Best tram experience?

davebarnes

davebarnes

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You have all been around for a while and traveled many places.

What is your best tram experience and why?
City, tram #, +/-.

For me, it is the 28 Electrico in Lisboa.
+ The route is long and winds thru an amazing city.
+ The cars were built in the late 1800s.
+ Cheap at €1.30 with a Viva Viagem card.

- Way too crowded no matter when you ride. Unless it is at 0600.

But, then, there are the San Francisco cable car.s
That is tram, right?
I love the cable cars. And, the museum/hub is not to be missed.
Hyde-Powell.

+ So much fun hanging outside.
- Too many people.I know, I am one of them.
 
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Amsterdam has one for tourists that links the best bar areas and takes them to the big art museums.
 
Helsinki Beer Tram! - my favorite

I’ve also done the one in Vienna - good to do on your first day to get the lay of the land.
 
Possibly my only tram was up to Victoria's Peak in Hong Kong. It was so steep I kept thinking, if the drive mechanism fails and this thing becomes free wheeling, we are all going to die! However, the scenic view over the tram area, city and island was fantastic, so I got over it.
 
Rt 28 Lisbon wasn't crowded at all when we rode this past summer in the peak season :) I didn't follow the tour books so I picked it up on the way back to the "starting point" at that square downtown (rode the bus down from our airbnb a mile or two north of the centro). It was half empty on that return trip. Then they made us get off and that's when I saw the colossal lines to get back on. No thanks to that - lines interest me very little when on vacation.

I enjoyed the trams all over Europe. Some nice classic old cars in Milan too. Germany's were mostly new and modern. Still great to ride nice and slow through the cities for near-free sightseeing, and I prefer it to the hop on hop off tourist buses. Most of the trams are practical in nature - easy way to get from pt A to pt B street side without dealing with the terminal times of a metro. I think our kids enjoyed the trams too - at least the first 5-10 minutes.
 
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+1 for the Pikes Peak Cog Railway. It can be stopped sometimes when the marmots decide to sit on the tracks. :)
 
FUEGO said:
Rt 28 Lisbon wasn't crowded at all when we rode this past summer in the peak season :) I didn't follow the tour books so I picked it up on the way back to the "starting point" at that square downtown (rode the bus down from our airbnb a mile or two north of the centro). It was half empty on that return trip. Then they made us get off and that's when I saw the colossal lines to get back on. No thanks to that - lines interest me very little when on vacation.
Click to expand...

For various reasons Portugal has become the European 'Hot Spot' for travelers this year. They seem to be promoting themselves as a way to dig out of their financial situation.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/ne...at-world-travel-awards-europe-2017/ar-AAsMhYz

Portugal has been named Europe's leading travel destination 2017 at an industry event held over the weekend.
Click to expand...
 
Can't think of a particular one that hasn't been mentioned, but looking at tram systems as a whole, I've enjoyed using the ones in Brussels, Amsterdam and Prague the most. Quite extensive operations and easy to use.
 
Mine was the "Telefecico de Caracas". A funicular that went up one side the Avila mountain in Caracas, then down the other. The trip was short, probably 45 minutes or so, and by road it would take at least 4 hours, not including traffic. The view of Caracas from the top of the Avila is amazing.
 
MichaelB said:
Mine was the "Telefecico de Caracas". A funicular that went up one side the Avila mountain in Caracas, then down the other. The trip was short, probably 45 minutes or so, and by road it would take at least 4 hours, not including traffic. The view of Caracas from the top of the Avila is amazing.
Click to expand...

I looked that up, and it seems to be a cable car. Is there a funicular railway as well?

Edited to add: I checked the dictionary. Trams and funiculars include cable cars. My mistake! I learn something new here every week!

OK, since cable cars are included, I nominate the Sea to Sky Gondola in Squamish, BC. Lots to do on top of the mountain!

https://www.seatoskygondola.com
 
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Chuckanut said:
For various reasons Portugal has become the European 'Hot Spot' for travelers this year. They seem to be promoting themselves as a way to dig out of their financial situation.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/ne...at-world-travel-awards-europe-2017/ar-AAsMhYz
Click to expand...

It was busy when we were there but the most swamped tourist spots we hit were Prague and Amsterdam. I really expected Prague to be a lot quieter but it was probably the 2nd busiest city we visited (with Venice being the worst!) out of 14 cities this summer.
 
A couple we rode in the Bernese Alps were:
Jungfrauhoch From Wengen to the top. The tunnels were bored through the Eiger
The Schynige Platte tram from Widerswil to the top-great restaurant
 
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braumeister said:
That looks great! I also really like the one (really two) that goes up to Sugarloaf in Rio.
Click to expand...
When we were there, there was a layer of clouds half way up the mountain. The cable cars would appear out of the cloud like something from twilight zone.
 
braumeister said:
That looks great! I also really like the one (really two) that goes up to Sugarloaf in Rio.
Click to expand...

Souschef said:
When we were there, there was a layer of clouds half way up the mountain. The cable cars would appear out of the cloud like something from twilight zone.
Click to expand...

Absolutely! Going up to the Sugarloaf was like going up to heaven and seeing the statue of Christ the Redeemer above the clouds.

There are some thrilling scenes in Moonraker that were filmed on this cable car. Roger Moore played James Bond. I was in Rio twenty years after it was filmed. One morning at the Sheraton Hotel, Roger Moore himself stepped into the elevator I was riding. Made my day, Mr. Bond!

I didn’t include this originally because I didn’t realize it could be called a tram!
 
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Tram is such a generic term.

I went to Austria in August just to visit places with cable cars which went up mountains.

For instance, Zugspitz Arena area west of Innsbruck has 4-day pass for all of the cable cars in the area.

Then I went to Innsbruck which has a similar pass. So does Salzburg though the cable cars there weren't as spectacular. Finally the 5 Fingers overlooking Lake Hallstatt.

Also spent a couple of days in Wolfgansee but didn't go on the cog train because of heavy fog.

Of course the ones in Switzerland are great, such as Jungfraubahn and the cable car to Mt. Pilatus near Luzern.
 
davebarnes said:
You have all been around for a while and traveled many places.

What is your best tram experience and why?
City, tram #, +/-.

For me, it is the 28 Electrico in Lisboa.
+ The route is long and winds thru an amazing city.
+ The cars were built in the late 1800s.
+ Cheap at €1.30 with a Viva Viagem card.

- Way too crowded no matter when you ride. Unless it is at 0600.

But, then, there are the San Francisco cable car.s
That is tram, right?
I love the cable cars. And, the museum/hub is not to be missed.
Hyde-Powell.

+ So much fun hanging outside.
- Too many people.I know, I am one of them.
Click to expand...

One of my favorites things to do around the holidays is to go into San Francisco for a show at night and see the cable cars with their holiday lights and all the Christmas lights and decorations in the shops and around Union Square along the way.
 
Revlefty said:
check out the tram up Mt. Pilatus above Lake Lucerne in Switzerland
Click to expand...
We did in August. Great! And Lucerne is wonderful city for it's fairly small size.

But ski gondola & tram up to Matterhorn Glacier Paradise from Zermatt even better for us. M-horn view magnifico.
 
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