Airport to city centre, country by country

Cairo airport is where the trip either starts well or badly. Book a transfer or use Uber, and ignore everyone who approaches you in the arrivals hall.

Ethiopian Airlines states that passengers connecting to a domestic flight must clear customs and collect their baggage at Addis, even when it is checked through.

Terminal 3 is international. The airport publishes its taxi tariff, the rank is at Car Park 5, and the person holding a sign with your name may not be your driver.

Uber or Bolt from JKIA runs KES 800 to KES 1,500 off-peak against KES 2,500 for the airport taxi. Take Mombasa Road or the Expressway; the FCDO says avoid the old Airport South Road.

Rural buses stop about 18:30 and the light rail does not come here. An evening arrival means a taxi at a fare you agree before the car moves.

Casablanca has a train under the terminal for MAD 50. Marrakech has taxi drivers who will not use the meter, and knowing the real fare before you walk out is the whole game.

Fake greeters are a named problem. Use the airport dispatch desk or a car your hotel sent, and make whoever meets you prove who they are.

Taxis run on connected fare meters that RURA, Yego and the police can all see, which turns the arrival kerb into a fare rather than a negotiation.

At OR Tambo take the Gautrain to Sandton. At Cape Town take the MyCiTi A01 or an e-hailed car from the designated pickup in Parkade 1. Do not accept a lift from anyone who approaches you in the terminal.

Three airports that behave completely differently. Kilimanjaro is an hour from anywhere, Zanzibar is ten minutes from Stone Town, and Dar es Salaam has Bolt.

TRANSTU runs one bus an hour between the airport and Tunis Marine, and calls it a trial. First bus out of the airport at 06:00, last at 21:00.

Twelve kilometres and about twenty minutes, with ride-hailing that costs almost nothing.

A striking terminal 20 km from the city, and an airport express bus that takes a card you buy in the arrivals hall.

Fifteen minutes from the terminal to the city, on an island where nothing is far.

The airport is where the FCDO puts its named warnings. Book the car before you land, refuse help with your bags, and keep the passport on you.

Phnom Penh moved airports in September 2025: Techo International is 20 km south of the city, not the 10-minute hop the old one was. Siem Reap moved too, and its new airport is 50 km from the temples.

From Beijing Capital the Airport Express is a flat 25 CNY to Dongzhimen or Beixinqiao; from Shanghai Pudong the Maglev is 50 CNY, or 40 CNY on a same-day boarding pass, and takes 8 minutes to Longyang Road. Metro Line 2 does the whole run into central Shanghai for 7 to 9 CNY. After the last train, DiDi inside Alipay is the fallback.

Bus 337 from Tbilisi airport into the centre costs 1 GEL and cash is not accepted. A Bolt to Freedom Square is 25 to 35 GEL. Anyone approaching you inside the terminal will charge over 100 GEL for the same ride.

The Airport Express reaches Central in 24 minutes for HK$120, and the return leg on the same day is free if you use the same card.

Delhi T3 is 16 km from Connaught Place and the Airport Express metro is the daytime answer - about 20 minutes and roughly 60 INR. After the metro stops, use only the prepaid taxi counters inside arrivals, and never hand the driver your paper ticket before you get there. In Mumbai the prepaid taxi to Colaba is a fixed 700 to 900 INR.

Bali's airport has no train. Grab and Gojek have official lounges, the prepaid taxi counter sells fixed fares by zone (around 150,000 IDR to Kuta, Legian or Seminyak), and the Trans Metro Dewata bus is 4,400 IDR - but it takes no cash at all, which catches most foreign visitors out.

Narita (60 km): N'EX to Tokyo 3,140 JPY/53–60 min, Skyliner to Nippori 36 min, TYO-NRT bus 1,500 JPY, fixed taxi 23,500–38,500 JPY. Haneda (14 km): Keikyu to Shinagawa in about 15 min for 330 JPY, Monorail 500 JPY (JR Pass valid), fixed taxi 6,000–8,000 JPY. Per-type picks included.

The Sariyah Airport Express costs JOD 3.40 into Amman and almost nobody in the taxi queue knows it exists. The official airport taxi is a fixed JOD 22.50.

