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To celebrate 200 years since the birth of 19th century Hungarian composer Ferenc Liszt, Budapest's Ferihegy International Airport changed its name in March 2011 to Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport (Hungarians write the surname first, and Franz is Ferenc in the Magyar tongue).
Budapest Airport has two main terminals: Terminal 1 (closer to the centre in an older, original building) serves all low-cost carriers.
Terminal 2 is further away from the city, in the village of Vecses, and divided into 2A, with flights to/from Schengen countries and 2B, serving all non-Schengen destinations, such as the USA.
Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport
Tel: (+36-1) 296-7000
www.bud.hu
The airport is located approximately 10 miles from the city centre.
Terminal 1 is easily reached from the centre on a fast rail link costing about £1.
Terminal 2 is further away, and can be reached by taxi, airport minibus service or metro to Kobanya-Kispest station and then bus.
Google map: bit.ly/g6qOS3
The Mother of all Airports, as Norman Foster once called it, visiting the now disused terminal (the third largest building in the world) is a little like walking around a classical Roman ruin.The sheer scale of the building is truly breathtaking, in particular the vast arrivals hall which was designed by Ernst Sagebiel. He worked in the same offices as Albert Speer, the architect who became very close to Hitler, of course, the brainchild of Germania. I think it is that worrying link with the past that makes walking through the site all the more interesting. I found myself questioning whether I was allowed to admire it or not. It is particularly eerie now it is empty but there are plenty of reminders of the airport's previous life as a major international terminal and the role it played in the 1948 Air Lift. The US used it a base during the Cold War, from 1945 and their old offices are left exactly as they were immediately after their departure in 1993. There is a also a German War bunker on the site, where the Luftwaffe kept a film archive of the air raids on Britain. What really intrigued me was the American basketball court which was built in an area the Germans had intended to use as a grand restaurant and dance hall. In the rooms visited on the tour, photography is permitted everywhere. The two hours spent with the guide were the most rewarding aspect of a recent trip to Berlin. The two hour tour, cost €8 per person (15-30 persons) and is bookable through Berliner Flughäfen. Brilliant.
www.berlin-airport.de/EN/ReisendeUndBesucher/ErlebnisFlughafen/Fuehrungen/THF/Kontakt.html
Berliner Flughäfen
Visitor services
Flughafen Schönefeld
12521 Berlin
+49 30 6091-1660 / 2250
Nearest U Bahn station; Platz der Luftbrücke
The airport is very close to the city and the taxi fare should cost around €8.
As with a lot of cities in central Europe, you have to be careful as some rip off merchants operate taxis.
Just got back from Krakow and stumbled upon a great way to get from airport into the centre. As you come out of the airport you'll see a bus stop to your right, from there take the 292 bus to the main train station (3 Ztls, make sure you have change, the ticket machine doesn't take notes) but get off at the Craovia hotel/casino. This takes about 25 minutes. From here you are only about 5 minutes from the Ibis hotel (Sykomil 2 street) and from the hotel it's not a 10-minute to the centre. We got the bus to the main station, then paid 25ztls for a taxi that dropped us off virtually where the bus had taken us.
There have been news stories in the local press about a practice of the Dutch rail company whereby they 'encourage' Schiphol users to buy a 1st class (comfort ticket) instead of the normal 2nd class ticket, this based on the argument that people with luggage 'prefer' more space. It is always possible to change the default back to 2nd but people in airports tend to be tired and stressed so often choose the easiest way.
The story (in Dutch) is on www.volkskrant.nl/economie/article1351992.ece/NS-automaat_stuurt_toerist_de_dure_eerste_klasse_in?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+laatstenieuws+%28Volkskrant+Laatste+Nieuws%29
Schiphol
Probably the best kept travel secret is Southern Trains advance fare, bookable on the Internet, of £3 to and from Gatwick Airport. The journey takes only a minute or two more than the Gatwick Express and the trains are just as comfortable. This fare is more than five times cheaper than a one way fare on the Gatwick Express.
Food and drink at Bodrum Milas airport is very expensive. Two pints of Efez and two portions of chips cost £13 last summer! Even if you have soft drinks instead, it is still a lot of money if you are travelling with a family. We make sandwiches for the journey now. It saves about £5 per person. You are still stuck with buying drinks as you are not allowed to take liquids over 100ml through security.
As a regular Heathrow user I have often been ‘hijacked’ into paying £3 on the Hotel Hoppa bus to get out of Heathrow onwards to ‘civilisation’ at an overnight hotel on Bath Road. I have watched in dismay as families of 4 are shocked into paying £12 (or £24 if returning to Heathrow for their next flight) to travel the one mile or so to their hotel.
But good news is at hand. I have discovered that any ‘Red Bus’ from the Heathrow Central Bus Station will take passengers onto Bath Road for no charge and the same is true when picking up Heathrow Central buses coming back into the airport from the Bath Road bus stops.
There are a number of hotels only minutes away from the first two bus stops on Bath Road and some with rooms below £50 (Google Search ‘Heathrow Hotels’) and pick one of the 10 or so that are close to the bus stops on Bath Road.
