- transport
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Unless you want to use the discounts and free-entry options its cheaper to buy one-day transport cards than the three-day Berlin welcome card. Note that both Schonefeld and Tegel airports are within the area for the card, so get it on arrival at the airport.
Find the local transport desk at Tegel (not obvious - ask) or get cards at the train station ticket office (above ground - don't head down the subway) at Schonefeld
Triple A taxis, or to give the full name of the company, AAA, is the best, most reputable service in the city. When you arrive at the airport, dial 14014, they speak English, will tell you when the car will arrive, and where to wait. To the centre should cost around 500kč - 12 pounds. They are the choice of expats and natives alike.
AAA Taxi tel 14014
A boat trip out to the archipelago is a fantasic day trip if you're here for a few days. The trip alone is great fun, on board old-fashioned steam boats, but the islands are stunning. You will have whole meadows, sandy coves and rocks to bask on all to yourself, and if you’re brave the water’s cold but invigorating. Grinda is a lovely small island, with the trip taking about an hour and stopping at Vaxholm on the way there and back.
The Oyster Bar in Central Station is a very stylish restaurant with fantastic clam chowder, and oysters available to buy individually. If you have time to kill at the station this is the place.
Off the food court in Central Station
Cars through the ages. Not to mention great Soviet kitsch - look out for the waxwork of Breshnev in his crashed vehicle. In the suburbs of Riga, it's also handy for a walk in the neighbouring woods, by an abandoned race track.
Take a tram to the edge of town. www.muzeji.lv/guide/pages_e/motor.html
Take the tram to Santa Tereza, travelling over the aquaduct. Fantastic experience and gives a great (and safer) view point of Santa Tereza district. Take the tram at around midday and watch all the school kids clambering on around you (it's a free ride if you hang off the side!) Fantastic but watch your wallet.
Near to the modern cathedral
You've not experienced Quito until you've taken a ride on a city bus. The brightly coloured buses in various states of disrepair trundle cheerfully along the Quito streets with salsa music playing and the conductor leaning out the door reeling off a long list of destinations. There are few bus stops; most of the time you can simply flag down the bus as it passes and get off where and when you please.
Once inside you'll be able to buy everything you need, and many items you really don't need, as travelling vendors will continually jump on and off in the slow city traffic. From toasted maize and iced lollies to Sponge Bob stickers, ponchos and even giant foam feet, you want it, they'll have it.
Finding a route map can be something of a challenge, but if you have a couple of hours to kill then it's hardly necessary. Simply jump aboard and enjoy an authentic tour of the city for just 25¢. Make sure you take the correct change though: if there's one thing that winds a bus conductor up it's a gringo trying to pay the bus fare with a $5 bill.
Major roads (eg. Av. America, Av. Rio Amazonas)
The traffic in BKK is awful and can be at least partially avoided by using the riverboat system. For budgeteers out there the nearest one to Koh San is Tha Pra Atit. The boats operate on a flag system. So you need to look on the map at the pier and figure out which coloured flag boat goes to your destination or indeed stops at the pier you are standing on (you may need to ferry to another pier to get a faster boat). So when the boat arrives look for the flag on the top - if it matches the colour you want then hop on. A conductor clicking a money tray open and closed will come round and take your fare and it helps to have change. Different boats have different prices but they're all dirt cheap. When you arrive at your stop get ready to leap off the boat as they don't tie up for long!! If you are really brave there are boats which traverse the city's canals but good luck with that one.
Tha Pra Atit
Little yellow bubble taxis (there should be a photo of one in the gallery) are a great way to get around Havana. You get great views, plenty of fresh air (and petrol/diesel fumes if the wind is in the wrong direction), and they can get in and out of traffic and small spaces faster and better than the larger taxis. However, as they run on small motorbike engines, what seems to be low grade fuel, and have fibre-glass shells, they may not be for the faint-of heart worried about safety or those with too strong an environmental conscience.
Also, watch out for the prices - although they are meant to be metered, these often don't run and you may need to check/negotiate the price before setting off, to avoid a nasty surprise. But the drivers are usually willing to haggle.
All over Havana.
The local minibus-type taxis/buses are the best way of getting around and about in St George's - and in fact, all of Grenada. They have set routes, and come along every few minutes - a great way to meet the locals and get a flavour of the island. They are especially good for going to and from Grande Anse beach area.
All over Grenada
Boat-lovers should take a cruise on the Waverley – the last sea-going paddle steamer in the world. It leaves from Penarth, just outside Cardiff, and visits the islands of Flatholm and Steepholm in the Bristol Channel. Sights include seabird colonies, rare flora and fauna, naval defences and an abandoned cholera isolation hospital.
For a cheesy activity you can take an open-top bus tour of Cardiff, which is said to point out the grim 1960s edifice of the NCP car park as an architectural highlight.
If you are backpacking or want a cheap room stay at the Yellow Hostel. It has been highly rated and is the best place to stay. With your stay you get a brochure of Rome which identifies all the must-see areas via buses. I did this and it could not be easier. The location of the Hostel is central so you can’t miss it.
Near Trainstation - down the road from there.
You get a virtually free trip past Central Park and up the East side riverside park. Get off at Grants Tomb then walk West for a good selection of restaurants. Back on the subway or on to the Cloisters.
Central Park South is a good place to board.
One way to grasp the full scale of Ceausescu's grand scheme is to jump in a taxi and get the driver to take you round a full circuit of the palace. Only then can you come to terms with how big it really is - only the Pentagon is larger.
"Hello, I take you anywhere, many temple, jus' twenny baht!" So begins one of the oldest scams in Bangkok's voluminous book; I still fell for it. What the driver really wants is a petrol token, which will be given to him by someone at the tailors' or jewellers' shop he will inevitably bring you to after a short tour of the neighbourhood's least spectacular wats.
Outside most of Bangkok's main attractions.
Nick Watt says "take a taxi" then states it's expensive. Take a train (every 15 mins) to Brussels main stations (North, Central or Midi) for only €1.25 with a Key ticket (€10.00 for eight journeys)or €2.60 single fare - ± 10% of the taxi fare!
Shared rides are a great way of avoiding public transport when you have baggage, and are relatively inexpensive (US $ 15-19 one way) when compared to taxis. There will usually be a wait of between 15-30 minutes and the ride time into the city is influenced by how many people are sharing the ride. The transport is provided by a six-seater van with space in the back for luggage. Payment up front (before departure) in cash is required, and tipping is optional, though encouraged. You will be dropped at the exact address specified, be it a hotel or residence.
Ask at the transport desk (located in the luggage retrieval area at Newark & Laguardia, not certain about JFK) or book on-line through www.supershuttle.com/.
Rather than pay expensive taxi or bus fares from the airport, simply get the free shuttle bus from outside the terminal to Howard Beach JKF Airport station on the 'A' line subway train. Then take the subway straight to Manhattan. Cost? $2.
This sweltering, sprawling market spills from the streets onto the sea of sand which makes up the longest beach in the world. It's 5 hours further east of Chittagong and can only be reached by bus ... so, why do I recommend it? Simply the combination of everything.
The social chaos of Bangladesh sprawled across the sands, the crowds of worn, warm faces that follow your every move (even when you take a dip in the ocean), the sun setting over the Bay of Bengal and the rickshaw back to your hotel for fresh hot curry and clay-oven baked naan ... yum-yum!
Is this your business?