Almaty's airport is 15 km from the centre: Blue Sky Taxi charges a flat 9,000 KZT anywhere in the city, Yandex Go usually less, and bus 92 costs 120 KZT. Astana's official taxi runs 4,000 to 6,000 KZT to the Left Bank.

Fifteen kilometres to the centre, and ride-hailing is the sane way to cover them.

Twenty-five kilometres of straight road, and a firm rule about not taking the first taxi offered.

Wattay is 3 km from central Vientiane and Luang Prabang's airport 5 km from the old town. A Loca ride costs around 100,000 LAK from either; Vientiane's Airport Line bus is 40,000 LAK, and tuk-tuks wait beyond the airport gate.

The airport is on Taipa and ten minutes from most places. The free hotel shuttles outside arrivals will take you further than a taxi for nothing.

KLIA is 60 km south of Kuala Lumpur. KLIA Ekspres reaches KL Sentral in 28 minutes for RM 55, or RM 49.50 booked online, with the first train from T1 at 05:00 and the last at 00:05. The airport bus takes 60 to 75 minutes for RM 13 to 15, but the last one leaves between 22:45 and 01:00 depending on operator. Land between about 01:00 and 04:30 and neither runs: that leaves Grab at RM 65 to 85 plus tolls, or the official taxi, which adds 50 per cent between 00:00 and 06:00.

From Velana airport, official taxis to Malé cost a fixed 70 MVR and to Hulhumalé 80–85 MVR - book via the Avas Ride app to avoid drivers demanding 200 MVR or dollar fares. The R4 public bus and the airport dhoni ferry each cost 15 MVR. At GAN, HAQ and NMF airports, transfers are mostly arranged by hotels.

Kathmandu airport is 5 km from Thamel and the drive takes 20 to 40 minutes. The prepaid taxi desk is about NPR 900; a ride-hailing app is nearer NPR 600 if you walk out to the car park.

A modern airport 30 minutes from Muscat, and a country where renting a car is the normal decision.

Arrange the ride before you land. London and Ottawa disagree about hailing apps but agree completely about that.

NAIA has no direct rail link, so the realistic options are Grab, official taxis, UBE Express buses (₱50 loop, ₱150 T3 to PITX) or hotel transfers; Clark is served by Genesis P2P buses (Trinoma route 04:30-20:00, ₱450 to/from NAIA 3) and Mactan-Cebu by MyBus (fare reported between ₱25 and ₱50). Taxi overcharging remains the most common arrival scam - use Grab by default, with official coupon taxis as a late-night fallback.

The metro station is inside terminal 1 and a ride to the middle of Doha costs QAR 2. A taxi is QAR 40 to QAR 60 and is what you want after a night flight.

Ride-hailing is the answer at every Saudi airport, and Riyadh finally has a metro.

The MRT costs about S$2 and takes 30 minutes. A taxi costs ten to twenty times that and the surcharges are where the surprise lives.

Incheon is 60 km west of Seoul. The AREX Express runs non-stop to Seoul Station in 43 minutes from Terminal 1 for 13,000 KRW, or around 11,000 KRW booked online; the All-Stop train does the same run in about an hour for roughly 4,750 KRW and stops at Hongdae. Rail stops before midnight, after which it is a night limousine bus at 17,000-18,000 KRW or a taxi.

From CMB airport, pre-booked transfers cost 6,000–9,000 LKR, the official taxi counter 5,500–8,000 LKR, PickMe/Uber 4,500–7,000 LKR (plus the 400 LKR toll), and the Route 187 express bus just 150 LKR until about 22:00. At Mattala (HRI) and Jaffna (JAF) there is no public transport or taxi rank at all - a pre-booked transfer is the only way out.

Taoyuan: purple Airport MRT express to Taipei Main in 35–37 min for 160 NTD, 24-hour Kuo-Kuang bus 1819 for 140 NTD, metered yellow taxis 1,000–1,500 NTD. Songshan sits on the brown metro line (20–30 NTD); Kaohsiung airport is on the red MRT (30–35 NTD, 50 NTD international taxi surcharge).

