Get half-price, same-day tickets to plays, concerts, dance, and more at the TIX Bay Area booth (Union Square Garage, Geary Street entrance, 415/433-7827), open Tuesday to Saturday. Standing-room tickets for the opera and ballet are a mere $10 (cash only, one per person) as of 10 a.m. (opera) or noon (ballet) on the day of performance. As for the symphony, a Wednesday-morning open rehearsal ticket's only $18 -- including free coffee and donuts (call 415/864-6000 for dates and details). Other good venues with concerts $12 or less: Old First Church (1751 Sacramento St., 415/474-1608) and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (1201 Ortega St., 415/759-3475). Noontime Concerts (noontimeconcerts.org/) presents classical music Wednesdays at St. Patrick's Church (756 Mission St.) and first and third Tuesdays at Giannini Auditorium in the Bank of America Center (555 California St.); admission $5. Join in the free Sunday morning "celebration" at Glide Memorial Church (330 Ellis St., 415/674-6000), where the choir bursts forth with jazz, blues, and gospel. The line forms 40 minutes before the 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. celebrations; get there early.

13. Park it here 

Golden Gate Park gets all the glory, but there are other great green contenders. The vast Presidio has miles of wooded trails and a restored tidal marsh; for a schedule of free guided walking tours, call 415/561-4323. On a smaller scale, Lafayette Park (Washington between Gough and Laguna Sts.) overlooks the flamboyant Spreckels Mansion and offers stunning bay views. And don't leave town without strolling tucked-away, pedestrian-only paths such as leafy Macondray Lane (off Leavenworth between Union and Green Sts.) or the steep, flower-bordered Filbert Street Steps (between Coit Tower and Sansome St.).

14. Approaching wharf speed

Tourist central, Fisherman's Wharf assaults with overpriced kitsch everywhere you turn. Mere blocks away is a more authentic waterfront experience where admission is free: the San Francisco Maritime Museum (Polk and Beach Sts., 415/561-7100), which explores local seafaring history through ship models, figureheads, and vintage photos. For $5, walk aboard the historic ships berthed at Hyde Street Pier (foot of Hyde St., 415/775-2665), and a $10 pass will get you onto the vintage ships as well as the World War II submarine USS Pampanito at nearby Pier 45 (415/775-1943, submarine alone $8). And there's no charge to view the lumbering, adorable sea lions off Pier 39.

15. Radio days 

One of the best cheap seats in town is West Coast Live, the Saturday-morning variety show broadcast on public radio KALW (91.7 FM), with guests like Robin Williams, Elmore Leonard, and Garrison Keillor. Check the schedules/venues and reserve your $12 ticket at 415/664-9500 (or pay $14 at the door) or visit wcl.org/.

16. Weighing anchor 

Some say Anchor Brewing Company (1705 Mariposa St.) and its Anchor Steam Beer started the microbrew revolution 30 years ago. See it made and taste the finished product on a free tour (by reservation only; call 415/863-8350).

17. Summer of love-them-freebies

Summer brings a plethora of gratis performances: SFJAZZ's outdoor concerts (sfjazz.org/); People in Plazas' blues, rock, funk, country, and world music in downtown open spaces (marketstreet.citysearch.com/); Free Shakespeare in the Park (800/978-7529 or 415/422-2222, sfshakes.org); music and dance at Stern Grove (415/252-6252, sterngrove.org/); and puppets, opera, and ethnic arts at Yerba Buena Gardens Festival (415/543-1718, ybae.org/). For listings, pick up a free Bay Guardian or SF Weekly at libraries, coffeehouses, and newsstands.

18. Steal this art

The stately California Palace of the Legion of Honor (Lincoln Park, 100 34th Ave., 415/750-3600) displays 4,000 years of ancient and European art; show your Muni Passport or transfer to save $2 off the $8 admission (free on Tuesdays). Ogle fine art, antiques, and books before auction at Butterfields (220 San Bruno Ave.). Call 415/861-7500 for auction schedules. For cutting-edge contemporary, visit the downtown galleries, especially Paule Anglim (14 Geary St., 415/433-2710), John Berggruen (228 Grant Ave., 415/781-4629), Fraenkel (49 Geary St., 415/981-2661), and Stephen Wirtz (49 Geary St., 415/433-6879). Shave half off the $10 admission to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (151 Third St., 415/357-4000) any Thursday from 6 p.m. to 8:45 p.m.; on the first Tuesday of the month, admission's free. San Francisco has more murals per capita than any other American city, and it costs nothing to view the WPA-era murals at Coit Tower (1 Telegraph Hill, 415/362-0808) and the Beach Chalet (1000 Great Hwy., 415/386-8439), or those celebrating Hispanic culture on Balmy Alley (off 24th St. between Treat and Harrison Sts.).

19. Literary license

San Francisco prides itself on its literary heritage, and City Lights Bookstore (261 Columbus Ave., 415/362-8193), ground zero for Bay Area Beat culture in the 1950s, is still a browser's haven. The busiest bookshops for free lectures and readings by authors are A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books (601 Van Ness Ave., 415/441-6670), Stacey's (581 Market St., 415/421-4687), and Modern Times (888 Valencia St., 415/282-9246). Consult the pink "Datebook" section of the Sunday San Francisco Chronicle ($1.50) for other lecture listings.

20. Giant deal 

Plutocrats pay $200-plus just to get first crack at Giants tickets, and most games sell out. But 500 bleacher seats are held back for same-day sale every game, and one of them can be yours for as little as $10. Be at Candlestick -- er, PacBell Park (Third and King Sts., 415/972-2000) four hours before game time; if more than 500 fans show up, the tickets are distributed by lottery. Go to sfgiants.com for more details. Your best shot at getting in the gate is midweek early in the season. While you're waiting, walk all the way around the new ballpark -- even from the outside, it's a showpiece.