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May 1 Transportation

We are well aware that May 1 is a national holiday in France. We are also scheduled to fly out of Paris CDG that morning. Can we assume that getting transportation/taxi will not be an issue?

Posted by
6920 posts

Public transportation is running on May 1 in Paris and no works are scheduled on the RER B to CDG that day (you are lucky!).
Taxis will be available too, best booked the day before for peace of mind.

Posted by
1161 posts

Thanks! Figured but wanted to be sure!

Posted by
6920 posts

Well, it was a fair question. For other people's reference, many French cities do not have any public transportation on May 1. Marseille, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Lyon and many other major cities included.

Posted by
27207 posts

Add Nice to the list of major French cities with no public transportation (and few taxis) on May 1, at least as of 2017.

Posted by
8093 posts

I would book a cab the day before but also have a plan B of the RER. Unless you plan the RER all along. And perhaps give a little extra time to check in since they may be understaffed at the airport.

35 years ago we arrived in Venice on May 1 being totally ignorant of this holiday's importance in Europe and had to walk a couple of miles over bridges and to get to our hotel from the train station because transport was not running. We were overpacked and this was before wheelie suitcases. Luckily it was a gorgeous day -- but it was an unexpected challenge after an overnight flight to Zurich and all day on the train to Venice. (yes we were very stupid)

May 1 is a big deal and so a little caution is in order on a high stakes trip.