Taking Trains Around International Cities

When we visit a new city, there are two great ways to move around physically also get to see how people live everyday.  One is to walk...the second is to take the train.  Most major international cities have metros/subways/trains and for the most part, they are reliable, clean, and super cheap.  Taking the train is also a great way to get a feel for the vibe of the city, dress, where people are going, the languages they speak.  We try not to take cabs as much as possible but we break down once in awhile.

In each city, Emily tries to grab a picture (three examples below) of me working to figure out the ticket dispenser for train tickets...a tradition we very much started by accident.

Each ticket dispense is different.  Credit cards are widely accepted but it's not always obvious how to change the language on the ticket dispenser, calculate the fare for a specific destination or even figure out what will be dispensed by the machine.  In Istanbul, they use red plastic tokens (these are really cool - we bought an extra as a souvenir) vs. paper cards.  I always use my Chase Sapphire Preferred Card to get 2x points on travel and because the card doesn't incur foreign transaction fees.

Super Clean Dubai Metro

London Tube - why is a one-way ticket $9???

Bangkok BTS

We usually end up taking the train multiple times during a trip especially when it proves to be cheap and efficient (Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore).  Next time you're buying a train ticket, snap a quick picture.  We've found them to be great memories of where we've been.  And my confused looks in most pictures are absolutely priceless.