Let's look at TWENTY of the best, the cheapest, the most colourful, the strangest, the quickest – and the most fun ways – to get around in various places.

On water.....

Travel like a Venetian

Most places have water transport and none is better known for it than the city built on water - Venezia! 

While Venice often seems to be all about tourists – come in  the summer holiday season if you don' t agree! – locals need to get around too.

And so, for many the uber-cheap traghetto (around 70 euro-cents a ride - although tourists pay more!) is the ideal way to get from one side of the Grand Canal to the other. Nothing fancy but it does the job.

You can sit, but most locals prefer to stand and, as you can see, it works for business people too. Even though Venice has 409 bridges linking its 118 islands, water-craft are still key to efficiently getting around the city.

Venice's 177 canals carry hundreds of various boats, and here you see the range all at once on the Grand Canal which, as the name suggests is the major thoroughfare. Gondolas to the left, a vaporetto, which is like a water-bus, in the centre, with a private motor boat behind, and a traghetto crossing.

OR

You can use a 'Shuttle Bike'. See the video here..... (you have to see this!)

Read more about Venice here.......

Diary date: Sunday 6th September 2015

 - The Regata Storica a rowing event is preceded by a spectacular historical water pageant.

 

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City to Beach by ferry

Visitors to New York City come back rhapsodising about the Staten Island ferry. OK, it is free, but the Manly Ferry is also a long established iconic trip in Sydney.

The slogan to promote Manly as a destination used to be ‘seven miles from Sydney, a thousand miles from care’, but somehow it doesn’t sound as catchy if you convert it to metric!

As early as 1855 people were brought here by paddle-steamer from Circular Quay for excursions. In 1873 the Port Jackson and Manly Steamship Company built several attractions including a large ocean pool and bathing pavilion, the Manly Fun Pier. Regular ferry services to and from Circular Quay (and still Sydney’s most popular ferry trip) began that year.

In 1931 (perhaps with hopes of Manly becoming the ‘Brighton of Sydney’) the Manly Amusement Pier opened a little east of the wharf, promoted by the slogan "Built for fun in '31". It was known as and continued to operate as this until 1989 when it was demolished and the current wharf with shops, restaurants and a hotel was built.

Did you know? Manly Beach is said to be the place where the restriction on daylight sea bathing (aka swimming) was first challenged in Australia in 1902. Also one of the world's first surf life-saving clubs was formed in 1904, after 17 people had drowned at Manly Beach the year before. 

More about Manly.....

 

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 London's Venice

Many people do not know that London's Little Venice, which sounds a good deal more romantic than the name of the nearest tube station - Warwick Avenue – is a delightful escape from the city's busyness. The canal itself was opened in 1820 to join the Grand Union Canal at Paddington Basin with the River Thames at Limehouse. Today it is the street address of dozens of red and green and yellow narrow boats used as houseboats, that are moored along its banks, and there are cruises that allow you to enter this world, if only for a short time.

Find out more.....

 

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Long-tailing Thais!

Initially Bangkok's web of canals (klongs) were the easiest way for local people to move from place to place. They could carry things to sell to houses along the banks of the klongs, and more recently it has become a mobile market cashing in on sightseeing tourists. A klong tour is noisy, colourful and fun and should be on every visitor's itinerary! 

Grand estates like Chakrabongse Villas, where we stayed, have striped poles, reminiscent of Venice – except here it's a rowdy Venice! By day, those longtail boats, are often driven by lads who manage them like a sports car, accelerating towards each other, then wheeling way, zooming off in a wall of spray. At night, the barges boom deep bass notes, and the sightseeing ferries and dinner cruises pass by sharing their music and commentaries. This river is a lively place, the lifeblood of Bangkok.

More about Bangkok.....

 

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Take a Kashmiri 'taxi'

The city of Srinagar, of the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir's 'summer capital', was built lakeside and to cross it, you need to take one of the small gondola-like boats, shikhara. No doubt the early British residents felt this place was like Venice, only with a snowy backdrop. In fact Srinagar is sometimes referred to as the 'Venice of the East'.

More about Kashmir....

 

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The narrower the better

Narrowboats were developed in the 18th-century as transport for the products of the newly industrialised centre of England. At that time its key geographical position made Birmingham an ideal centre. The 'hub of England' some called it.

When manufacturing waned in the 1970s the focus had to change. Just a couple of hours by train from London it has now reinvented itself as an important centre for conventions and exhibitions.

We travelled part of the the 29-mile-long (47 km) Worcester and Birmingham Canal, opened in 1815, that links the two cities, and passes through Bourneville, the home of Cadbury chocolate. Its 58 locks, including the 30 Tardebigge Locks, one of the largest lock flights in Europe, allows the canal to climb 428 feet (130 m) overall. 

Read more....

 

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Barging around France

For a holiday of your dreams, a leisurely escape to one of France's many canals, has to be right near the top of any best-vacation-to-take list.

Better still, book one in which you are piloted through the sometimes confusing lock systems and all that is required of you is to sit back with a glass of local wine and some snacks and watch the walking-pace scenery pass by.

Here's the trip we took.....

 

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On wheels

 

Go with 'the knowledge'

London is a huge and difficult city in which to self-drive. It's expensive, too - think, the Congestion Charge, and parking fees. Who needs to bother, when there are cabs big enough for all your luggage and the cabbies are knowledgable and fun to meet?

