Taxi drivers

pretty broad question - how many people, where - what city - are you considering? Or will you be touring all over Italy?

Sort of like saying you've heard stories about USA taxis. Peoria or Washington?

I, personally, have not had any issues with taxi drivers in Italy since I had to pay in lira but I understand that others have not been so lucky. The industry is fairly well regulated and getting a white taxi at the official taxi stand or using one of the many apps (check with app is used in which town) has worked out well for me and many others. (There is an understood additional charge to calling a cab to you whether it's from the hotel or an app.) There are taxi stands outside every train station and airport and generally scattered around larger cities.

Taxis are required to accept credit cards but they prefer not to so if you want or need to use a credit card confirm that the credit card machine "is working" before you leave. In my recent experience taxi drivers are so much happier to have cash that they have been willing to wave part of the fare when you pay cash. I took a ride that was 21.20e and I handed the driver a twenty and was fishing for my change and he just said "Okay!" and hopped out and started getting the bags. Because I'm an American I handed him a couple of euros in addition - fare plus a tiny rounded up tip because he handled the bags on both ends - but he seemed unconcerned about getting the rest of fare.

Some people say that asking for a final receipt - ricevuta ree-cha-voota - when you get in the cab keeps drivers on their toes because it means their driver number is on the receipt and this is usually a businessman move and they are serious about money. Even if your cab driver doesn't really speak english the needs of payment and receipts is well understood.

I always have the address written down because while my Italian is okay sometimes details really matter. And as with many things in Italy the further north you are in the country generally the more predictable things are.

Don't let generalized anxiety make you sweat the small details too much, have a great trip,
=Tod

Have had mixed experiences with taxi drivers. Two were excellent in Vienna, but two were as shonky as they came. One refused to turn on the metre and the other was outright sketchy. Same in Rome. No problems with taxi driver from train station. Professional and used metre. Not so the one from the Vatican who said it was a fixed rate due to the rain. He drove like a maniac and ended up pulling over and kicking us out after my sister asked him to slow down. Taxi driver to and from train station in Florence were great. I think it is luck of the draw when it comes to taxis.

Hi Judy, I go to Italy yearly and use a couple of taxis per trip. I haven’t had any integrity issues. I only use a taxi from the official stand at train stations. Recently at Bari, as an example, I asked how much it would cost (in Italian) before I got into the car. I have a printed paper that I hand them the address where I want to go.

If I need a taxi from my hotel to the train station (I much prefer to walk or take the metro), I ask the hotel to call one for me.

I can’t give examples of credit card usage issues because taxis & public toilets are the two categories where I always pay with cash.

If you’d like to experience “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride”, take a taxi from Rome to the airport very early in the morning! LOL! I stay out at an airport hotel my last night now. : )

Taxi drivers in Italy are not employees but entrepreneurs owners of car and taxi license. The current Italian tax law permits small companies to pay a low flat income tax rate of 15% (instead of the progressive 23%, 35%, 43%) if their annual revenue receipts are less then 85,000€. In order to stay under that threshold taxi drivers try to maximize their cash receipts, rather than card receipts, because cash transactions are not traceable and they don’t report those to the tax man, so that they achieve the goal of staying under the 85,000€ threshold. So they will certainly prefer that you pay them in cash and occasionally they may pretend that their POS machine is temporarily out of order to convince you to shell out hard cash. The largest amount of fare will probably be from the airport to the hotel (for example Rome airport to city center is an all inclusive flat 55€), and viceversa, so if you want to pay cash confirm with the driver that you need to pay with a card because you don’t have enough cash. If you want to do them a favor and pay cash you can do so for short trips within the city, which usually cost less than 15€.

The meter is not used for trips where the City imposes a flat rate (generally from/to airports), but otherwise, within the city, I’ve never had the experience of taxicabs not using the meter.

Try not to stress too much about this topic; I know that many do. If the rare instances occurs where you think you are overcharged by a few euro. just chalk it up to the cost of travel........there's not much you can do in advance to protect yourself, unless you are prepared to engage in an argument with the driver in Italian....

I had an experience when the driver overcharged me from Catania airport to the city; he asked me for much more than I had paid for the same trip at about the same time the day before. This was one of the few times that I did insist, and he gave up his case after a minute or two......but that is kind of unusual. (I had to return to the airport to pick uo my suitcase which had not made it into my flight the day prior!! That was an experience in itself-(and fun in a way) but it worked out just fine....)

If the rare instances occurs where you think you are overcharged by a
few euro. just chalk it up to the cost of travel

Great advice!! I'm sure i have been overcharged a few times, not in Italy, and just pay and forget about it.

The only issue i have had in Itlay is a few drivers wanting cash for short trips. I had cash, so i just paid them in cash.

