Public Transportation

Freiburg is reputed to be both the warmest and the sunniest town in Germany. When my wife and I visited this “jewel of the Black Forest” in late November 2013, it was at least somewhat sunny, but temperatures were near freezing.

Like many travelers, we were there to see the town’s medieval Altstadt (Old Town) and cathedral, along with its Christmas markets. In addition to enjoying our brief visit to this university town, we learned some useful information about parking in Freiburg.

In London, plans are underway to eliminate, by summer 2014, the option of paying bus fares in cash.

The new system will require all bus passengers to pay using an Oyster card, which can be purchased in Tube stations, London travel information centers, bus stations and rail stations. A full list of locations is available on the Transport for London website. 

by Esther Perica; Arlington Heights, Il

In France, check out the cheap bus transportation between the Nice-Côte d’Azur airport and Riviera towns. 

My husband, David, and I often visit my French mother in Juan-les-Pins, which is between Cannes and Nice. In the past, we took the No. 200 bus from the gare routière (bus station) at Nice’s Terminal 1, but that stop was discontinued. 

In Portugal, Cacilheiros are orange-and-white ferryboats that make the 15-minute run over the Tagus River from Lisbon’s Terminal Fluvial do Cais do Sodré to the parish of Cacilhas daily, several times an hour, from sunrise to sunset. A one-way ticket costs €1.20 (near $1.65).

I was in Istanbul with three family members in September ’13. It was my third trip there, the first for the others. 

One of our group had trouble walking, so we had to use taxis several times. On two occasions, one of us, after giving the driver either a 50- or a 100-lira note, was handed back either a 5- or 20-lira note, far short of what we were owed, with the driver stating that that was the correct change. We couldn’t prove anything so ended up being cheated.

Quito Tour Bus (phone 2435 458 or 2458 010), the city’s first double-decker tourist bus service, allows passengers to hop on and off at 12 bus stops throughout the city. 

The 3-hour ride, departing daily from Ave. Naciones Unidas every hour from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., covers all the major attractions in the north and center of the city. 

I took the “Cultures & Contrasts of South America” tour offered by Grand European Travel. It was scheduled to take place Dec. 15-31, 2012, traveling for about five days each in Brazil, Argentina and Chile, with an optional day trip to Colonia, Uruguay. The land-only price, including a single supplement, was $7,805. 

However, because the Brazilian consulate was not issuing tourist visas for a period during October-November 2012, I ended up missing the Brazil portion, so my tour actually took place Dec. 19-31, and Grand European refunded me $2,136 for the missing portion.

As a longtime philatelist, I choose many of my travel destinations based on my fascination with the postage stamps from those places. Postage-stamp-size Andorra finally bubbled up to the top of my priority list.

During a brief visit to México, D.F. (Mexico City), Mexico, on Friday, Dec. 21, 2012, my wife and I decided to try a hop-on/hop-off bus tour to see areas outside of the downtown’s historic center.