Many Seattle museums and art galleries participate in the awesome Free First Thursday Program. On the first Thursday of every month admission is free and normally special programming such as tours and hands on activities are offered. Also a few parking garages provide free parking which makes getting downtown via car much more affordable. Check out the list of participating museums at http://www.freemuseumday.org/sea.html. The list of involved art galleries can be found at http://www.firstthursdayseattle.com/.