Official airport-to-city options at BKK, DMK, HKT, and CNX with boarding points, operating hours, and fares (e.g. DMK BMTA buses 30–50 THB, Chiang Mai city buses 40–60 THB, BKK taxi meter plus 50 THB airport surcharge). Includes recommendations by group size, common airport taxi scams, and a step-by-step arrival flowchart for Bangkok.

Istanbul has two airports on opposite continents and getting the wrong one costs you two hours. The M11 metro is cheap and the taxi queue is where the scams start.

Dubai has a metro station in two of its three terminals and honest metered taxis. The mistake to avoid is booking a hotel in the wrong emirate.

Tashkent airport is 20 minutes from the middle of the city, and the men offering you a taxi at the door want four times the app price. Get som first, then open Yandex Go.

How to get from Nội Bài, Tân Sơn Nhất and Đà Nẵng airports into town - public buses (e.g. Hanoi Bus 86 at 50,000 VND, HCMC Bus 152 at 5,000 VND plus 5,000 VND per large bag) versus Grab and official taxis - plus which SIM or eSIM to buy on arrival, with Viettel and pre-departure eSIMs as the top picks.

Tirana airport has one bus into the city - 400 lek, hourly, around the clock - and a taxi at about 2,200 lek.

Barcelona and Toulouse are the two airports, both about three hours away by direct coach.

The premium airport train costs nearly three times the ordinary one for a saving of four minutes. From 7 September 2026 neither runs into the centre and the whole picture changes.

Every train to and from Brussels Airport carries a compulsory supplement that roughly doubles the fare. And "Brussels South Charleroi" is about 50 km from Brussels.

Sarajevo airport is close to town and the tram is the cheap way in; taxis should be agreed in advance.

Sofia airport has a metro station at Terminal 2 and a taxi problem the metro neatly avoids.

Every Croatian airport has a shuttle timed to flights for about EUR 9 to EUR 10. At Split and Zagreb a public bus does the same trip for a third of the price.

Larnaca and Paphos both use scheduled coaches; there is no railway anywhere on the island.

Václav Havel Airport is 17 km west of central Prague. Trolleybus 59 to metro line A costs CZK 50 and often beats a taxi in rush hour; night buses 907 and 910 cover arrivals after 23:45. Brno-Tuřany is 20 minutes from Brno main station on bus E76.

The M2 metro leaves from the end of Terminal 3 and is in the old town in 13 minutes, all night. Buy the ticket in an app or at a machine before you board - there are no barriers and no bank-card tap.

Tallinn Airport is four kilometres from the old town with a tram at the door - but you cannot pay for it in cash.

A train runs from under the terminal to the city centre in about 30 minutes for EUR 4.80. The taxi rank is deregulated, so agree the fare before you get in.

Paris airport transfers changed in 2026: Roissybus stopped on 1 March 2026 and the EUR 14 Paris Region Airports ticket is sold only in digital form. Taxi fares from CDG and Orly are fixed by decree, so nothing should ever be negotiated.

Every major German airport has a train under it. Frankfurt to the centre is 12 minutes for EUR 6.90, Berlin 23 minutes for EUR 4.40, Munich 40 minutes for about EUR 14. Taxis cost five to ten times as much for no time saved.

Athens taxis run on a legally fixed airport flat fare - EUR 40 into the centre by day, EUR 55 between midnight and 05:00, luggage and tolls included. The X95 bus costs EUR 5.50 and runs all night; the metro is EUR 9 and stops at 23:36.

The 100E express bus costs HUF 2,500 on its own airport ticket, or HUF 1,000 as a supplement if you already hold a Budapest pass. The taxi meter changed on 1 August 2026.

Keflavik is 50 km from Reykjavik and there is no train. The Flybus at 3,999 ISK meets every flight and takes 45 minutes; a taxi for the same trip runs 20,000 to 24,500 ISK. Bus 55 is the cheap option at 2,400 ISK but stops running at 23:00.

