Portugual Travel—How to Get Around Porto

Figure 1.  6 Metro Lines (Blue, Red, Green, Purple, Orange, and Yellow)

Porto's Metro has 6 lines and 81 stations, but if you're planning to use it as a means of transport, take into account that it doesn't make it to most of the tourist attractions in the city.^[1]

Figure 2. Journey Planner on Metro do Porto (Airport to Trindade)

Metro Lines

• Line A (Blue): Estádio do Dragão - Senhor de Matosinhos.
• Line B (Red): Estádio do Dragão - Póvoa de Varzim.
• Line C (Green): Estádio do Dragão - ISMAI.
• Line E (Purple): Estádio do Dragão – Airport.
• Line F (Orange): Fânzeres - Senhora da Hora.

Out of all the stops, the most important is Trinidade. It is where all the lines meet, including the yellow line.

How to Access Porto from Airport (OPO)

The best way to get from Porto Airport (OPO) to Porto without a car is to use metro system which takes 27 min and costs €2 (see Figure 2; downloaded on 11/27/2022).

Figure 3.  Left: Metro signs / Right: Validation machine

How to Travel by Metro in Porto

1. Look for the “M” signs to find a Metro station.
2. You can easily buy and charge the Andante card in the automatic machines.
3. A Metro station with both directions and the electronic display.
4. Always validate your Andante card at the yellow machines before entering the train.

Andante card vs Porto Card^[5]

An Andante card is a transport card designed for occasional travellers and visitors, similar to Lisbon’s Viva Viagem. You can use it to travel on metro, bus and commuter train in Greater Porto. Andante can hold single journeys, or 24-hour travel.

A Porto Card is a sightseeing pass that helps visitors see Porto’s attractions, saving them both time and money. It may include unlimited use of Porto’s public transport for the duration of your card (1 to 4 days). Porto Card holders also enjoy a range of special offers and discounts in a number of museums for which free entry is not included, restaurants, boat trips, and more.

Read [5] for more details.  

Anda app

You can also download Anda app from Google Play store.

• Anda is a mobile app designed to enable travelling within Porto public transport network with Andante multimodal fares. It does so in a simple, fast and comfortable fashion.
• With Anda, travellers do not need to know fare rules and may travel with the certainty that they will only be charged with the minimum possible value for all journeys.
• To use Anda start by creating an account and associate one of the following payments methods to your account: credit/debit card or Multibanco card. To start travelling ensure that NFC, bluetooth, location and internet are enabled. From now on you just need to validate and travel!
• In order to validate keep your phone close to the validator. Please keep your phone still, 2 or 3 cm apart from the validator. A green light will be shown simultaneously with a friendly single beep, indicating a correct validation. Avoid touching the validator with your phone and try to keep it still. If the validation was successful, Anda will show a "On Trip" notification.
• During the trip, it is possible to follow intermediate stops. Upon vehicle exit, Anda will determine you journey has ended and will automatically close the current trip.
• At any time you can check the trips you have already made and the amount charged by them.
• Download Anda and travel freely by bus, tram or train on the Andante network.

References

1. Porto Metro
2. Travelling by metro in Porto - tips and costs
3. Porto city guide and local travel tips
4. Andante card vs Porto Card
5. Andante vs Porto Card: What You Need to Know
6. TIP - Transportes Intermodais do Porto, ACE
7. Anda (downloads)
8. Day Trip to Guimarães and Braga

London Travel—Visiting British Museum

Founded in 1753, the British Museum ⭐⭐was the first national public museum in the world, and today it is Britain’s most visited with more than 7 million people arriving per year. 

Figure 1.  Exhibitions and Events of British Museum

British Museum

Entry has always been free and includes access to the institution’s most important and sought-after acquisitions, such as the Rosetta Stone, Parthenon sculptures and Ancient Egyptian structures. The museum is an architectural gem itself, with the newly refurbished Queen Elizabeth II Great Court a highlight. See the open hours below:

Every day, except Fridays, the Main entrance closes at 16.00 as the Museum closes at 17.00. On Fridays, due to the late opening of exhibitions, the Main entrance closes at 19.30 as the Museum closes at 20.30. 

However, the museums and public galleries stay open with only Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day closures.

Please note that Montaghue Place entrance shown on Figure 3 is not for general public.  On the day of my visit, I've seen it was only used for tour groups, but not for individual visitors.  If you're a member of the museum, you also need to enter via the main entrance.  But, you can join a shorter line which is solely used by members (do ask the gatekeepers first before joining any line).