My experiences from the airport into the city have always been quite positive. The key is to use the official taxi rank.

My last taxi ride from my hotel to Termini Station in Rome was less satisfactory. It was arranged by the hotel front desk. The driver brought his brother along because the brother could speak some English. I have been in enough taxis and vehicles in Italy to understand that the way of driving there is far different than what I am used to. Even so, the ride was terrifying in many ways. When we pulled up at the station, the driver asked for about 5 euros more than I expected. I paid cheerfully because I was glad I was still in one piece and was so eager to put that driver behind me. I don't know what my limit of "overcharge" would have been before I said something. I was just relieved.

I found the taxi drivers to be pretty honest. Now Athens and Istanbul is another matter !

Hi there, if you're open to using Uber or other ride-sharing services (if they're available where you're going in Italy), you can handle payment ahead of time. Uber was available when I was in Milan, Florence, and Catania (Sicily). Good luck.

I would like to clarify the last comment above.

Uber in Italy is not the same as in the US, as it does not offer standard ridesharing where the average Joe drives his own car, but instead functions as an app to book premium Uber Black or UberVan (NCC/limo) services.

Since 2022 Uber has also reached a Joint Service Agreement with ItTaxi, the app of the Italian RadioTaxi Association, to also summon regular taxicabs, so it can be used in place of the ItTaxi app.

It is generally more expensive than directly hailing a taxi from a rank or also Italian apps used by the Italian taxi drivers, such as ItTaxi or AppTaxi or TaxiMove, since Uber, even when you summon a regular taxicab, will add a 3€ commission to the ride, while the aforementioned Italian apps will not.

If you use Uber to summon a car in Italy, the Uber app may state the options below (not all are available in all cities):

• Black Car (black limo service driven by professionally licensed driver)
• Van (limo van service driven by professional licensed driver)
  
• Lux (Luxury limo service driven by professional licensed driver)
• Taxi options, like Taxi API v2 (regular taxi via ItTaxi).

If you select the UberBlack or UberVan or UberLux service on top, those are licensed black limo companies, which will charge more for the service, as it is more luxurious and personalized.

If you select the taxi options at the bottom of the list given by the Uber app the stated price in the app will be only an ItTaxi estimate (including the 3€ booking fee by Uber) as the final price will be determined by the meter at the end of the ride plus potential extra charges, like bag charges.

Be aware that when you summon a taxi in Italy (by app or by phone), the meter starts running at the time the taxi is dispatched to you, not at the time you actually board the taxi. Therefore the cheapest option is to walk to a taxi stand and get on a taxi. Hailing taxi cars while they travel in the streets, as it is common in American cities like NYC, is prohibited in most cities by the City taxi regulations, so don't even try. Just call or use the taxi portals or apps or ask your hotel desk to do so for you. As I mentioned the cheapest option is to walk to a taxi stand (if one is nearby).

I just returned from Italy where I had to fend for myself for 5 days following a high end tour where everything was pre-arranged.
I can confirm that all was good with using a taxi, as long I only went to the OFFICIAL all white taxi line outside airports and train stations, with my pre-written destination address written on a piece of paper AND “Posso pagare con la carta” (meaning can I pay with a card?)

If I needed a taxi to go from the hotel to the airport or to the train station, I asked the hotel reception desk to call a taxi for me, and a taxi always came in less than 4 min.

While in Torino, I stayed at Carlo Alberto B&B, which I realize too late had no reception desk. So I was on my own calling a taxi and made my reservation the evening before on FreeNow, which confirmed my reservation but failed to send a taxi. So I had to scramble figuring out the local taxi number to call while speaking very broken Italian in my panic mode. Luckily, a young neighbor standing by came to my rescue and a local taxi came in less than 3 min. The young Italian shared that FreeNow has also failed him.
LESSONS LEARNED:
1. Do Not use FreeNow app.
2. Stay at hotels with good reviews AND a fully staffed reception desk.
3. At airports and train stations only use the OFFICIAL all white taxi line outside airports and train stations, with my pre-written destination address written on a piece of paper AND “Posso pagare con la carta” (meaning can I pay with a card?)

If you intend to use an app to summon taxicabs in Italy it is best to use one of the Italian apps used by Italian taxi companies.

Depending on which company and city, they mostly use one of these 3:

ItTaxi
TaxiMove
AppTaxi

Download them and register before leaving.

Then check which companies operate in the cities you are going. You can google (NAME OF THE ITALIAN CITY) RADIO TAXI
Then go to their website and you can have their telephone numbers (add +39 for the Italian area code). Save them in your phones.
The website will also indicate which App they use (I bet it will be one of the 3 above).

The previous commenter suggested to stay at fully staffed hotels, but that may not always be the best choice for some. Sometimes big families/groups may prefer to rent apartments on AirBnB or VRBO.