The Airlink 747 no longer exists. From Dublin Airport the real choices are the TFI 16 and 41 city buses at EUR 2 with a Leap card, Dublin Express and Aircoach coaches at about EUR 9 to EUR 12, or a taxi at EUR 30 to EUR 40.

Rome Fiumicino: the Leonardo Express reaches Termini in 32 minutes for €14.00, the FL regional train costs €8.00, and official white taxis run a fixed €55.00 flat rate inside the Aurelian Walls. Milan Malpensa: the Malpensa Express is €15.00 to Milano Centrale in 51 minutes; the taxi is a fixed city fare and many times that.

Bus 22 is the cheap way into Riga at EUR 1.81 - but the driver takes bank cards only and will not accept your cash.

Zurich is the airport; a train to Sargans and a bus over the Rhine takes about ninety minutes in total.

A 30-minute ticket into Vilnius costs EUR 0.65 - but the apps everyone recommends need a Lithuanian phone number, so tap a bank card instead.

The bus from the airport into the city is free, like every other bus, tram and train in the country.

The X4 bus runs to Valletta 24 hours a day for a couple of euros, and the Explore card pays for itself in three days.

Chisinau airport is close to the city, the bus is trivially cheap, and the taxi should be booked on an app.

Nice is the airport, and the train via Nice-Ville costs a fraction of the EUR 20.50 express bus.

Tivat is the airport for the Bay of Kotor and Podgorica is for everything else; neither has useful public transport.

Schiphol's railway station is directly under the arrivals hall: 16 minutes to Amsterdam Centraal for about EUR 5.50 tapping in with OVpay, with trains all night. A taxi is EUR 45 to EUR 65 for the same trip.

Skopje airport is 20 km out with a shuttle bus into the centre and a taxi fare you should agree first.

At Oslo Airport the express train costs NOK 268 and the ordinary train on the same tracks costs about half that for four minutes more. The bigger trap is booking a flight to "Oslo Torp", which is 110 km from Oslo.

A train from Warsaw Chopin into the centre costs PLN 4.40. Modlin's integrated Bilet Lotniskowy is PLN 22.40 and covers the shuttle, the train and 75 minutes of city transport. The SKA1 from Kraków Balice to Kraków Główny is PLN 20 and takes 17 minutes.

Lisbon's red metro line starts inside Terminal 1 and costs EUR 1.90 plus EUR 0.50 for the card; Uber and Bolt pick up from level 2 of car park P2, not the kerb. Porto's violet line E runs to Trindade for EUR 2.25 in about 30 minutes.

Bucharest airport has a train to Gara de Nord for about a euro, and a taxi problem that the official touch-screen terminals exist to solve.

Rimini is the gateway - a EUR 7 bus, just under an hour, and a cable car at the end.

Belgrade airport has a cheap city bus and a long-standing taxi problem the official desk exists to solve.

Bratislava airport is small and 9 km from town on bus 61. A great many visitors actually land at Vienna, 60 km away in another country, and the bus from there is the one worth knowing about.

The public bus from Ljubljana airport is EUR 3.30 on weekdays and EUR 1.30 at weekends - the opposite of what anyone expects.

Madrid: fixed 33 € taxi inside the M-30, metro from 4.50 €, Cercanías train 2.60 €, or the 24/7 Exprés Aeropuerto bus for 5 €. Barcelona: Aerobús 6.90 € online, metro L9 5.70 €, R2 Nord train from 1.30 € with T-Casual. Málaga: C1 train 1.80 €, bus 4 €, taxi from 15.21 €.

The SL commuter train looks cheapest and then adds a SEK 147 station passage fee at the barrier. Flygbussarna at SEK 119 is the honest cheap option; the Arlanda Express at 18 minutes is the fast one.

Both main airports have a railway station under the terminal. In Geneva the ticket is free from a machine in the baggage hall, and most arrivals walk straight past it.

At Heathrow the same journey costs GBP 5.90 or GBP 25 depending on which train you board. Knowing which is which is the single most useful thing on this page.

You are arriving in Rome; Fiumicino and Ciampino are the airports and the Vatican is a metro ride from either.

