Getting around, country by country

The sleeper train to Luxor and Aswan is the classic route, domestic flights are cheap, and Uber removes the daily haggle in Cairo.

The Madaraka Express to Mombasa is comfortable and cheap and sells out. Safari parks are the real cost: the Maasai Mara is USD 200 per person per day from July to December 2026.

Cheap buses on early hours, one light rail line through the middle, and a driving culture where the car on your right has priority.

The trains are genuinely good and Africa's only high-speed line runs here. For everywhere the train does not reach, CTM and Supratours are the buses to book.

This is a country you drive. Hire a car for the Garden Route and Kruger, fly the long hops, and use Uber inside the cities. Distances are far bigger than the map suggests.

Distances are enormous and the roads are the main danger in the country. Fly between regions, use Bolt in the cities, and never take a night bus.

The shared louage is the real intercity network. Driving is the risk: unmarked speed bumps, unlit roads and livestock after dark.

Marshrutkas, shared taxis and a hire car - on roads that are worse than the distances suggest.

A cheap metro, Bolt everywhere, and one transport card that does most of it.

Ride-hailing and a hire car. The island is small enough that neither costs much.

Grab and PassApp end the tuk-tuk haggle and cost USD 1 to USD 3 for a short hop. Intercity is by coach - Phnom Penh to Siem Reap is 5 to 6 hours - and the Thai land borders are closed, so that leg has to be flown.

Alipay carries the metro QR code and DiDi rides, WeChat is the backup wallet, AMap replaces Google Maps, and high-speed train tickets come from the official China Railway 12306 app. In Shanghai, a stay outside a hotel is registered online through the police self-declaration portal.

One Tbilisi fare of 1 GEL covers metro and bus with 90 minutes of transfers. Bolt replaces Uber entirely, and the Stadler double-decker to Batumi is a proper train at 34 GEL in second class.

The MTR reaches nearly everything, the Star Ferry costs less than a coffee, and the whole system takes one card.

Uber and Ola are the reliable ride-hailing platforms, and both need an Indian SIM for the one-time password. In Delhi the DMRC metro runs on tokens or a rechargeable Smart Card; in Mumbai metro coverage is still thin and the suburban trains carry the load.

Four ways out of DPS and no fifth: Grab or Gojek from the official lounge, the prepaid taxi counter with fixed zone fares, a hotel transfer, or the 4,400 IDR Trans Metro Dewata bus. There is no train or metro, and the bus takes no cash.

IC cards are the key to Tokyo transit: Suica/PASMO are back in machines, tourist Welcome Suica and Tourist PASMO need no deposit, iPhones ride via Apple Wallet Express Mode while foreign Androids need a physical card. Essential apps: Google Maps, NAVITIME, GO taxi, SmartEX (with the Shinkansen oversized-baggage rule).

The country is small and the JETT coaches are good: Amman to Petra is about JOD 11 and three and a half hours. Use Careem in the cities and never a yellow taxi without the meter.

Almaty's metro is clean and frequent, takes a 120 KZT QR ticket, and X-rays your luggage on the way in. Register Yandex Go and link a payment card before you fly - Kazakh networks often fail to deliver the verification SMS to a foreign number.

A car city with no rail at all, where ride-hailing does the work.

Marshrutkas, shared taxis and a hired driver - on mountain roads that decide the timetable.

Public buses exist only in Vientiane, so ride-hailing does the work. Loca fixes the fare by GPS before you accept, but adding a foreign payment card requires uploading a passport photo and a selfie holding it.

Free casino shuttles, a MOP 6 bus and a light rail that does not go where you want yet. Walking covers most of it.

Kuala Lumpur runs driverless LRT and MRT lines plus the monorail, all paid with a Touch 'n Go card that costs a non-refundable RM 10 empty and needs a RM 10 balance to enter. Grab dominates ride-hailing, with Bolt as the transparent-pricing alternative and AirAsia MOVE for airport transfers.

Avas Ride is the dominant taxi app with state-regulated fares (cash payment in MVR or USD); Malé Taxi Line is MTCC's official app with card payment. MTCC buses and ferries between Malé and Hulhumalé cost a flat 15 MVR.

Roads are slow and mountainous: Kathmandu to Pokhara is 200 km and most of a day. In trekking season the Lukla flight leaves from Manthali, a 4 to 5 hour drive from Kathmandu, at 01:00.

Drive. There is no rail, the buses are limited, and the country is built around the car.

A beep card costs 100 PHP and covers LRT-1, LRT-2, MRT-3 and most city buses; MRT-3 fares run 13 to 35 PHP. Jeepneys start around 13 PHP, motorcycle taxis beat the traffic, and island hops mean a domestic flight or a 2GO or OceanJet ferry.

The metro and a taxi app cover almost everything a visitor does. A hire car only earns its place for the desert, and driving here is the country risk.

A very large country built for driving, with a new metro in Riyadh and a fast train on the west coast.

Tap a contactless bank card and stop thinking about it. The one catch is a small daily admin fee that foreign cards pay.

