Taking a Taxi in Paris

For this page we'll assume that you're new to Paris and don't speak French fluently or perhaps your accent isn't quite "Gaullic" enough and you're taking a taxi into Paris from the airport. If you don't know your way around Paris, carrying tons of stuff or your destination is not in Paris proper, a taxi is very probably your best choice.

Among the possible drawbacks to taking a taxi are heavy traffic conditions, the driver not knowing your destination and not speaking the same language, and on those rare occassions a dishonest cabbie. This last seems to be the case in most big cities and Paris is no exception to the rule: he who doesn't know the price often pays the other price. As the actual calculation of your ride into Paris is metered according to the distance and time enroute as well as the time of day, day of the week and the zone(s) travelled, a ballpark figure of 45-50 €uros will bring you from Charles de Gaulle Airport and 30-35 €uros from the Orly Airport terminals to the Eiffel Tower on a normal day in normal traffic. For those interested in how the fares in and around Paris are actually calculated below is included a fare table compiled from the latest arrêté interpréfectoral (April 2005.)

Taxi stands are generally located immediately on exiting the baggage claim area at your arrival terminal.

Itineraries : Most Parisian cabbies are experienced and professionel and some may even know where the Port de Suffren is, but it's not likely. This itinerary from the CDG airport to the Port de Suffren via the Avenue de la Grande Armée, Place Etoile and the Palais Chaillot to the Bateau Simpatico is one that I find to be only slightly different but more agreable and easier than Michelin's. (See following.)

Maps and directions from the Charles de Gaulle and Orly Airports to the Port de Suffren in Paris (or anywhere else in Europe can be readily obtained using the Via Michelin map service.) If your destination is not the Port de Sufftren, simply use the Modifier la recherche button and type in your destination address and Via Michelin map service will do the rest. (You will probably want to print out a copy in the language of the country you'll be visiting.)

The smaller lights indicate what tariff is in effect.

Official Taxi Fares in the Paris Area - 2007

Tariff *	Zone**	When	Pick-up chg	chg / km	chg / hour ***
A	City	10 am - 5 pm	2 €	0.71 €	24.73 €
B	City Suburbs + A/P	5 pm - 10 am 7 am - 7 pm	2 €	1.06 €	27.73 €
C	City Suburbs + A/P " "	Sundays, 0 h - 7 am week days, 7 pm - 7 am Sundays + holidays, all day	2 €	1.28 €	26.23 €

     * Minimum pick-up charge is 5.50 € supplements (see below) not included.
     ** The Boulevard Périphérique (ring road around Paris) delimits the urbs and suburbs.
     *** Moving slowly or not at all.

Tariff	Supplement Designation (all other supplements have been discontinued in Paris)
2.70 €	More than three passengers. Charge per passenger exceeding three.
0.90 €	More than one piece of luggage. Charge per extra piece of baggage carried in boot and exceeding 5 kg.

The Taxi is available when this lamp is lit.

Arriving at the Port de Suffren

Bateau Simpatico - Port de Suffren - 75015 Paris - France