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Taxi tour of Paris?

Hello! We'll be in Paris in July but only for 3 hours. We have reserved tickets on EuroStar arrives at Gare Du Nord at 3:47. We will then take a taxi to St Lazare and get a train to Caen, probably the train that leaves Paris at around 6:45. I don't want to get to Caen too late, because we are staying in an airbnb and I don't want the owners to have to stay up too late.

I'm bummed that we don't get to see the big landmarks of Paris, so I was thinking since we have 3 hours, perhaps we could ask the driver to take us on a little detour to drive by the Eiffel Tower, maybe the Louvre, just so we can say we saw them :) I'm going to buy the tickets to Caen ahead of time, so I figure we should be back to St Lazare by 6:15 pm if the train leaves at 6:45.

What do you think- good idea or waste of money/stress? Would it be a good idea to ask the driver to stop somewhere just so we can take pictures? (we don't have to park and see it up close- just stop quickly at a viewpoint). Or, will traffic be really bad that time of day to make it not worth it?

(there are four of us, so we are taking a taxi rather than metro-- then we don't have to worry about the luggage).

Posted by
116 posts

Another question-- would uber be better or should we/can we hire a private driver instead?

Posted by
3398 posts

I'm assuming you mean 15:47 (afternoon) rather than early morning? If you are talking about the afternoon then, yes, you are heading into rush hour. Traffic in Paris can be quite awful. That would be my main consideration. But you can certainly swoop down through the main highlights of the city though with a taxi! It'll cost you a bit but how fun! To make it really fun you can hire a couple of these guys to whisk you through the city with the roof off! That's what I would do...if you're going to do it, then do it right.

Posted by
116 posts

Yes, afternoon. Thanks for your advice! I'll take a look at that link.

Posted by
2466 posts

Just take a regular Parisien taxi. If there are 4 of you you'd benefit from taking a mini-van.
What time are you going to Paris? There might be heavy traffic to go with picture-taking.
I don't think you have time to make the train...