Iasi runs on student money and its prices follow: trams cost 2.50 lei, the great monasteries charge nothing, and a market picnic for two comes to 30 lei. Three days of cathedrals, hilltop panoramas and shaorma the size of your forearm for less than one day in Bucharest.
Romania's largest Orthodox cathedral, built 1833-1887, holds the relics of St Parascheva and entry costs nothing. Doors open roughly 07:00-20:00 and the Neoclassical frescoes by Gheorghe Tattarescu are free to study at length.
The 1639 church of Prince Vasile Lupu is carved head to foot in 30 bands of stone lacework. Stepping into the nave is free; only the small courtyard museum and Gothic Hall charge a ticket, around 8 lei.
Fourteen hectares of terraced lawns, fountains and rose beds below the Palace of Culture, open around the clock with no gate and no ticket. Benches, free wifi from the adjoining mall and clean toilets make it a zero-cost base.
A quiet Neoclassical monastery rebuilt in 1841 by the Sturdza family, with a free-standing bell tower and a shaded walled courtyard five minutes east of Union Square. Donation box only, and coach tours never stop here.
The covered central market trades from about 06:00 to 18:00: telemea and cascaval cheese, smoked pork, jars of acacia honey and crates of tomatoes. Bread, cheese and fruit for a two-person picnic runs 25-30 lei.
Shaorma is the cheapest filling meal in the city, and the kebab counters along Bulevardul Stefan cel Mare wrap it in a lipie the size of a dinner plate with fries, cabbage and garlic sauce for 20-25 lei.
The biggest neighbourhood market, 3 km southwest by tram, is where locals buy in bulk: sacks of potatoes, homemade must, pickled gogosari and sour cream ladled from plastic tubs. Prices undercut the centre noticeably.
A tavern in the Ticau quarter dating to the 1780s, where Eminescu and Creanga drank: wood-panelled rooms, house wine by the carafe and Moldavian tochitura. Mains sit near 30-40 lei, below old-town terrace rates.
Founded in 1856 and now spread over roughly 100 hectares on Copou hill, this is Romania's oldest and largest botanical garden, with a rose collection, Japanese section and glasshouses. Tickets are about 20 lei.
Built in 1669 by Prince Gheorghe Duca on the hill south of the centre, this fortified monastery keeps its walls, a ruined princely palace and the finest free panorama of Iasi across the Bahlui valley.
A 1582 fortified monastery founded by Petru Schiopu on the opposite hill, reached by city bus or a 25-minute uphill walk. Its terrace looks straight across the valley at Cetatuia, and the courtyard is free to enter.
Three linked lakes northeast of the centre with open access, gravel paths, a small beach strip and pedal boats for around 20 lei per half hour. Sunset from the western shore is the cheapest evening in the city.