What makes them so reliable? Why don't they ever get lost in the archaic web of inner London's lanes and streets? It's because of the exhaustive training they undertake. And it's not just about their 'motors', they have to absorb The Knowledge before they are licensed to drive a cab.

What's that? Read more.....

 

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Say it with flowers!

Melaka, Malacca – doesn't matter how you spell it, this city which has had three colonists over the past half a millennium, and the influences each has left behind, make it colourful and fun to visit. The rose-pink Christ Church that faces the busy main square was constructed in 1753 reflecting the original Dutch architecture, and it is here that you'll find what are possibly Asia's most brilliantly decorated trishaws, just waiting to take you on a guided tour of historic sites. 

Find out what there is to see....

 

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Donkey vs horse-power in Morocco

While in some rural parts of the country, you could ride a donkey, in the cities they are used to draw heavily laden carts through twisting laneways where often they are pulling the only 'vehicle' narrow enough to fit.

However on Marrakesh's main streets there is only one way to travel and feel part of the action. You can see more clearly from the vantage point of a caleche and the clip-clop pace gives you time to snap photographs and absorb the sights and sounds (and smells!) of this bustling place. 

See what it's like.....

 

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Tramming it in HK

They love their trams in Hong Kong! With a population of over seven million, efficient transport systems are vital. Over 90 percent of local travel uses public transport, so the ferry, rail, bus, even multi-level escalators have an important part to play. Hong Kong Tramways has served the territory since 1904, and covers the northern parts of Hong Kong Island.‪

Local tip: best position is by a window on the upper deck.

Learn other things about Hong Kong......

 

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Catch the trolley

Savannah, Georgia, still has its gracious antebellum buildings, and southern charm. Best way to see it is from the window of a trolley. Cobbled River Street, matches the course of the Savannah river and reminds visitors that this was Georgia's first city,  founded in 1733. In days gone by it was busy too. Cotton has always played a part in its success and the port was essential for its shipment, but not everyone knows that very early on, in 1735, it was also the first place in the USA from which silk was exported. Read more about Savannah....

See what the trolley will show you.....

 

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Le Petit Train

Yes, of course, it is just a tourist train, but it is so cute, and who can resist the colour?

Despite the fact it runs on the road, not tracks, this is a fun way to see Noumea, the capital of New Caledonia.

See more about Noumea...

 

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On rails

 

Up, up and away in Wellington

They call it Wellington's 'most moving attraction' and it is a pretty fair description, given that the Wellington Cable Car has celebrated 113 years of service to the City of Wellington, capital of New Zealand. A favourite of locals and visitors alike, the cable car allows easy access from its terminal on Lambton Quay in the CBD to the top entrance of the Botanic Garden and the Kelburn lookout.

There is a fascinating history to this triumph of engineering. Read it here...

See what else there is to do in Wellington....

 

 

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San-Fran cable cars

Once the best (and sometimes only) way to get around San Francisco's many steep hills, the San Francisco cable car system is the world's last manually operated cable car system. An icon of the city, three of the original 23 lines established between 1873 and 1890 still remain in use.

Offering spectacular views, stomach-churning drops and fresh air and fun, all for just a few dollars, it's little wonder that for many visitors a trolley-ride is as important to experience in San Francisco as is sighting the Golden Gate Bridge or a visit to Alcatraz.

Find out more.....

 

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A fun funicular

The climate of George Town, the capital of Penang, Malaysia, is usually hot and tropical. But help is at hand. For a breath of fresh air and a respite from the heat, hop on this funicular train for a twenty-minute trip to the top of Penang Hill where, at 833 metres above sea level, the temperature will be several degrees lower. It may even be foggy or raining.

It's been a popular destination for visitors since the line opened in 1923, so be prepared for a lengthy wait in peak times, and for a bit of crowding onboard. Find out more about the train....

Visit Penang....

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Cliff hanging in Devon

You would think that a cliff might mean that a railway line would need to either go around it - or through it. Right?

In western England In the 19th century, the high cliffs separating Lynton from Lynmouth were a major obstacle to economic development. The twin villages mainly relied on sea transport because land travel was extremely difficult over Exmoor. Coal, lime, foodstuffs and other essentials arrived at Lynmouth in sailing vessels, but this freight had to be carried by packhorses or in horse drawn carts up the steep hill to Lynton. 

The solution was ahead of the times by offering an eco-friendly solution.   See more....

 

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Faster than you have ever been before....

If you were somewhere between Pudong, the commercial centre of Shanghai and the airport, and this train zoomed past, it would be a blur.

Even if you are not catching a plane, for a change of pace you should take a mind-blowing there-and-back ride to the airport on Shanghai’s superfast train, the Maglev (magnetic levitation) which for several seconds reaches 430 kph-plus. 

It spends the rest of the seven-minute trip either getting up to speed and slowing down again, and is a truly a ‘mouth open in amazement’ experience, yet remarkably smooth and quiet.

More about the Maglev....

What to do and see in Shanghai....

 

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Who needs a train driver, anyway?

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OR

You could hitch a ride with a local......

We found this fellow in Lanzhou, China. We saw him - but I doubt he saw us!

Happy travels!

 

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Videos: ©Gordon Hammond

Text: ©Sally Hammond

Photographs: ©Sally & Gordon Hammond