Transportation - Part 2

Local Buses

Well, this section is going to be short! You can also utilize the local bus service of the city you are staying in. What’s the advantage? It’s cheap! What’s the disadvantage? It can take quite awhile for you to get to your destination.

When we were in Las Vegas, we utilized the city bus system and had a very good experience. We weren’t on a strict timetable and if we saw a place we wanted to get off the bus and visit, we could. We purchased a 5 day pass for unlimited bus rides for $10 and got to board and de-board as many times as we wanted.

Sure, we didn’t get downtown right when the light show started, but we were darn close to the beginning and a taxi ride would have cost us way over the $10 we initially spent for our bus passes.



Taxicabs

We’ll just come right out and say it - taxicabs are expensive – bottom line. Yet sometimes, they are a necessarily “evil” when you are traveling. If you do have a schedule you are trying to stick to, they can be a lifesaver getting you to the show you have tickets for on time or the restaurant who frowns on people late for their reservations.

The key to taking taxicabs is to tell the driver up front where you are going and ask what the estimated fare will be. If it’s within your budget, hop in! If it’s not, you’ll need to figure out another way to get to your destination. That’s the plain and simple truth!

And cabs are probably most expensive in tropical or luxury locations. We know of one couple on a Hawaiian cruise who got off at one of the islands and caught a taxicab to go parasailing. It ended up costing them a small fortune for a one-way ride only to find out it was too windy to parasail that day and they had to eat the same exorbitant fare on the way back to the ship.

Find out in advance and have a backup plan, just in case.


Other Transportation

If you’re on an island or in a resort town, you may want to consider bicycles or scooters for your transportation needs. They can often be rented for a small amount of money and you get the satisfaction of getting some exercise along with the local flavor!

And, of course, you can always “hoof it”. However, we recommend this only if your destination is close enough to walk to. In the aforementioned Las Vegas trip, we thought it would be fun to walk The Strip and get a real taste for Vegas. What we didn’t know was that The Strip was well over 5 miles long. By the time we reached the end, we were all so exhausted; we called a cab and paid the $25 it took to get us back to our hotel.

Alright, you know your destination and have booked your flight. You know which hotel works best for you and have mapped out the different ways to visit the places you want to see. What else needs to be addressed in the budget? Food!