Planning a Trip

Getting There

Pensacola Regional Airport, 12th Avenue, at Airport Road (tel. 850/436-5005; www.flypensacola.com), is served by AirTran, Continental, Delta, and Northwest.

Budget, Enterprise and National have rental-car operations here.

Taxis wait outside the modern terminal. Fares are $2 at flag drop and $2.25 for each additional mile.

The Amtrak (tel. 800/872-7245; www.amtrak.com) transcontinental Sunset Limited stops in Pensacola at 980 E. Heinberg St.

Visitor Information

The Pensacola Visitor Information Center, 1401 E. Gregory St., Pensacola, FL 32501 (tel. 800/874-1234 or 850/434-1234; fax 850/432-8211; www.visitpensacola.com), gives away helpful information about the Greater Pensacola area, including maps of self-guided tours of the historic districts, and sells a detailed street map of the area. The office is at the mainland end of the Pensacola Bay Bridge and is open daily from 8am to 5pm (until 4pm Sat-Sun Oct-Mar).

For information specific to the beach, contact the Pensacola Beach Chamber of Commerce, 735 Pensacola Beach Blvd. (P.O. Box 1174), Pensacola Beach, FL 32561 (tel. 800/635-4803 or 850/932-1500; fax 850/932-1551; www.visitpensacolabeach.com). The chamber's offices and visitor center are on the right as you drive onto Santa Rosa Island across the Bob Sikes Bridge. It's open daily from 9am to 5pm.

Getting Around

For a trolley tour around town, check out Beach Bum Trolley (tel. 850/941-2876; www.beachbumtrolley.com), which operates one to eight tours of all the historic sights. Prices range from as low as $18 per person for a 50-minute narrated tour of downtown Pensacola, to $150 per person for a 7-hour trolley tour and a full-day of deep-sea fishing. To see the historic sights in town during the warmer months, take the ECAT Trolley (tel. 850/595-3228; www.goecat.com), which leaves every 30 minutes from Portofino Boardwalk and runs to Fort Pickens Gate on the west side of the island, and to Portofino Island Resort & Spa on the east side. The trolley is free from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend, Friday 5pm to midnight, Saturday noon to midnight, and Sunday 5 to 10pm. ECAT also runs public buses around town Monday through Saturday ($1.75 adults, 85¢ seniors) -- but not to the beach. Call for schedules.

If you need a cab, call Airport Express Taxi/City Cab (tel. 850/478-4477), Orange Cab (tel. 850/478-0222), or Yellow Cab (tel. 850/433-3333). Fares are $2 at flag fall, plus $2.25 a mile.

You can rent bikes from Eco-Beach, 8460 Gulf Blvd. (tel. 850/936-SAND [7263]; www.eco-beach.com). Rentals are $10 per day.

Time

Pensacola is in the Central Time zone, 1 hour behind Miami, Orlando, and Tallahassee.