How to Travel Like a Local by Using Public Transportation

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Whether you’re boarding a coaster mini-bus to visit a local market in Jamaica, a bangka ferry to island hop in the Philippines, or a high-speed train to zip between Barcelona and Madrid, traveling as the locals do and taking public transportation while you’re on vacation will bring a deeper cultural understanding to your experience.

As you plan your next trip, consider the ways residents in your destination get from A to B so you can weave some of those options into your itinerary. It may be more work, but you’ll come home learning a lot more about the place you’ve just visited, as well as yourself. Here are some of the rewards of traveling like a local.

Cultural Enrichment

Taking a cab to that fabulous café your friend recommended in Paris might be the easy, door-to-door solution, but why not make getting there part of the experience? Whether you’re on a public transit system that’s sleek and efficient, or in need of repair, you’ll have an opportunity to see how regular people – and not just the people who work in the tourism industry – go about their daily lives.

There’s no better perch for people watching than a seat on a crowded train. By rubbing elbows with a large cross-section of a city’s population, you’ll observe how people interact and get a feel for the city’s rhythm. Even walking through a station filled with advertisements and storefronts, or strolling from one bus stop to another, reveals cultural nuances not readily available on the well-worn tourist trail. 

Personal Fulfillment

Taking public transportation in an unfamiliar place is the perfect opportunity to push the boundaries of your comfort zone. Throw in a foreign language, and you may feel like you’re on another planet. But that’s ok – it’s all part of the fun and learning. Your brain, which needs exercise just like any other part of the body, will thank you for the workout it gets when you navigate with unfamiliar maps, decipher complicated train schedules, and figure out how many coins you need for the bus fare.

Even with thorough planning, you’ll likely find yourself needing to communicate with transit staff or local residents for guidance. These interactions, whether they force you to tap into your high school Spanish or resort to some primitive form of sign language, are challenges that build character and mental fortitude.

Money in Your Wallet

Cross-town or cross-country, using local public transit will almost always cost less. In Venice, for example, you’ll pay top dollar to meander the Grand Canal in a gondola, when you can enjoy the same views from a vaporetto,or water bus, for a fraction of the cost. While you may be forgoing the privacy and romance of the gondola, the money you save could be used on other memorable experiences, such as dinner at the city’s top restaurant or an evening at the opera. If you’re budget is tight, saving cash on transportation might be a worthwhile compromise.

Off-the-Beaten-Path Views

Traveling like a local, especially by train, affords views that would be harder to see from a private car or impossible to see from a plane. Take Germany’s fairytale Bavarian countryside. The lush-green scenery is magical and easy to enjoy from the panoramic windows of the country’s remarkably efficient Deutsche Bahn trains.

Taking public buses in sprawling cities is also a reliable way to observe the urban landscape from a higher vantage point. If you’re worried that this kind of travel lacks information and guidance, there are all kinds of city guide apps available to use on a smartphone – just plug in your headphones and you’ve created your own private tour for a fraction of what a guide would charge.

Fitness on the Road

Going on a trip doesn’t mean you have to put exercise on hold. Not only does taking public transportation generally involve a fair amount of walking, but in many places – from Scandinavia to Southeast Asia – the locals sometimes skip cars, trains, and buses altogether, in favor of foot and pedal power. Walking and biking will help keep you fit while you’re away, and allow you to explore the nooks and crannies of neighborhoods often missed as you’re motoring by.

Ready to travel like a local? Keep these tips in mind as you start planning: 

Research

Before heading out, study up on your destination’s public transportation options by visiting their website for route maps, schedules, and fares. Check to see how fares are paid and if there are multi-day passes or tickets bundled with popular tourist sites. For longer train journeys, find out if there’s dining car service and if you can bring food on board.

Going onto travel forums for your destination can also be insightful, especially if you have concerns about the safety of a particular travel option. Chances are there are already relevant conversation threads, but if not, you can post your own questions.

Trip Planning

Take advantage of the many trip planning apps available that help you get from A to B even if you don’t know the specific transit operators required to make your trip. One of my favorites is City Mapper, which my daughter introduced me to when she was studying abroad in Italy. City Mapper gives you detailed instruction for traveling within a metro area, including walking segments. I also love Rome 2 Rio, though this app is better for longer-distance trip planning. It gives you different itineraries for traveling between multiple cities and compares the costs of different journey options, such as renting a car and driving versus taking the train or flying.

Maps & Money

If you’re more of a trip-planning traditionalist, you may want to order physical route maps in advance of your trip or at least know where and how to get them when you arrive. Most major transit systems also have smartphone apps, with features to plan trips, purchase tickets, explore destinations, and more. If you know you’ll need exact change to use public transportation, have that ready to avoid fumbling for it on the spot.

Patience & Preparation

Let’s face it, public transportation can be slow, and it’s not always reliable. Despite all the wonderful benefits of traveling like a local, you’ll need to pack some patience to get the most out your experience. Be prepared for anything – from hot and sweaty train cars, to service delays and even strikes. For those scenarios, as well as longer trips, it helps to carry water and snacks and wear comfortable shoes and clothing. The better your research before the trip, the more prepared you’ll be during the trip.

At the end of the day, a successful vacation needs to strike a balance between time and budget, and to a certain extent safety. While you may not have room in your itinerary for a long train journey, or the stomach for a rickety local bus on steep mountain roads, any opportunity you take to get around like a local will lead to greater learning and a more authentic travel experience.