Most arrivals never see Belize City - they get on a small plane or a boat to the cayes the same afternoon.

Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal all have a good rail or bus link, and in two of the three the way you tap changes what you pay. Montreal has no train to the airport yet, whatever the maps suggest.

Official orange taxis run a fixed zone fare from SJO. Uber works but has to meet you off the kerb. If you are renting a car, the mandatory insurance is what turns a cheap quote into a normal price.

Twenty kilometres of road, an official taxi rank, and no way to pay by card at the other end.

Fixed-price taxis, no meters, and cash only at Punta Cana. Arrange the transfer before you land and you avoid the whole negotiation.

The airport is 50 km out and sits between the city and the surf coast - which is where most arrivals actually go.

The airport is inside Guatemala City, and most arrivals do not stay - they get straight into a shuttle to Antigua.

Four international airports, and which one you land at determines almost everything about the trip.

Use a JTB-approved taxi or a pre-booked transfer, and know that the licence plate colour tells you whether a vehicle is legal to carry you.

From Mexico City the Metrobus is 30 MXN and an authorised taxi 250 to 450 MXN on a fixed fare bought at a counter inside. In Cancun, walk past the "Shark Tank" - the people offering you a free shuttle are selling timeshares.

The airport is close to the city, and the one firm rule is which taxi you get into.

The metro reaches the airport now. It costs 50 cents and almost nobody arriving knows it exists.

The taxi fares are published by zone and they are per two people. Learn your number before you reach the kerb.

Rideshare is the default and airports hide the pickup points. A handful of airports have good trains and most have none worth using.

Ezeiza is 35 km from central Buenos Aires. Book the fare at an official counter inside the terminal or use an app: the one thing not to do is accept a lift from somebody who approaches you in arrivals.

El Alto airport is at 4,060 m and the drive down into La Paz drops nearly 500 m. An official Cotranstur taxi is 60 to 90 BOB, Yango or Uber 50 to 80 BOB. Take it slowly - this is where altitude sickness starts.

From Sao Paulo GRU the train is BRL 5.40 and a taxi is BRL 140 to BRL 220. In Rio, Uber or 99 to Copacabana costs BRL 60 to BRL 130. In both, the person who approaches you inside the hall is the problem.

The Centropuerto bus into Santiago is CLP 2,400 against CLP 27,000 for an official taxi. Buy the taxi or transfer at a counter inside, never from someone who approaches you.

Bogotá has a COP 3,550 bus to the airport that needs a card you have to buy first, and a taxi with an COP 8,000 airport surcharge on top of the meter. Medellín is the real shock: the airport is a 35 km mountain drive from the city.

Quito airport is 38 km from the city and the shuttle that used to bridge the gap has stopped. Take the official taxi at USD 25 and do not economise at midnight.

Airport Express Lima to Miraflores is S/ 15, an official taxi S/ 60 to S/ 95, Uber S/ 40 to S/ 70. Do not walk out to the main road to find a cheap combi - that stretch of Avenida Morales Duarez is genuinely dangerous.

Four bus companies serve the airport and none of them is the airport's. Taxis have a glass screen that hurts people in minor crashes.

Sydney: T8 Airport Link train to Central in 13 min (22.94 AUD peak incl. 18.61 AUD station fee) or bus 420 to Mascot to skip the gate fee; rideshare 40–55 AUD. Melbourne has no train - SkyBus to Southern Cross costs 24.60–25.90 AUD, taxi 60–85 AUD.

The rank taxis are metered from FJD 7.50. Off the street, LT plates have a meter and LH plates do not. The bus needs a card you buy in the Vodafone shop.

Auckland's airport is 21 km south of the CBD - the SkyDrive express is NZD 18 to 20, or bus 380 to Puhinui and a train for less. Christchurch is 12 km out, with city buses 3 and 29 into the centre for NZD 4.

Arrange your transfer before you fly. A hotel van meeting you inside the secured airport perimeter is the only route out of Jacksons that foreign missions consider sensible - not street taxis, and emphatically not the PMV minibuses.

Pristina airport is close to the city and taxis are the practical option; Skopje is often the cheaper way in.