taxicabs in paris

Does anyone know how easy (or difficult) is it to hail a taxi on the streets of Paris. Do you have to go to a taxi stand or is it like New

York City and just put your hand out? Also does anyone know the name of a private tour agency to hire for a half day tour of Paris. We are traveling with someone slightly disabled and feel that this is a good option. Thanks for your help!!!

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Go to a taxi stand to be sure. It may occur where a free taxi will accept a passenger by hailing, but it is not typically that done that way.

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Completely different from NY, where getting a cab involves hailing them down, sometimes with arm outstretched for an hour if it%26#39;s pouring rain and none are available (and sometimes moving yourself bodily out into the street to better your odds!)

Go to a taxi stand and there will almost always be a taxi or three waiting there for you. The good news is that these are fairly easy to find (IMO) especially on main boulevards.

Alternatively, a good strategy is to look around for a big hotel (Hilton, LeMeridien, etc) - cabs are almost always waiting outside of these (or the wait won%26#39;t be long at all.)

Sorry I don%26#39;t know the answer to the private tour agency, but it does sound like a good option in your case! Try the search function here - I think I%26#39;ve seen this topic come up before.

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I returned from Paris yesterday. We decided we were too tired to walk from the Eiffel Tower back to the hotel one night and decided to take a cab. It was a royal zoo! It appeared that the cabbies pick and choose where they want to go. And no.......hailing them isn%26#39;t an option. They seemed to all be directly in front of the ET. An Asian man was having a hard time telling the cabbie where he needed to go......I walked up and held out my address to the driver and he agreed to take up.. The poor Asian man may still be there for all I know as he had no clue how to say his hotel or where it was.

Dana in VA

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Dana makes an excellent point.

Make sure every member of your party has the hotel name and street address written down to show the taxi driver. (Bring it with you to the airport, and when you get to the hotel, they will have business cards that you can all take with you also.)

I have generally found taxi service in Paris to be excellent and have never been ripped off or felt in danger (as opposed to a couple of memorable taxi rides in NY). Considering how difficult it must be to be a Parisian taxi driver, if you make his life a tiny bit easier by showing a written address, you may make it a lot easier on both of you and he may be much more willing to take you on as a passenger.

And finally, do NOT get into an unlicensed taxi. You are most likely to encounter these at the airport, and you will be a tempting target to them if they see someone in your party is slightly disabled - they will tell you they have a cab %26quot;right over here so you don%26#39;t have to wait in line...%26quot; Don%26#39;t go with them - just get right in the taxi queue (you can%26#39;t miss it) - it goes quickly. You can identify the licensed taxis as they all have a small %26quot;Taxi Parisien%26quot; light on top.

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The tip about carrying either your hotel%26#39;s calling card or writing down the hotel%26#39;s name and address is an excellent one. Really if you cannot speak fluent French it is going to be sometimes very tricky to pronounce your hotel%26#39;s name. Once I said %26#39;Hotel Verneuil%26#39; to a taxi driver but noticed he was heading in the opposite direction of the hotel. That%26#39;s because he thought I said %26#39;Hotel Vernet%26#39;. Luckily I had been carrying literature with the hotel%26#39;s name and address printed on it.

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When in Paris last summer, we were a family of three and used taxis 3-4 trips daily. We never stood at a taxi rank, just hailed empty cabs on the street, which always stopped just as in NYC. Time of day and weather affects availability, of course, and then major hotels or taxi ranks would be your best bet.

BTW, where NY cabs will take 4 people, 3 is the limit for a sedan taxi in Paris.

T

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You might also consider using the bus system. Your slightly disabled friend might have trouble with the Metro, as many stations have a LOT of steps, and long walks when changing lines. The bus system is extensive, they run frequently, and some of the newer ones even have lowering steps for those more challenged.

Go to the RATP site http://www.ratp.com/ click on the English flag at the top of the page, and enter your hotel and destination. Follow the prompts, and you will get routes, times, and maps.

Have a great trip!

:-)

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Aside from being the absolute best map of Paris available, the %26quot;l%26#39;Indispensable%26quot; maps show the location of all the taxi stands in the city.

http://tinyurl.com/2twrtj

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You can certainly hail a cab on the street and they are supposed to stop for you if they are not occupied or on their way to a pick-up. The driver is not supposed to refuse a trip based on your destination, but that doesn%26#39;t always stop them (there is an exception concerning trips during their last half hour of work). Also, taxis are not supposed to pick up passengers on the street if they are within 50 metres of a taxi stand where there are taxis waiting.

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By the way, you should be aware that if you call a taxi (from your hotel, for example), they turn the meter on from the point at which they are called, not the point at which they pick you up. Therefore they can arrive at your hotel to get you with a substantial fare already showing on the meter. We found that the taxi stand was by far the best option if we wanted a taxi. Happy travels!