T-money is the standard transit card, a few thousand won at any convenience store and topped up with cash. Tapping a foreign bank card at the gate still does not work, but since 17 March 2026 you can at least buy and recharge with one at supported machines. The Seoul Climate Card gives unlimited city travel from 5,000 KRW a day.

PickMe is the national ride-hailing app for tuk-tuks, cars and vans; Uber works only in Colombo. In street tuk-tuks, board only 'Metered Taxi' vehicles and insist on the meter (flagfall 100 LKR). The 1990 Suwa Seriya app connects to the state ambulance service.

One contactless card covers almost everything: EasyCard or iPASS, NTD 100 non-refundable, works on every city metro, all buses, regional TRA trains up to 70 km and the light rail. Top-ups are cash only. Using it beats single tokens by about 20 per cent and enables discounted metro-to-bus transfers within 60 minutes.

In Thailand no single app covers everything: the best combination is Grab plus Bolt for rides, 12Go for intercity trains, buses, and ferries, ViaBus for Bangkok public transport, and MuvMi for shared electric tuk-tuks in Bangkok. Includes a comparison of foreign card support, phone number requirements, and English UI for each app.

The long-distance buses are genuinely excellent and cheap, the high-speed trains are good on the routes they cover, and domestic flights are competitive.

The Dubai Metro and cheap regulated taxis cover most of what a visitor needs. Driving is easy, fast and policed by camera.

The Afrosiyob high-speed train is the spine of any trip and its seats go on sale exactly 45 days ahead. Book the moment the window opens or you are on the road.

The most useful apps for arriving in Vietnam: Grab for rides and food, GoMo by BusMap and BusMap Hanoi for public transport, Vexere for intercity buses, trains and flights, and Booking.com, Agoda, Hostelworld and Traveloka for accommodation - with notes on foreign-card acceptance and phone-number requirements.

Minibuses that leave when full, no useful railway, and roads that are much better than their reputation.

One valley, one main road, and a national bus network that covers all of it cheaply.

Vienna fares went up on 1 January 2026 for the first time since 2012, and app tickets are cheaper than paper ones. There are no ticket barriers, which is exactly why inspectors are frequent and the fine is EUR 135.

The country is small enough that the train solves almost everything, and the three regions each run their own buses under different names.

Buses do everything; the Sarajevo to Mostar train is slow, cheap and one of the best rides in Europe.

Buses beat trains almost everywhere, and the road vignette is electronic.

Buses beat trains everywhere in Croatia, and the ferry is the one thing you should actually book ahead if you are a foot passenger in July or August.

No trains, left-hand driving and a bus network that stops early.

Prague tickets are time-based and transferable across metro, tram and bus: CZK 39 for 30 minutes, CZK 50 for 90, CZK 150 for a day and CZK 350 for three on paper - and a few koruna less on each in the PID Litacka app. A paper ticket must be validated in the yellow machine the moment you board or enter the paid area.

Everything is an app since June 2026, trains are fast and expensive unless booked ahead, and the bicycle is genuinely the fastest way across Copenhagen.

Buses reach everywhere, county public transport is often free, and the islands run on ferries that need booking in summer.

Tap a bank card on any Helsinki tram or bus, book VR trains early for the cheap fares, and treat the overnight train to Lapland as transport rather than a treat.

A Paris metro or RER single is EUR 2.55 and a bus or tram single EUR 2.05, both sold digitally on Navigo Easy. Between cities the TGV is fast and cheap if booked ahead, ruinous if bought on the day.

One ticket covers train, S-Bahn, U-Bahn, tram and bus inside each regional network. The Deutschlandticket at EUR 63 a month covers all of them nationwide, but only as a subscription you must cancel by the 10th.

A 90-minute Athens ticket covering metro, bus, trolley and tram is EUR 1.20, and contactless Tap2Ride now caps your spending at EUR 4.10 a day. None of it covers the airport, which is priced separately.

Budapest transport is cheap, dense and excellent. Buy in the app, and validate paper tickets before you move or the inspector at the escalator will find you.

Uber and Lyft do not exist in Iceland. City buses are Straeto, ticketed through the Klapp app at 690 ISK a ride, and taxis are ordered by phone from Hreyfill or BSR. Outside the capital a rental car is effectively the only way to travel.

Trains and buses cover the cities well and the countryside badly. If your trip is the Wild Atlantic Way, the Ring of Kerry or Connemara, you are hiring a car, and the excess on that car is the number that matters.

In Rome, the public transport network is operated by ATAC.

Buses go everywhere, the train network is small but useful for Jurmala, and the roads outside the main routes are gravel more often than you expect.

One bus company covers the whole country, and the whole country is 25 km long.

A small country where buses beat trains for coverage, and the Curonian Spit needs a ferry and a national park fee.

All public transport in the country has been free to everyone since 2020 - the only country in the world where that is true.

Buses go everywhere, ferries link the islands, and everyone drives on the left.

Marshrutky minibuses do everything, and the wine cellars are the reason to hire a driver.

One extraordinary railway, one crowded coast road, and a car for everything else.

One national system, OVpay: tap a contactless card on the way in and again on the way out, on trains, trams, buses and the metro. Use the identical card both times or you are charged two incomplete journeys.

Buses cover the country; the trains are an afterthought.