Figure 2.  British Museum Map (Courtesy: Google map)

How to Access

Closest underground stations:

• Tottenham Court Road (Elizabeth Line / Central Line / Northern Line)
• Russel Square (Piccadilly Line)

You can download Citymapper app to your mobiles, which will get you to your destination easier.  You can also download Tfl Go app to complement what Citymapper app misses.  For example, Tfl Go covers Heathrow Express train ride, but not Citymapper.

Figure 3.  Room 30 Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery Ground floor, Level 0

Exhibitions

There are multiple exhibitions and events held now and then.  For example, a special exhibition "Hieroglyphs unlocking ancient Egypt" will be displayed in Room 30 (see Figure 3) from 13 October 2022 to 19 February 2023.

Hieroglyphs were not just beautiful symbols, they represented a living, spoken language.

We could only glimpse into this hidden world, until the discovery of the Rosetta Stone provided the key to decoding hieroglyphs, allowing us to read this ancient script. The breakthrough expanded our understanding of human history by some 3,000 years.

Marking 200 years since the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs, this major exhibition takes you through the trials and hard work that preceded, and the revelations that followed, this ground-breaking moment.

You can start your visit early by downloading Audio App from either Apple App Store or Google Play Store and purchase the "Full bundle" for a price of £4.99.  But, remember to bring your headphones with you or purchase earbuds from the Guide Desk and British Museum Shop.

Figure 4.  Ground Floor (or Level 0)

Detailed Level 0 Map

Both Guide Desk and Membership Desk are in the Great Court.

References

1. British Museum 
2. Travelling between London airports
• National Express (LGW ⇔ LHR every hour)
3. London Stansted Airport (STN)
4. How To Visit The British Museum In 2023: Tickets, Hours, Tours, And More
5. One hour at the Museum trail
6. Maps of the National Rail Network of Great Britain
7. Whole Foods Market (UK)
8. How Safe is England? What Travelers Need to Know
9. A Guide to Westminster, London
10. Must-Visit Attractions in London
• St Paul’s Cathedral
• Kew Gardens
• London Zoo
• London Eye
• ArcelorMittal Orbit
• Madame Tussauds
• Tate Modern
• Tower of London
• Tower Bridge
• Sea Life London Aquarium
• The Old Vic
• Hyde Park
• Imperial War Museum
• South Bank
• Oxford Street
• Buckingham Palace (changing-the-guard schedule)
• The Shard
• The Victoria and Albert Museum
• British Museum (ticket information)
• Royal Albert Hall
• The National Gallery
• Borough Market
• Shakespeare's Globe
• Portobello Road
• Westminster Abbey
11. Best Times to Visit London
12. LHR Terminal 5 map
13. St Pancras railway station (Eurostar Station)
14. Heathrow Express (Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 and Heathrow Terminal 5 → London Paddington)
15. Transport for London
16. Museum map (link)
17. Museum Restaurants (link)
• Great Court Restaurant—Open: daily, 11.30–17.00 (last sitting 16.00)
• Lunch* – daily, 11.30–15.00 (last sitting 15.00)
• Afternoon tea* – daily, 11.30–17.00 (last sitting 16.00)
  
• Court Cafés—Open: daily, 10.00–17.00
• Pizzeria—Open: daily, 12.00–15.00
• is in the south-west corner of the Ground floor – just turn left immediately after you enter the Main Entrance and keep going.

England Travel—How Safe is London for Tourists

Source: [3]

Source: [4]

 

East End

East End—Heavily populated with immigrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa, this London neighborhood contains the areas of Whitechapel and Spitalfields—lies mainly in the Inner London borough of Tower Hamlets:

Whitechapel is a vibrant, multicultural district in the East End, with many traditional pubs and curry houses, and the lively Whitechapel Market, a focal point for Asian food, discount fashion, and homewares.

Spitalfields is a lively East End area, home to artists, creatives, and a large Bangladeshi community. Brick Lane is lined with curry houses but the area is also known for street art, quirky shops, and trendy bars.

 

Crime Watch

As Chris said in the below video:

When I look at places like Italy or Paris, I know everybody's trying to rob me.

But you know what, in London everybody's trying to rob you here too.

Video 1.  10 Worst Tourist Scams in London (YouTube)

Video 2.  Thai tourist's selfie captures London pickpockets stealing her purse (YouTube)

References

1. 26 Worst Cities for Pickpocketing
2. Crime in London
3. The Top 10 Most Dangerous London Boroughs – Updated for 2022
4. London Boroughs map