By public transport I mean train/tram/underground/bus and not taxi. Having done much of my business travel in India and Africa (and a couple of hic places in the US), a taxi (or better still a full time driver) is most definitely preferable in these places. However, my most recent business trips have been in Europe and its been really quite nice to learn and make use of the local (integrated) S-Bahn/U-Bahn system.

This left me wondering where other travellers stand on the issue. When travelling to a "safe" destination, how do you prefer to get around and what factors determine how you get from the hotel to your place of work?

For me the factors are:

i) Is the place safe (I'm not about to advocate getting the bus in downtown Riyadh)?
ii) Will I have the time to learn how to get around?
iii) Do I know the place alredy?
iv) What will I be carrying - anything more than my laptop then its a taxi?