Local transportation is a critical part of your successful trip. What can you trust? How much should you budget?
Let’s answer those in a general way, and pick out some specifics.
First, there are two apps you MUST have to help things move smoothly.
Google Maps
Google Maps will tell you about how to get from A to B using local transportation, including walking directions on how to get to the stations, and timetables and locations for buses and trains. We just can’t get by without it any longer. It opens the door to traveling safely and surely anywhere on earth. Instead of wasting time wandering around like a tourist, looking lost and vulnerable, you’re moving with the knowledge of where you’re going and how long it will take you to get there. You don’t need to know the address of the place you’re going – just type or even say the name, and it will come up.
Google Maps has guided us on remote direct roads in Namibia, led us to tiny obscure restaurants in the back alleys of Istanbul, steered us around major traffic jams in New York. It’s also a huge help planning your trip because you can search for all the hotels nearby the places you plan to see, for example. And the My Maps feature allows you to create and share your entire itinerary. If you’re not currently a user, we suggest you stay using it on your computer to get familiar and then download the app on your smart phone or tablet – especially the one you will use on the road. By the way, it’s FREE.
Expert Tip: If you don’t have local data coverage for your cell phone (and we HIGHLY recommend that you do), you can still use Google Maps by getting the directions you want before leaving your hotel. It will still guide you after you have left the free wifi area because the route has been downloaded.
The world’s biggest personal transportation service
And Uber will pick you up even when you don’t know where you are, and get you safely and cheaply to where you want to go. We’ve used it in many countries: Bali, South Africa, UK, France, Canada, Mexico…the list is long but the service is similarly excellent wherever you go.
iPhone 7 is unlocked for use anywhere
Ok, so in order to use apps, you MUST have a Smartphone. It’s the key to have access to lower cost local travel, and certainty about what you’re doing. See our Best Cell Phone Options When You Travel page to figure out how you can have a Smartphone at your fingertips at low cost when you travel.
You can see more specific tips and deal ideas on our page Getting Around On The Ground, and we’ll have much more on this subject in the future. In the meantime, check out some tips in guidebooks. Rick Steves is really good on Europe tips.
