Getting Around in Another Country

How you move around a country shapes the trip more than almost any other practical decision. It sets what you can reach in a day, what the days cost, and how much of your attention goes on logistics rather than on where you are. Most of it can be settled before you leave, and the single most valuable decision is the shortest one: how you are getting from the airport to your bed on the first night.

What You Need to Know

Transport is where an itinerary meets reality. A plan that looks comfortable on a map can involve nine hours in a vehicle, and a route that looks impossible can be a short domestic flight. Before fixing what you will see, find out how long it actually takes to get between the places you want to see it in, and use local sources rather than a mapping application’s estimate, which is often optimistic about road conditions.

The second thing worth knowing is that the options vary enormously between countries and often within them. Some countries have excellent intercity rail and unreliable taxis. Some have no rail worth using and a domestic airline that solves the problem for a modest fare. Some are best seen with a hired vehicle and a driver, an arrangement that is standard practice in much of the world and unfamiliar to many U.S. travelers.

The options, in rough order of how often they are the right answer

• A pre-arranged transfer for the airport run and for anything time-critical.
• Ride-hailing applications where they operate, because the price and the route are agreed in advance and there is a record of the journey.
• Metered taxis where metering is genuinely the norm, and an agreed fare where it is not.
• Intercity rail or coach, which in many countries is comfortable, punctual and much cheaper than the alternatives.
• Domestic flights, which are often the only sensible way to cover long distances and can cost less than a full day of driving.
• A hired vehicle with a driver, particularly for groups, difficult roads or long days.
• Self-drive, which offers the most freedom and carries the most administration and risk.

What to Do Before Your Trip

• Book the airport transfer for your arrival, or establish exactly which official service you will use and where it is found.
• Find out whether ride-hailing operates in the cities you are visiting, and install the application that is used locally before you go.
• Check realistic journey times between your stops, and adjust the itinerary rather than the expectation.
• Decide whether you are driving. If so, find out whether the country requires an International Driving Permit and arrange it before departure.
• Look up what a normal fare is for the two or three journeys you will make most often. Knowing the number is most of the negotiation.
• Carry small notes. Drivers frequently cannot change a large one, and the situation resolves in their favor.
• Download offline maps for the areas you will be in, and check that your accommodation is pinned correctly.
• Write down your accommodation’s address in the local language and keep it somewhere that does not need a charged phone.

Important Considerations

The airport arrival is the highest-risk moment of the trip, not because of danger but because every disadvantage lands at once: fatigue, unfamiliarity, no local currency, no working phone and people who do this for a living approaching you. A pre-booked transfer or a clearly identified official taxi rank removes all of it for a modest cost.

Agree the price first where meters are not standard. This is not a haggling culture question. It is simply that a fare agreed at the start is a fare, and a fare discussed at the end is a negotiation you are conducting from a weak position.

Self-driving is a bigger commitment abroad than at home. Unfamiliar rules, unfamiliar signage, different conventions about right of way and, in some countries, road conditions that are genuinely demanding. It suits some destinations very well and others poorly, and the destination guide for where you are going is the place to find out which.

Public transport is often the best way to see a place and occasionally the worst way to make a fixed appointment. Use it for exploring and something more predictable for the flight home.

Accessibility varies more than any other aspect of transport. Step-free access, vehicle types and the practicality of a wheelchair or a walking frame differ enormously between and within countries, and this is worth researching specifically rather than assuming.

Tips for Group Travelers

• Hire a vehicle with a driver. For most group itineraries this is both cheaper and calmer than the alternatives, and it removes parking, navigation and the daily negotiation.
• Check the vehicle capacity against the luggage, not against the headcount. A coach that seats your group may not carry its bags.
• Build in more time than the route requires. A group loads, unloads and stops more slowly than a couple, and the difference compounds across a day.
• Ask about accessibility explicitly when you book, including step height and whether there is somewhere to stow mobility equipment.
• Have a plan for someone getting separated: the address written down, a meeting point, and a number that will be answered.
• Agree who sits where on long days before the first long day, rather than during it.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Leaving the airport transfer until you land.
• Trusting a mapping application’s driving time where road conditions are not what it assumes.
• Getting into an unmetered vehicle without agreeing the fare.
• Planning to drive without checking whether a permit is required.
• Carrying only large notes.
• Booking an itinerary that looks close together on a map. Distance and travel time are related only loosely.
• Assuming a ride-hailing application you use at home operates there. Often a different one does.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the safest way to get from the airport to my hotel?

A transfer arranged in advance, or an official taxi rank or licensed service inside the terminal. Both remove the need to make a judgment while tired and unfamiliar. If you are using a ride-hailing application, check before you travel that it operates at that airport and where its pick-up point is, because many airports designate one.

Do I need an International Driving Permit?

It depends on the country. USA.gov advises U.S. citizens planning to drive abroad to find out whether the country they are visiting requires an International Driving Permit. Establish the answer for your destination and arrange the permit before you leave rather than after you arrive.

Is ride-hailing available everywhere?

No, and where it is available it is not always the same application you use at home. Several regions have their own dominant service. Find out which one operates in the cities you are visiting and install it before you travel, while you still have familiar connectivity and payment methods.

Should I rent a car or hire a driver?

For a group, or for long days and demanding roads, a vehicle with a driver is usually the better answer and often not much more expensive once fuel, parking and the risk of an unfamiliar road network are counted. Self-drive suits destinations with good roads, clear signage and short distances, and gives you more freedom where it works.

How do I avoid being overcharged for transport?

Find out what a normal fare is for the journeys you will make most often before you make them, agree the price before setting off wherever meters are not standard, and carry small notes. Most of the problem is informational rather than adversarial, and knowing the number solves it.

Related Travel Tips

• Planning your trip, the hub for this section
• International travel planning checklist
• First-time international travel guide
• Preparing for a multi-country trip
• What to research before visiting another country

Plan Your Trip With LABUSA Travel

Ground transport is the part of an itinerary that most rewards someone who knows the destination, and the part most likely to spoil a day when it is guessed at. LABUSA Travel plans international and group journeys end to end, including the vehicles, drivers and transfers that hold an itinerary together. Talk with a LABUSA Travel advisor, or browse our destination guides for the transport picture in a specific country.

Verify Before You Travel

Driving requirements, licensing rules and local safety conditions change and vary by country. Confirm the current position with your destination’s embassy or consulate, USA.gov’s guidance for U.S. citizens traveling abroad and the U.S. Department of State. This page is general guidance, not advice about your specific trip.