Ground Transportation

"Often I feel I go to some distant region of the world to be reminded of who I really am....Stripped of your ordinary surroundings, your friends, your daily routines, your refrigerator full of your food, your closet full of your clothes, you are forced into direct experience. Such direct experience inevitably makes you aware of who it is that is having the experience. That's not always comfortable, but it is always invigorating."
- Michael Crichton ~

Airport Shuttle Bus

You have just arrived in a city, somewhere in the world.  You need to get to your hotel.  If you were on a tour you would be met at the airport and taken to your hotel, but you are not.  So how do you get to where you need to go.  There are always taxis but those are not always the most economical choice. If you did your research before you left home, then chances are you know where to go, and may even have something pre-booked and waiting for you.

Most airports, no matter where you are, have shuttles that run from the airport to the city center, usually dropping off at most major hotels.  You can usually just go to the area where ground transportation is, and purchase a ticket.  But before you leave home, you should actually research the airport you will be arriving at and find out what is available.  Some airports have subway or train stops right at the airport.  If you have packed light and only have a suitcase and a small carry-on, then getting on a subway or train is usually the fastest and most economical way to reach your hotel. 

Munich Subway Station

As an example, if you have ever flown to Washington DC, you know there are actually 3 airports that service the DC area.  One of those airports is Baltimore, which has a train that stops at the airport.  For very little money you can purchase a ticket and take the train to Grand Central Station in downtown DC, which will probably be fairly close to your hotel, just a short taxi ride at most.  The train runs regularly and it is easy to get to.  Certainly less expensive than a shuttle or a taxi all the way from Baltimore.  Many European cities also have trains and subways that go to the airport, so do a little research before you leave home, and see what is available. 

Another option is to pay for transfers from the airport to your hotel before you leave on your trip.  When we flew to Athens, Greece I pre-paid for a shuttle to pick us up at the airport and to take us to the Marriott where we would be staying for one night.  The next day we were leaving on a 3 day cruise, so I also paid for transfers from the hotel to the cruise ship.  I figured that would be the easiest way to get around, and it was not that expensive.  I booked the transfers through a company called Travelbound, which is a company that AAA uses for booking hotels, transfers and city tours for all over the world.  As it turned out, our flight was delayed and we were not able to use those transfers, but that is another story.  To read about that you can go to our trip to Greece on the sidebar and find out all the problems we had getting to Greece.  But we did get reimbursed for not using the transfers, and they were a good idea.

Trolley in Vienna

Once you have gotten to your hotel, If you are going independently and not on a tour, then you still must rely on ground transportation.  There are always buses, and many cities have trolleys, which will take you around the city.  Almost all European cities have subways, they are a great way to get around and easy enough to figure out.  The subway will have a subway map, or you can purchase one to carry with you.  A good city map can also be quite handy.  And if you plan to travel to other cities or countries from there, then the trains in Europe are quite convenient, and run on time.  I wrote an article about Eurrail and Britrail and gave information about them, so you can check out the article in the archives.

We have a trip coming up in September.  It is a cruise on the St. Lawrence River. I decided that since Niagara Falls is not that far from where we start the cruise, which is Montreal, that we would include a side trip to the falls in our trip.  We looked at airfare, and the least expensive airfare is into Buffalo and then at the end of the cruise we will fly home from Boston.  So that is what I have booked.  I then booked 2 nights at a hotel in Niagara Falls, on the Canadian side.  And we booked one night before the cruise in Montreal.  Then I started looking at rental cars to get us from Buffalo to Niagara Falls and on to Montreal.  The cost for the car was outrageous, mostly because we would be taking it from one location and leaving it at another location - which happened to also be another country.  That is when I started looking at options.  I found I could get a shuttle from the Buffalo airport to our hotel at Niagara Falls for $45 per person.  We really didn't need a rental car while at the falls, so if I did a one day, one-way, rental from Niagara Falls to Montreal, the cost was $177.00.  It was still high, because it was one-way, but it was all within one country now.  Compare that cost to $950 for the one-way, 3 day rental from Buffalo to Montreal, and it is quite a savings.  Well worth looking at alternatives.