Practicalities
The lifts and funiculars are public transport, not rides
The vertical machines in the city exist because the hills do. Treating them as attractions rather than as infrastructure is what…
Practicalities
Transport, hills, tickets, timings and what catches visitors out.
21 articles · updated August 11, 2026 · page 2 of 2
Practicalities
How you pay for a journey, and the card that holds it
A reusable card, loaded in one of two different ways, covers almost everything. The confusion comes from the two modes not mixing.
Practicalities
Walking downhill is the part that hurts
Everyone warns about the climbs. The damage is done on the descents, where the muscles work in a way most people never train.
Practicalities
Shade is infrastructure, and it moves all day
In summer the difference between a pleasant walk and a miserable one is which side of the street you are on. That is a…
Practicalities
The metro is small; the buses are the real network
The underground covers a handful of corridors and misses most of the city. Once you accept that, getting around becomes much easier.
Practicalities
Arriving with luggage, and the hill between you and the door
The last three hundred metres of the journey is the part nobody plans for, and in a city of steps and polished stone it is the part…
Practicalities
Crowd pickpocketing is a situation, not a place
It happens where people are packed together and distracted, which is a description of a moment rather than a neighbourhood. That…
Practicalities
Getting around with limited mobility, honestly assessed
The city is difficult, unevenly so, and pretending otherwise helps nobody. Some districts are genuinely workable and the difference…
Practicalities
Pharmacies and the first stop for a small problem
A pharmacy here does more than hand over boxes. For minor problems it is the sensible first port of call, and knowing that saves a…