The bad news is, having saved £6 I need £4.50 or more to buy a beer in the hotel but there is a nice old fashioned pub on Bath Road as well if you don’t mind a short walk for a more realistically priced beer.
Google map: tinyurl.com/yjge5kn
www.londontoolkit.com/lhr/hotel_hoppa_bus.htm#free
Staggeringly cheap way of getting round - $15 for 7 full days - even timed. Connections between buses/subway excellent. Get into Boston/Cambridge for a few dollars from the airport. Machine at the airport.
All subway stations
Successfully avoided the car hire shortage by booking in advance online. Easycar website - easy to use - car ready and waiting on arrival at Nice Airport. Tres bien!
The port of Rafina is only 10 kilometres from the new Athens International airport. It is far easier to access for ferries to the islands than Piraeus, with plenty of buses charging only 3 Euros for the journey, and with none of the chaos that exists at Piraeus.
I had to go to Annecy to watch the time trial at Tour de France today and was really late arranging it. I got a flight at the very last minute and found that I needed to get from Geneva to Annecy in a hurry. I called Alpine Cab up and they picked me up at the airport and took me right to where I wanted to go in Annecy, They were fantastic, quick and polite (and they spoke English)
We met friends who had arrived in Rio the day before us. They went to the yellow taxi kiosk at the airport and got a ticket with a price for their ride to Copacabana. But, after being escorted to their waiting taxi the price was crossed out and a new price written on the ticket. The man who had escorted them to the taxi then handed the ticket to the driver who crossed that price out and added his own price! Essentially they ended up paying 95 Brazilian Reals,(US50) for a journey that should have cost a lot less. Of course, like us, they don't speak any Portuguese which makes it very difficult to argue in these situations.
We had read about these sorts of problems on a few different travel sites and my husband booked our transfers to Copacabana with Rio Airport Transfer, who he had seen comments about on this site, and paid 50 US for a smooth journey to our hotel in a very nice car.
I'm sure everyone has different experiences and there's always a few people who get conned by opportunists, but for the sake of convenience we prefer to book in advance and know what we're getting for our money. We would recommend Rio Airport Transfer for those like us who prefer less stress.
Happy Travels!
Jan
When you land at Geneva airport, just before you leave the baggage reclaim area, there is a machine by the door that gives you free travel in Geneva for 90 minutes anywhere in the city.
You have to get it BEFORE you leave baggage reclaim though. Once out the door, turn left in arrivals lounge and go all the way to the end into the Station. Walk in a little way and turn 180 degrees and go up the stairs behind you and come out right at the bus stop and get the number 10 which takes you to Gare Cornavin (the main station in Geneva).
Geneva Airport, in the Baggage Reclaim area just before the doors to leave.
The past week has seen the DLR train connection to London City Airport closed for line upgrades. Before setting off to the airport, it is wise to check online at www.tfl.gov.uk or www.londoncityairport.com to check for travel disruptions. There are replacement bus services in place but you should give yourself an extra half an hour if taking these to allow for delays and traffic
For older travellers one of the most stressful experiences is finding your way from the airport to the hotel.
Option one: Get a taxi directly from the airport to your hotel. It will cost some euros but it's worth it, I assure you.
Option two: Get the shuttle bus to the centre of the city. It will stop outside a McDonald's outlet. You will drag your luggage off and look for a taxi rank. You won't see one - only a lot of whizzing traffic. You will now curse the day you left home - but do not despair! There is a taxi rank but it is on the opposite side of the square from McDonalds. Drag your luggage over there, get a taxi to your hotel and collapse on your bed. Have a nice day!
I know some people think that pre-booked transfers can be a waste of money, but I guess it depends how adventurous, or exhausted, you feel when you arrive at the airport.
We'd previously seen Rio Airport Transfer 'tipped' on this site and thought we'd give them a go as we'd never been to Rio and didn't know what to expect.
Although getting a yellow taxi from the airport doesn't look like it's too stressful, we're still happy that we booked our own private transfer as it meant we were whisked away to a nice car, with air-con, and didn't have to worry about speaking the language or being ripped off - which I'd heard happens often to tourists arriving at the airport.
We only got a one-way transfer to our hotel, and the hotel then organised a yellow taxi to collect us and take us back to the airport. The yellow cab was ok, but the car Rio Airport Transfer used was certainly nicer, and cooler, although of course we did pay a little more for the pleasure.
We were very happy with the service they provided.
Many visitors arriving at Schiphol Airport might get a bad first impression of the country, because of unfriendly taxi drivers that might also overcharge. I use taxis a lot when I travel to and from the airport and I can give you this tip: use Ambassador Taxis. They have very helpful and friendly drivers and their rates are very good.
www.ambassadortaxiservices.nl
tel +31 65 4747470
MAX is a very user-friendly light rail system, with an airport station and good coverage of the area. An all day pass costs $5, the downtown zone is free, with connections to city bus or cable car..
Portland metro
Shanghai's Maglev airport train shoots you across 30km at over 500 kph - the world's fastest. Take it for an experience rather than ease, unfortunately it doesn't take you right into the city centre but the station is well connected by taxis which wait around the station.
A one-way ticket is just around GBP5 so well worth the experience.
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