The words ‘cheaper travel' don't tend to go hand in hand with city transport – wherever you are in the world, and London has long been thought of as one of the most expensive cities in the world. However, when it comes to getting around in an iconic way – it is actually cheaper to get a bus in London than it is a Tuk Tuk in Thailand!
According to research by Travel Republic, it costs on average 42p a mile when travelling in London on the iconic red London bus, while whizzing around by Tuk Tuk in Thailand (a mode of transport that is often thought of as being extremely cheap) will cost an average of 94p a mile – over 50p more!
The research also found that of all 18 iconic modes of transport, the Gondola was by far the most expensive, averaging £53 a mile, and while this may not surprise many who have been to Venice, where being a tourist can be expensive, it may shock you to hear that the Dhow Boats of Zanzibar, Tanzania, came in second most expensive, at a whopping £23 a mile.
[bctt tweet=”It costs around 42p per mile travelling by bus in London, but a Tuk Tuk in Thailand costs 94p a mile!”]
New York’s yellow cab comes in at a fairly surprising seventh out of 18 (£2.50 a mile), followed by Maldivian seaplanes in eighth place, at only £2 a mile.
Cheaper travel – and the best value by a long long mile (excuse the pun) – is Guatemala’s Chicken bus, which costs the equivalent of less than 1p a mile, at 0.03p.
Okay, so you may be packed in up to the rafters, two-a-seat, with no air-con, but these much-loved, brightly coloured and characterful iconic modes of transport win hands-down on value.
Well, I've tried the tuk tuk in Bangkok and I regularly take London buses, but perhaps one of the most memorable methods of transport (if you can call it that…but I will) has been a hot-air balloon ride – a birthday gift about ten years ago.
What's your most unusual or iconic method of getting around?
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