Final fantasy VIII has a very limited amount of transportation. The bigger modes of transportation, Balamb Garden, is only slightly limited to where it can go. Once you get the garden on Disk 2, the other forms become obsolete.

Cars

There are a lot of different cars in Final Fantasy VIII. Your first one is the Balamb car, used to go from Garden to the town of Balamb. The second is the Galbadian vehicle used in Laguna's flashback. There are more types of vehicles in every town. Check them all out. It should be noted that all cars run on Fuel. If you run out of gas, and have no fuel in your inventory, you cannot use the car until you get more.

Trains

Trains are the main source of transportation in Final fantasy VIII. With trains you can travel from Balamb to Timber, and Timber to Deling City, and Dollet. At one time, you could also travel to Esthar, but the line has been shut down for some time. There is a cost to ride any train, and it varies between locations. It also is higher for further destinations.

Balamb Garden

Balamb Garden is your first true mode of traveling the world. The Garden can go over land and water. The only thing it cannot cross is mountains. In order to go from water to land, you must find a beach. The Garden is not capable of climbing the cliffs.

Ragnaork

The airship for Final Fantasy VIII is the Ragnarok. You will get this awesome vessel in Disk 3, after you visit the Lunar gate. With the Ragnarok, you are able to visit anyplace in the world. The Ragnarok can land on any type of land, and even has a landing platform in Esthar. Also, if you go to the larger map, you can select a destination, and the Ragnarok will automatically fly there.

Chocobo's

Chocobo's are also used as transportation. But there is a bit of a catch. In order to ride one, you have to solve a puzzle in the forest it lives in. (Please refer to the Chocobo's section for details) Once you have done this you can ride a Chocobo. Chocobo's in Final fantasy VIII are somewhat limited in where they can go. You can only cross land, and shallow water with one. This makes travel on one very limited. But you will have no enemy encounters while on one.