Photo by FloSchMUC

Berlin’s public transportation system covers a lot of ground across a very spread-out city. Cheapos need never pay full price to use the system, as there are a number of discounts available. For visitors, there is the WelcomeCard, which offers unlimited travel in Berlin, plus a book of coupons for discounts to museums, tours, bike rentals, etc.

The WelcomeCard is available for 48 hours for €16 or for 72 hours for €21. Another good deal: the City tour Card Premium, which is available for €39.90 for 72 hours and offers free entry to museums and other attractions in Berlin, as well as a free trip up the TV tower.

Probably the best deal is the City Tour Card. It’s available for €14.90 for 48 hours or €19.90 for 72 hours, and offering discounts of up to 50 percent off Berlin attractions. Download the list of discount partners from the Berlin public transportation system site and plan ahead.

If you are in a group and you travel as a pack, make sure you take advantage of the small group ticket. This allows up to five people to travel on the same ticket until 3 a.m. the following morning. It costs only €15.40 for zones A and B and can be purchased at automatic ticket machines.

Popularity: 11% [?]

The Metronet Rail strike that was due to begin this past Sunday (April 15, 2007) at 6 p.m. was, oh so thankfully, suspended. In its absence, the Tube is running as normal this week, with the usual delays and suspensions.

For fans of transportation strikes and slow downs, there’s hope on the horizon. According to the BBC, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) promises an “indefinite overtime ban” on the part of rail workers, beginning on April 22. The workers who plan to strike are maintenance workers, not drivers or station staff. More information at TFL and BBC.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Photo by vitkéz

There are a bevy of options for traveling to and from Paris airports. None of them are perfect. The bus is a bit slow and crowded, ditto for the Metro; airport shuttles and taxis are expensive and slug along through traffic with blatant disregard for impending departure times. Most frustrating of all is watching motorcycles glide carelessly by as your driver blabs away into an awkward bluetooth headset.

Now, thanks to two motorbike chauffeur services, you can stop dreaming of whizzing along the périphérique atop a German motorcycle and actually hop on the back of one.

ParisMotos and Citybird chauffeur services offer a very cool alternative to other airport transport options. A bit beyond the Cheapo budget at €55 to €75 for service to CDG (and €45 to €55 to Orly), these motorcycle shuttles provide riders with jet-black helmets, gloves, and jackets and a solemn promise to get to the airport on-time. Both offer ample space for medium sized baggage—which is more than the train or bus can claim.

While you will surely feel James Dean cool on the back of one of these motorcycles, navigating through traffic and hugging the back of an accented stranger can be a bit frightening.

The hog-to-airport option, it must be said, is really only appealing to solo travelers comfortable with aggressive driving, hostile traffic, and frazzled helmet hair.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Photo by Kaymaria Daskarolis

Athens is one of the most walkable large cities in Europe.

Today, the city offers many well-organized, clean, safe transportation options. If you don’t want to walk or drive, you can take the bus, trolley, tram, suburban railway, electric railway, or metro.

If you do not want to have to worry about buying individual tickets each time you use some form of public transportation—let alone worry about figuring out how much you are supposed to pay for each form (€.40, €.50, €.60, or €.80 per ticket—consider buying a pass that gives you access to all forms of public transportation.

A one-day pass costs €3, a weekly pass runs €10, and a monthly pass tops out at €38. Note that a passport-sized photo is required for purchase of a monthly pass.

Also good to know: Children aged six and under ride free on all modes of public transport in Athens.

Once you validate a daily, weekly, or monthly ticket, you won’t need to validate it again. Don’t forget to validate your ticket. If you run into a patrolling inspector without a valid ticket, you will be fined 60 times the cost of the ticket.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Photograph by Kaymaria Daskarolis

How to get into Athens from Athens International Airport (ATH)? Here are a few options.

1. Bus

The X95 line will take you straight to the heart of the city, Syntagma Square. The journey takes between 60 and 90 minutes. It runs 24 hours per day, departing every 20 minutes. One-way tickets cost €3.20 per person.

2. Metro

The metro connects the airport to Monastiraki station, although it is possible to transfer at Syntagma, Omonia, or Monastiraki to board lines going to the northern and southern suburbs. The journey takes between 35 and 45 minutes. The first train departs ATH at 6:30 a.m., and the last train of the day departs at 11:30 p.m. (From Monastiraki to ATH, the first train departs Monastiraki station at 5:50 a.m., the last at 10:50 p.m.)
Trains depart every 30 minutes. Tickets run €6 for one person, €10 for two, and €3 for those under 18 and over 65.

