Lara → TerraCity Transfer

Lara to TerraCity private transfer

Every holiday in Lara has an afternoon or two that the beach cannot fill. In July and August the sand is too hot for bare feet by early afternoon; out of season a wet day can roll in off the sea, and the sunbeds stay empty from morning on. For both there is TerraCity, a large shopping centre so close to the hotels that getting there hardly counts as an outing: a film, an unhurried wander past the shop windows, something cold to drink, a few hours under a roof. What makes a booked car worth having is not the distance but the end of the afternoon: no standing at the exit with a bag in each hand, hoping a taxi comes free before the children give up.

The run is 6 km and takes about 15 minutes. The car collects you at the hotel entrance, leaves the beach strip heading west towards the city centre and stops well short of it, in Fener, where TerraCity stands; you are set down at the mall's doors, not at the far end of a car park. You book that single leg at a fixed price per vehicle and agree the way back at the same time, in one of two ways: the driver waits while you shop, which suits an hour or two, or comes back at an agreed time to an agreed door, which suits a film or a long afternoon. So the ride back is sorted before you leave the hotel, not at the exit.

• When you book, agree on the door you will be collected from, ideally the one you were dropped at, so that you and the driver are not waiting for each other at two different entrances.
• Screenings are listed by their start time, so look up the film's running time as well and have the car come back once the credits have rolled, with a few minutes spare for the crowd filing out of the hall.
• If the shopping might include something bulky, such as a suitcase, a pushchair or a boxed appliance, say so when you book, so the car for the return has room for it as well as for everyone travelling.
• On a hot day, leave after lunch and book the return for early evening, so you are back at the hotel with enough daylight left for a swim.