Taxis versus Uber in Paris

Easy to flag a cab on the street. In forty years traveling in Paris, I've never been ripped off. Once in Bordeaux, once here in my hometown, but never in Paris.

I go to taxi stands to find a taxi. They use meters unless there is a set rate. I've used taxis around town and to train stations or airports. If you ask your hotel to call a taxi you will be charged a few euros extra. I find the taxi drivers all to be professional, polite, and not talkative. It helps, if you don't speak French, to show a printout of the address you want.

We will be using metros mostly however incase needed do we catch a
taxi or call an Uber ?

Don't forget about the buses! I started using them more during my visit last year and enjoyed them more than the Metro. It's not quite as quick as the Metro, but it is not nearly as crowded and you get the added bonus of seeing Paris while you ride. It probably has less pickpocket risk than the Metro if that matters to you.

Only once was it easy for me to hail a taxi, after years spent in Paris. I've always thought getting a taxi there was a big pia.
Spent this past Feb in Paris, we used Uber a lot. Loved sitting at an outdoor café, calling an Uber on the app, and within minutes, an Uber pulls up. Like having your own limo driver.

Go to the nearest busy intersection and look for a regular taxi with a green light on the top, meaning it is available.

The legal minimum charge - even if you are going 3 blocks - is 7€.

The metered fare is good for up to 4 passengers and there is no charge for luggage.
There are flat rates to and from both airports, 50 or 55€, depending on address.

Good idea to print out the complete address, including the Postal Code, of where you want to go.

If you need to pay by credit card, ask before getting into the taxi.

There is a lot of annoying road work in Paris, so the driver may have to go out of his way, but that can't be helped.

The most I have paid to go from the Champs-Elysees to Bastille has been
26 € in heavy traffic.

Uber may not pick up passengers on the street, cannot use the dedicated taxi lanes, and cannot pick up or drop off passengers at either airports or train stations.

You will need to use the Uber app and will have to make plans to meet your driver if you plan to go to or from either airport.

Chexbres, I completely defer to your knowledge of Paris, but I do want to add our recent Uber experience. In June, we used Uber to get from our apartment to Gare Montparnasse and we were picked up on the street in front of our building and dropped off at the train station. A month later, we were picked up by Uber at Gare Montparnasse and delivered to CDG Novotel, where we were spending the night. Last year, we used Uber to get from a different apartment to Gare Lyon.

I haven't used Uber yet in Paris but I haven't been impressed with taxis. I've only taken a few but the drivers seemed to have less idea how to get somewhere than I did.

Nancy - if you used the Uber app the driver could have picked you up at your address.
It is illegal for Uber to solicit people walking - or standing - on the street.

If you did use the Uber app, the driver would have been permitted to drop you at the station, since you paid for the service in advance.
Without using the Uber app, drivers can't drop passengers at airports or stations.

Very surprising Brad since drivers have two days of exams during which they have to know every street, alley, loading hours that can block different streets on different days, and much, much more. What they will do is ask if you have a preferred route, to put you at ease, because they know passengers are spooked about being cheated, but they know where they're going and how to get there. My husband and I have had many discussions with different drivers in France and they are doing all they can to save their livelihood at this point.

Uber all the way! Way more convenient and less expensive. Our Cobblestones apartment greeter in Paris two weeks ago recommends this in their apartment handbook...and for good reason. Before I knew this, after dropping our rental car at Gare du Nord, I approached a taxi stand for a ride to the Marais and he quoted me 55 euros! When I objected (it's rather close), he told me the fare was high because it was "Sunday." Which is a crock.

So I Ubered instead and it was less than 30 euros. Massive heat wave when we were there so we Ubered more than we would have but honestly, the Uber drivers were all friendly, timely, and honest. Parisians I spoke to seemed to have issues with taxis due to driver rudeness even more than cost.

I don't know why anyone would use Uber w/o the app. That's crazy.

I love Uber. Drivers are great, cars are clean and late model.

I've had many bad experiences with Paris taxi drivers. Dirty cars, wouldn't wait for us to put on seat belts, rude when we had trouble finding and buckling in the seat belt, did not speak French or English, did not know where they were going, and many times took us the very (sometimes ridiculously) long way. I know Paris well which they never realize. I always tell them when I see they're going the lonnng way and they're surprised and usually embarrassed. Happened to me this Feb when I took a taxi only b/c it was right there when I came out of the Orsay. He was the only taxi there... surprising since it's the Orsay and tourist central (which goes to my point that finding a taxi is often not easy in my experience). Only one taxi at the Orsay??

