PIP (Portsmouth International Port) Revisited

Following the previous post about our foot passenger experience at Portsmouth I have received a comprehensive explanation (for which many thanks) from Paul Naish, PIP’s Operations Manager. Mr Naish sent cctv pictures of the bus, explaining that the bus schedule is to accommodate the arrival of ferries. On the day we travelled the inbound Brittany Ferries vessels were late berthing, so the bus waited for these passengers, running 19 minutes and 22 minutes late. As Mr Naish observes, the bus probably arrived soon after we'd taken a taxi! Mr Naish also notes that inward passengers would be frustrated if the shuttle bus had kept to its published schedule and not waited for their late arrival - and the time table points out that times are approximate, so as to adapt to the arrival times of ferries. Fair enough, but not much help if you’re waiting for a seemingly non-arriving bus at a non-existent bus stop. On which, apparently, the bus stop sign which was put up at the beginning of the season was vandalised mid season and not replaced: the PIP people will “look into improvements for next year.”  Foot passengers will be keeping an eye out for it...

Portsmouth International Port : “Britain’s Best Connected Cruise and Ferry Port”…Unless You’re On Foot

Question: When is a shuttle bus not a shuttle bus? Answer: when it's the one that links Portsmouth's international ferry terminal to the town’s main railway station. What used to be Portsmouth ferry terminal has become Portsmouth International Port, with a shiny new passenger terminal building. Which is nice once you're there. But how do you get there, if you arrive by train at Portsmouth and Southsea Station? Brittany Ferries helpfully advises passengers to take the Shuttle Bus from the station. But from where, exactly? There are bus stops aplenty across the road from the station, but none lists the Shuttle Bus service. The station ticket collector assures us that it goes from "outside the Pizza Hut." No sign of it there. A passer-by says, "across the road." Again, no sign of it. The scheduled time for the bus comes and goes….unlike the bus. And we remembered a similar fruitless quest a few years back, crossing over from Portsmouth to Caen. Just like before, we gave up and went by taxi. So when our cab arrived at the ferry terminal, there sat the nice shiny white bus. And sat. And sat. It's scheduled departure time came and went, and still it sat there. Perhaps it’s still there? All the time we waited at the terminal, the bus did not shuttle. So, here's a note to Brittany Ferries/Portsmouth International Port: what is the point of a shuttle bus that is impossible to find, and which doesn't follow a timetable? And it wasn’t just us – we spoke to other unsuccessful foot passengers trying to get from Portsmouth station to the ferry. So Portsmouth International Port had better sort itself out, or it’s going to have to change its slogan to “Britain’s Best Connected Cruise and Ferry Port, Unless You’re On Foot.” Of course, they may just be looking for an excuse to withdraw the rarely-moving and impossible to find shuttle bus - due to “lack of demand.”

Pinxtos And Pedestrians: Carfree In The Basque Country

Santander, Bilbao, San Sebastian – three fine cities on the coast of Northern Spain. Two of which are in the Basque Country (Santander is in Cantabria). But whatever it's called, it's a great place for a carfree holiday. The food is great (especially those pinxtos, the Basque variant of tapas), there’s lots to see and do and the people are friendly, even if the Basque language is a bit of a challenge (some Spanish will get you by). Best of all, the three cities have gone a long way to being pedestrian and bike friendly, with carfree streets and cheap and efficient public transport. Not only is it easy to get around the cities on foot or using public transport, the region is very accessible, with lots of opportunities for side trips by bus and train – incredibly, you can go to the beaches near Bilbao using the Metro. Overall, here’s what we did and how we did it: taxi and train to Portsmouth, taxi to ferry port; overnight ferry to Santander, walk from ferry port to city centre accommodation, stay in Santander; train from Santander to Bilbao, walk to accommodation, stay in Bilbao; tram to station, train to San Sebastian (Donostia in Basque), taxi to accommodation, stay in San Sebastian; taxi to station, train to Hendaye (France) TGV to Paris, taxi to hotel, stay in Paris; metro to Gare du Nord, Eurostar to London, train and taxi home. Trains and boats were nearly all punctual (except for the 20 minute delays on the high speed trains - both TGV and Eurostar). But best of all, no jams, no hassles with parking, no motorway tolls, no getting lost, no driving on the “wrong” side of the road, no breakdowns, and plenty of time to enjoy the views rather than stare at the tarmac. More to come on the carfree delights of The Basque Country....and Cantabria.