Local Transportation Abroad

If you plan to travel by rail once you are abroad, you should seriously consider buying a rail pass. These are available for many countries in different classes of services for varying lengths of time. They must be purchased in the U.S. – they are not available overseas. The best-known passes are the Eurail pass (good anywhere in continental Europe), German Rail, the BritRail, and the Japan Rail pass. However, passes for other countries are also available. Check with any travel agent for details or search online. 

Many countries outside the U.S. have excellent public transportation systems: buses, subways, electric railways, trolley cars, taxis, etc. In most cases, special passes are usually available for local residents. In Paris, for example, you can buy a Carte Orange, which allows you unlimited travel on the subway and buses within certain zones for specified lengths of time, e.g., a week or a month. Check a travel guide for your country for more specific information about local transportation and fares. 

Guidebooks provide a great orientation to local travel in your host country. They give specific details on everything (i.e. the location of the bus station; detailed city maps with stations and landmarks clearly marked, what you can expect to pay for a taxi, safety reports on public transportation). Use an internet search engine or something like Apple or Google Maps to find maps of the subway system of any major city in the world.

Helpful Websites 

www.ricksteves.com 

www.letsgo.com 

www.lonelyplanet.com 

www.railpass.com

Tips from Sidney Falkenberg (Global Ambassador Spring 2024, AIFS Florence Fall 2023)

GetYourGuide

This app is really good for helping to find easier ways to tour a city. I personally used this when exploring Verona, Italy; Berlin, Germany; and Amsterdam, Netherlands. The headquarters are located in Berlin so it is definitely more European-oriented. 

I went to Verona for a day and I bought a Verona Card through GetYourGuide. I was able to get into the arena, a bunch of cathedrals, and some museums for free or very cheap! It also included a pass for public transportation, but I opted to walk or take a scooter. I also used GetYourGuide when I was in Berlin and Amsterdam. I was able to get museum tickets and boat tour tickets. It was a very smooth process. They have tons of tour guide options or passes in so many different locations. Very helpful!

Scooter apps

Scooters are a pretty cheap way to get around cities quickly. If I was running late leaving for the train station, I would usually rent one to get there faster. They only cost a few Euros each time. I think I could ride around for 10-20 minutes and it would be less than 10 euros. You can get pretty far pretty fast. Some of my favorite options are:

• • • Bit

    • RideMovi

    • Bird

There are usually other scooter/bike rental options depending on what city you visit. 

Bus2Alps (https://bus2alps.com/)

This is a bus company solely for study abroad students. They have a lot of destination options such as the Amalfi Coast, Barcelona, Croatia, Greece, Interlaken, Munich, Tuscany, Vienna, Switzerland, and much more, depending on the time of year. I went to Split, Croatia with them and it was super smooth. I hopped on the bus around 7-8pm on a Thursday and we drove through the night to Split. The next morning we checked into our hostel and went ziplining. I was able to spend a couple days exploring the city. On Sunday, we hopped on the bus and went to Krka National Park. It was one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen. Overall, it cost a couple hundred euros, and it was totally worth it to be able to explore a new place. I know multiple people who also used Bus2Alps for traveling and they had only good things to say about their experiences with them. 

Smart Trip

Some people opted to use Smart Trip instead of Bus2Alps. This is still a valid traveling option. They offer many of the same destinations for a similar price.