Uber and Bolt both work in the big cities, and the one thing never to do is hail a taxi off the street - fares are deregulated and a street cab can legally charge whatever it likes. Oslo runs on Ruter, at NOK 46 a ride.

Polish cities run entirely on time-based tickets. A paper ticket must go into the yellow validator the moment you board or before you enter the metro's paid area; buy contactlessly on board instead and nothing prints - the ticket is encoded on your payment card.

Lisbon runs on the rechargeable Navegante card in Zapping mode at EUR 1.72 a trip, with metro gates and buses also taking contactless bank cards. Porto's Andante works on fare zones and must be validated before every single boarding.

Trains are slow and cheap, the motorway network has gaps, and the vignette is electronic and tied to your plate.

Buses do the work; the Soko to Novi Sad and Subotica is the exception and it is very good.

The motorway vignette is electronic and tied to your number plate. There is no sticker to display, cameras read every plate, and the on-the-spot fine is EUR 150.

The motorway vignette is electronic, compulsory and enforced by camera - and Slovenia is a country most people drive through.

In Madrid load the Tarjeta Multi card (2.50 €) with a 10-trip Metrobús ticket (6.10 €) and manage it with the CRTM app; in Barcelona use T-mobilitat tickets - T-Casual 13 € for 10 rides - via the TMB App. EMT Málaga covers the airport bus; Saily handles connectivity.

SJ trains link the south efficiently and get slow and beautiful going north. Book advance fares. Everything is an app and almost nothing takes cash.

The best public transport network on earth, at prices to match. Prices changed on 1 January 2026, and choosing the right pass is worth hundreds of francs.

Train tickets can cost four times more bought on the day than in advance, and the bus fare in England is capped at GBP 3 until the end of the year.

Old American school buses on four highways, small planes over everything, and golf carts on the cayes.

Canada is enormous and the train is not the answer. Flying and driving are, and the intercity bus network is thinner than it was.

Distances are short on the map and long in practice. 200 km can be five hours. Plan half the driving you think you can do and book shuttles for the rest.

Viazul coaches, shared taxis and a fuel supply that decides how much of it runs.

Good long-distance coaches, chaotic local minibuses, and roads that are among the deadliest in the Americas.

Uber in the city, private coaches between them, and a country small enough to cross in an afternoon.

Tourist shuttles, chicken buses you should think twice about, and boats on the lake.

Luxury coaches between cities, and a firm rule about not driving after dark.

Knutsford Express is genuinely good and cheap. Driving is on the left and the roads are the main hazard in the country.

Uber and DiDi both work and both are cheap, which is also the standard night-time safety advice. One Tarjeta de Movilidad Integrada covers the Mexico City Metro, Metrobus, Cablebus and Trolebus.

Shuttles between the towns visitors use, chicken buses everywhere else, and boats to the islands.

Two metro lines, a bus network on one card, and a domestic airline for the places the road does not reach well.

Distances are the thing people underestimate. Flying is often cheaper than driving, and Amtrak is a scenic experience rather than a transport system.

Buenos Aires has six subte lines, a huge bus network and app-based taxis that are safer than street ones. Outside the capital the bus is king and distances are continental.

Yango is the dominant ride app. La Paz gets around by cable car at 3 BOB a line, which is public transport rather than a tourist attraction. Intercity means overnight flotas, booked through aggregators because local sites reject foreign cards.

Uber and 99 compete hard and both take foreign cards, which makes door-to-door travel cheap and is the standard safety advice at night. Metro fares run BRL 4.40 to BRL 5.40 and contactless bank cards work at Rio turnstiles.

The country is 4,300 km long, so fly the long legs and take the excellent overnight buses for the rest. Torres del Paine must be booked months ahead.

Bogotá and Medellín both run good, cheap card-only transit, and both cost about COP 3,500 to COP 3,800 a ride. Between cities, flying usually beats the ten-hour bus for not much more money.

Buses go everywhere for almost nothing, and the good operators are worth the extra dollar. In the cities, book a car through an app rather than hailing one.

Uber, Cabify, DiDi and inDrive all work in Lima and are what you should use instead of street taxis. Lima has two transit cards that do not talk to each other, and Yape and Plin are closed to foreigners.

Intercity buses are safe, reliable and the default. Driving is the risky part, and a UK licence lasts 90 days.

Sydney's Opal and Melbourne's myki networks both accept plain contactless bank cards with daily caps (Sydney 19.30 AUD weekday / 9.65 AUD weekend; Melbourne 5.70 AUD under 2026 half-price fares, free CBD trams). Key apps: Opal Travel, PTV, Emergency+, Uber/DiDi.

Paved highways ring both big islands, buses are cheap and slow, and you drive on the left at 80 km/h.

Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch all take contactless bank cards and phone wallets - tap on when you board and tap off when you leave. Uber and DiDi run nationwide; Bolt operates in Auckland only.

There is no Uber, Grab or Bolt in Papua New Guinea and no local equivalent. Journeys are arranged through your hotel's front desk or a vetted private driver, and the informal PMV minibus network is not a tourist option.

A small country covered entirely by buses, and one border you should think about before crossing.