordinator, says they offer a wealth of information, including Saratoga maps, city guides and more than 250 brochures.
5.  Take a $2 guided walking tour of Congress Park, and stop to take a ride on the century-old wooden carousel.
6.  For an East Side walking tour, a numbered map points out the architecture at some of the city's finest homes. Tour begins at southern end of Congress Park and is about 2 miles long. Wear comfortable shoes.
7. The West Side walking tour focuses on the people who owned, supported and worked in the city's resort industry. It's about 1 mile and takes about an hour.
8. A Stroll Up Broadway tour and map offers the history and architecture of the High Victorian homes on Broadway.
9. Pose next to each of the wonderfully painted horses on Broadway and nearby streets for a quick picture from your digital camera. Inexpensive memories that say Saratoga beautifully.
10. A Tasting Tour brochure gives locations and history of the city's restored mineral water fountains. Sip from each spring, and taste the healing waters at 17 sites from High Rock Park to Saratoga Spa State Park to Congress Park on Broadway. Historians say the likes of George Washington, Ulysses Grant, Diamond Jim Brady, Lillian Russell and Edgar Allen Poe tasted the waters. Bring paper cups, a sense of adventure and remember - the water really is good for you! .
11. Bicycle Tours: Routes for recreation are mapped in a bicycling brochure. The map's legend provides information, extra precautions, off-street connectors and pedestrian paths, restrooms, recreation and cultural sites, hospital directions, even a bike shop. Short, medium and long rides are listed.
    
    Congress Park
12. Strolling Tour: Take a self-guided tour of Congress Park. The park is filled with gardens, ponds, statues, unusual trees and shrubs. Play a game. Use the brochure "Meet the Trees in Congress Park," made by students in Saratoga Mentoring. It helps identify more than 45 species of trees.
13. Park must-sees: "Spirit of Life" bronze statue by Daniel Chester French. "Spit and Spat" statues in the fountain. Chess tables are located near Spit and Spat. Find a partner, bring a chess set and play.
14. Canfield Casino, in the park's center, is a former gambling establishment now home to the Historical Society. It houses a museum, exhibits and gift shop. Admission: $5 for adults; $4 for students and seniors; younger than 12, free.
15. Picnicking in the park is permitted. So is sunbathing. Bring a blanket or chair and listen to free concerts at 7 p.m. Tuesdays during August. Music styles range from country, to rhythm and blues, to rock and many others.
16.  Ride the Congress Park Carousel. Fully restored, it opened in 2002 in an enclosed pavilion on the Spring Street side. Horses were carved by Marcus Charles Ilions, a woodcarver known for creating horses with flamboyant heads and well-decorated bodies. Cost: 50 cents
    
    History
17. New York State Military Museum, 61 Lake Ave., is open year-round, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Sunday hours start at noon. It also is a Veterans Research Center and library. The collection of more than 10,000 military artifacts, include uniforms, weapons, battle flags, photos, art and other memorabilia. 583-0184. Admission is free!
18. Saratoga Harness Racing Museum, 352 Jefferson St., is on the grounds of the harness track. Exhibits include old-time heroes, high-wheel sulkies, antique horseshoes, paintings, sculpture, Hall of Fame and gift shop. Director Virginia O'Brien offers a guided tour. A children's movie is also shown. 587-4210. Admission is free!
    
    Music
19. No performances at SPAC are free. But, it's possible to drive up the Avenue of the Pines while concerts are in progress. From Route 50, take the first left into the park and drive as close to the amphitheater as possible and park. Open the windows, close your eyes and listen. Bring a Citronella Candle for ambiance - and for the mosquitos!
20. Upbeat on the Roof at the Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College campus offers live music on the rooftop patio at 7 p.m. on Fridays. Rain moves the show inside to the Payne Room. Shows continue through end of August. 580-8080. Free.
    
    Art
21. Saratoga Arts Council at 320 Broadway is a one-stop spot for art. A large cast-iron sculpture rests by the front door. Many artworks are inside. Gallery hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday (open until 8 p.m. on Thursdays). Closed Sundays. Free.
22. Art in the Park, a fine-arts exhibition runs in Congress Park 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 17. Free.
23. See You on Saturday Art Scene is 5 to 8 p.m. on the first Saturday of the month. Meet the artists and enjoy refreshments at various downtown locations. Free.
24. Yaddo Gardens, Union Avenue, just west of Northway Exit 14. Yaddo is a working artists community. Creative artists pursue projects in a supportive environment with uninterrupted time to work. Only the gardens are open. The gardens were a gift of love from Spencer Trask to his wife Katrina Trask in 1899. Stroll through the rose garden based on Italian classical gardens. It is divided into four beds, centered by a fountain, and overlooks three terraces, a balcony and rose-covered terra cotta-columned pergola. Beyond is a rock garden with an upper and lower pond, and fountains connecting. Trees create a shady woodland with perennials and wild flowers. Admission and parking, free.
    

Let us know how you enjoy Saratoga Springs on a shoestring! Send us your favorite inexpensive past-time pursuits in Saratoga, and see your name in lights!!!! Okay, well not really... but you'll get a byline, our gratitude and a spot on our readers' tips & top picks page!