3. Suburban rail

The suburban rail connects the airport to the Larissis train station, where train connections to other parts of Greece can be made. The journey takes 30-45 minutes, and schedule and fares are identical to the metro’s.

4. Taxi

Taxi rates from the airport are pre-set and include all fees, including toll charges. From 5 a.m. until midnight, the range is €15-€29, depending on your destination. Between midnight and 5 a.m., the range swells to €21-€44.

To the airport, the fare varies depending on distance and time. Expect to pay around €15 from a northern suburb of Athens to the airport and around €45 from a southern suburb.

Popularity: 4% [?]

photograph courtesy of hereiskaty

If you were in the dark about London’s transport system before—paying a ridiculous 4 quid (€5,90; $7.70) for a single journey on the Tube—you needn’t be anymore. Last week we highlighted London’s love affair with the Oyster card.

To simplify things for short-term visitors, there are also two Oyster cards specifically intended for tourists—a one-day card and a three-day card. The Oyster card for Visitors gives cardholders nearly 50% off all cash fares around London on tube, tram, bus, and Docklands Light Railway. Although you have to register your details to get an Oyster card—this part is too Big Brother for us; we suggest you register as “John Doe” if you don’t want Transport for London knowing your every move—it’s worth it for the savings.

With an Oyster card, you’ll pay £1 for bus fares and between £2 and £2.20 for Tube rides, a fraction of what you’d otherwise spend. The beauty of it is you can now snag an Oyster card for Visitors before you even get into London. A new partnership with Gatwick Express allows visitors to buy cards on the train from Gatwick on your way into town. For more information, poke around the Transport for London site.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Athens is an immensely walkable city. Still, should you decide you want to ride—or should Mother Nature not be as accommodating to your desires as you’d like—you’ll do well to check out bus #400, OASA’s (the public bus system’s) “sightseeing line.”

You can buy your ticket for €5 on the bus itself. Your ticket will be good for 24 hours, so you can get on and off the bus wherever you like. You can even start your tour on one afternoon and continue it the following morning if you find yourself shifting into “chilling-for-five-hours-at-a-local-café-and-then-heading-to-the-taverna” mode. We’ve been there.

The bus makes stops at many popular sites and cruises through neighborhoods of greatest interest to most tourists, including the National Archaeological Museum, Monastiraki, the Benaki Museum, and Plaka. No, there is no Vince Vaughn character on the bus offering funny asides about the city’s history and people, but bus #400 provides easy and inexpensive access to places you’ll want to go.

Popularity: 5% [?]

photograph courtesy of h.andras_xms

We fall for it more often than we care to admit. If it looks like a taxi it must be a taxi, right? Wrong.

Budapest is overrun by illegal cabs that take advantage of unsuspecting tourists. A five minute ride in an unofficial taxi in Budapest can set you back a startling HUF5700 (€23; $30).

Threatening to call the police or your local embassy won’t help, as the taxi syndicate is run by the local Hungarian mafia.

To choose your taxi wisely, follow these few simple guidelines. Always ride in cars that bear a taxi company logo and have yellow registration number plates. Don’t be fooled by the mere presence of a lighted TAXI sign. If you’re not familiar with the local system, head to the nearest restaurant and ask them to call a taxi for you. Most taxi companies have an English-speaking operator on staff.

Another tip: Taxis are often less expensive if you call ahead rather then flagging one down on the street. Dial these reliable taxi companies: City Taxi (+36 1 2 111 111); Budataxi (+36 1 2 333 333); and Fotaxi (+36 1 2 222 222).

Or take the metro, a gorgeous photo of which (thanks, h.andreas_xms!) can be seen above.

Popularity: 7% [?]

photograph courtesy of Kaymaria Daskarolis

It is impossible to forget that Greece is the birthplace of democracy. Modern Greeks practice their right to assemble and voice their opinions in an organized—but, it must be said, not necessarily orderly—fashion on a regular basis.

Yesterday (February 14, 2007), three protests were held in Athens at mid-day. Two of these took as their subject education reforms. All three protests had the effect of shutting down roads in central Athens.

Today, February 15, Athens metro workers went on strike from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. By 11.45 a.m., metro services had shut down.

Protests, rallies, and strikes are literally a near-daily expression of democracy in Greece; without question, they have a disruptive effect. Given their sheer frequency, however, it becomes reasonable to question how well they achieve their protagonists’ aims.

Popularity: 3% [?]