Usually, my travels are very economical and I mostly use either my legs or public transportation to get around. On a recent trip to Lisbon, I was traveling with two teenagers, and since we arrived in the country late at night (or early morning) and I was unfamiliar with the place, never having been to Lisbon before, a taxi to the accommodation was our choice.
Of course, I had read many comments about taxi drivers trying to scam people by using longer routes than necessary, avoiding using the meter, and such. Therefore, it was with some hesitation that I approached the first taxi and handed him the address.
Naturally, this turned out to be a kind man who was not only pleasant and easy to converse with (he knew enough English to chat, which was good because I don’t know a word of Portuguese) but also ended the ride by handing me a business card and saying: „Here is my WhatsApp number, and if you need a ride anywhere while you’re here, just call or send a message.“
Besides that, the taxi ride cost about the same as a bus ride in Reykjavik, which didn’t make this experience any worse.
The next day, the teenagers wanted to go to the beach, and of course, I sent the driver a message who arrived promptly (or almost so). I asked how much the trip to the beach would cost and how far it was. „It takes about 25 minutes,“ the driver said, adding that the trip would probably cost a whole 12-15 euros.
I thought I could afford that (:)), and we headed to the beach. When we arrived, the friendly driver said he could wait for us, but we could also call or send a message when we wanted to go home. No trouble driving 25 minutes to pick us up…
We actually didn’t accept this kind of offer and took another taxi home. The price was similar, so this seemed to be the standard rate in town.
Now we were on a roll, and when the fourth traveler joined us, it became clear that the teenagers were much more tired than us, the older folks, and preferred sitting in a car rather than walking in the 29-32 degrees, so we used taxis quite liberally. I probably used more taxis this one week than in my entire life before!
An Adventurous Taxi Trip
On our last day, the forecast was 33C. Then the question was how the Icelanders, who can’t tolerate much more than 20 degrees before they start to melt, should spend the day.
The beach was a strong contender, but the grandmother in the group was a bit stressed about the heat and talked about heatstroke and sunburn and who knows what. She said she was up for the beach but not until it cooled down a bit.
However, it had also been discussed to visit Sintra, an area nearly an hour from Lisbon. There are castles, palaces, and magnificent beaches there, and the area is the wealthiest in Portugal and even beyond. You can book sightseeing tours by bus, go by train or bus, or go on your own. However, the area is large, and considerable walking is included without a car.
Then a thought struck! A message was sent to the good driver asking what it would cost to get him to drive us to Sintra, stop at McDonald’s on the way so the hungry teenagers would survive the trip, stop at the beach on the way back, and get us to the hotel about 6 hours from the start of the trip.
„Well,“ he replied, „usually, it costs 40 euros to Sintra (note that this is at least as far as, if not more, from Reykjavik to Keflavik). Such a long trip would definitely cost 120 euros, but if that’s okay, I can pick you up at 1 o’clock.“
So, a 6-hour journey with 4 passengers was supposed to cost a whole 19,000 ISK! We could not believe how cheap it was. Actually, it was quite a bit lower than we would have had to pay for a rental car for one day.
The trip took us, from Lisbon to Sintra, with a few stops, then along the coast to Cascais, and then further along the coast to Carcavelos, where the swimming in the ocean took place in delightful weather (29C). We didn’t return until around 8 o’clock, so the journey took about 7 hours.
All of this was for… 120 euros (the ride, the education about what we saw, and the comfort).