As any college student knows, it’s easy to restrict yourself to the campus bubble. Schoolwork is tiring enough; who has time to think about the outside world, much less explore it? Kids in New Haven may have the luxury of using this excuse, but if you chose to live in Baltimore for four years and have yet to see anything but the Inner Harbor and your bedroom walls, shame on you.

Charm City has long been a creative nest for all artistic disciplines, and it doesn’t aim to die down soon. But it retains a slower pace that separates it from giants such as New York or San Francisco, where the cost of living and expectation of grandeur can place a desire to make money over the importance of creative integrity. Plus, having so many colleges and universities around encourages many promoters, artists, and venues alike to keep their prices low in order to cater to the city’s main demographic. The following list of cheap cultural things to do around Baltimore is by no means exhaustive, and we encourage you to dig out fresh venues and hideaways of your own—or, hey, browse weekly.citypaper.com every week—but for the B’more n00b, here are the places to check out first.

MUSIC

Your friends will beg you to shell out $50 to see Animal Collective from the field at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, so far from the stage you need to watch the giant screen to see Avey Tare’s face. But you’re broke and without a car. Luckily you have some cheap, convenient alternatives for any night on the town. Just a few blocks from Johns Hopkins University’s Homewood Campus, the Ottobar (2549 N. Howard St., [410] 662-0069, theottobar.com) offers something for almost all music lovers, hosting hip-hop emcees and hardcore groups one after the other (many shows are all ages), as well as weekly theme nights ranging from Metal Mondays to Kowli Nights, the techno- and house- bumpin’ Thursday party. With cheap drinks and most show tickets under $15, this is a prime spot.

If the scene is more your speed, the Windup Space (12 W. North Ave., [410] 244-8855, thewindupspace.com) is always full of horn-rimmed glasses and ironic mustaches, despite its location on a once nearly deserted stretch of one of Baltimore’s faded main drags. Regardless, the Windup boasts local art on the walls, a friendly vibe, and plenty of music, not least the free Out of Your Head jazz/improv blowout every Tuesday.

For the crusty street punks, nothing beats the Sidebar Tavern (218 E. Lexington St., [410] 659-4130, sidebartavern.com). Great drink specials, all-ages shows under $10, and a central location make this the ideal dive bar. For classical and jazz aficionados, An die Musik (409 N. Charles St., [410] 385-2638, andiemusiklive.com) is the spot for LP shopping and performances from both local players and world-famous touring musicians. The ticket prices aren’t always budget, but the venue is very good about offering student discounts to most shows (win!).

If you’re searching for something a little more out of the ordinary and uncooked, Baltimore boasts a number of ad hoc spaces, many of them studio or living spaces transformed into venues every now and then. Many of them are clustered in Station North, but Floristree Space (myspace.com/floristree) is probably the epitome of the local collective space. It’s fairly big and has hosted a variety of local (Future Islands) and out-of-town (Dirty Projectors) bands that draw big crowds, as well as all kinds of less “name” artists who make finding your way there worth the effort. Chill atmosphere and $5 tickets are definite perks, but keep in mind you’re in someone’s house.

There are many more venues of all types, sizes, and price points. As always, weekly.citypaper.com features weekly listings of the vast numbers and types of shows at venues large and small, spendy and cheap, of all different stripes and all over the metro area.

FILM

Most of the movie screens in the Baltimore area sit clumped together in multiplexes way out in the suburbs. The thing is, many of the same movies play in theaters that are closer, and often cheaper. Not far from Hopkins, the Rotunda Cinematheque (711 W. 40th St., [410] 235-5554) runs three current releases at a time; tickets are about $8. Tuesday nights are $5, however, so be sure to show up early before they sell out. The historic Senator Theater (5904 York Road, [410] 323-4424, thesenatortheatre.com), located between Loyola University/College of Notre Dame and Towson University, only has one screen, but its throwback feel makes a great date spot. The Charles Theatre (1711 N. Charles St., [410] 727-3456, thecharles.com), a block away from Penn Station and not far from University of Baltimore and MICA, is the city’s longtime art house, with programming that spans indie and foreign titles as well as big-box-office hits. If your secret dream was to be a character from Grease, head out to Bengies (3417 Eastern Blvd., Middle River, (410) 391-1956, bengies.com), one of the few drive-in theaters left. Admission varies from $5-$9, which gets you in to all three showings on any given weekend during its season, plus the old-school snack bar has to be seen to be believed.

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