One time, at appx 8 pm in pouring rain and wind we needed a taxi (this was pre-Uber). I did not travel with a cell phone then. On road along river on south side of Notre Dame... no taxis anywhere, finally, and now soaking wet, we find a taxi stand with about 8 taxis. All empty. All the drivers were in the restaurant next to taxi stand eating dinner. I was told it would be at least an hour before they would be available. We had to just keep walking, a fair distance considering the weather and extreme jet-lag, to the Mêtro.

Uber is wonderful!!

Before you use Uber, take a hard (and honest) look at their business practices, ethics, and values and see if your own are in alignment (I know my sure aren't, cheap prices notwithstanding). There are too many ethical shortfalls to mention.

Just to state another view -- Over several years, I have always had good experiences taking taxis in Paris, most of the time alone. Drivers may not speak English though, so if you cannot pronounce your destination clearly, good to have it written down.
And I also strongly recommend using Paris buses!

Thanks for the clarification, Chexbres. Yes, I was using the app. If the taxi companies would move to a model similar to Uber, I'd be right on board with them. I love being able to ask for a car on my app (no language issues), watch the route as we go, and not have to fumble for cash at the end.

I know several people that are Uber drivers and they love the company.

A friend used to work for Yellow Cab and she hated the company.

Good idea to check the ethics of everything we use, purchase, wear, watch on tv, stores we shop at, what we eat, etc. I'm a vegetarian so my ethics regarding eating animals is very different from non-vegetarians/vegans.

Susan--depends on the city. I won't take a Yellow Cab, or any other, where I live because they hire anyone to drive, but I take them in Europe, US east coast cities and Chicago where the training and medallions mean something. Where I live, Uber is better.

Uber is less expensive because the business model is to impoverish workers.

Amen...they are the WalMart of the taxi industry.

Susan - Uber chauffeurs are permitted to work as many hours as they can, which is illegal in France.
Uber - the company - has insurance, but many chauffeurs do not.
Uber chauffeurs do not receive the hours of training required to navigate the streets of Paris.
They must pay for bottled water and bonbons from their own pocket.

Regular Parisien taxis are required to be trained, have insurance, and to work reasonable hours and pay taxes.
Unfortunately, most don't furnish bonbons or bottled water, but I've had lots of drivers who want to practice their English while I speak French..

It is interesting to hear Rick Steves' opinion on Paris Uber in the recent podcast, and also a report in the last week or so on Join Us In France, where a woman waited in the rain for ages for her Uber and finally took a cab.

We used Uber for the first time in our lives in Paris, and we love it!!

Well, it was technically at Versailles, I downloaded the Uber app just in case before my european trip. That Versailles morning RER C was disrupted, so, after a long roundabout of replacement buses by the RATP and trains, we decided not to take a chance in the afternoon with the RER C again (we were tired) and decided to take another train in the farthest Versailles station. So, we checked Uber fare to that station: 6 euros (saved our tired legs). Super cool and fast. We were impressed.

After that first experience we made about 4-5 rides besides our normal public transport. We almost did every journey for the minimum 6 euros (wich is a steal for 2 people who will pay 3 euros anyway with 2 carnet RATP tickets). We stayed near Rue Cler at the 7me arr.
If we were tired or late and it was not peak traffic time we really appreciate the UBER.

We even did the recommended UBER floodlight Paris tour RECOMMENDED by RICK STEVES on his 2017 Paris GB and we loved it. It was a steal, around 27-35 euros for almost an hour!!!!
We also went to the Sacre Coeur to start the RS Montmartre Walk and it was a few euros more than the minimum 6 euros!! We love it!! (specially our legs, it was day 5 in Paris, and day 13 in Europe)

Uber drivers were professionals, not talkative, but polite, except one of them from Senegal who was talkative and we enjoyed to talk. Funny curiosity, half of the lifts we took, the driver's name was Mohammed and all of them were different drivers.

We never wait more than 1-2 minutes, you have the name, the plaque and the model of the car in the app. You know in advance the amount to be charged and you don't worry about your budget at the end of the trip. No uncertainity, just a sleek and professional drive. I respect all opinions regarding any concerns about the Uber company but as newbie in the Uber world, I wanted to share my personal experience.

I can't compare with taxis in Paris, because I didn't experience them. I just used Uber