There is an offical taxi line right outside It is on the left side as you face the front of the station.Well marked directions in the station.Cost Depends on where you;re going. I go to the 5th and it is usually under 10 euro from gare du Nord.The above directions are for Gare du Nord but all stations have clearly marked directins

Avalon's answer applies to ALL railway stations in Europe: get off the train, follow the signs saying "taxi", then get a metred cab - however long the queue is.

The ONLY remotely sensible alternatives are:
- follow the signs for "metro", "underground" or "bus" and get public transport (often in London and Paris and most other big cities with proper public transport considerably quicker and cheaper), or
- be met at the end of the arrival platform by a driver whom you know personally

Do not:
- prebook a taxi. Railway stations, and their parking facilities, just aren't organised for this
- give up when seeing how long the taxi queue is (often half an hour or more) and accept the solicitation of the little man asking you if you want a taxi. He's illegal, uninsured and a thief
- accept the kind offer from a posh hotel to send a liveried driver, which will cost you more than the international railway journey. Except in Venice, where it'll cost even more, but means you'll get a private launch down the Grand Canal.

It's the same way at any train station, just take an official taxi from the taxi queue, it pretty much works that way everywhere (and airports, for that matter). I've never been in any city in the US, Europe or Mexico where that wasn't the best way to get a taxi, except for towns so small they don't have any taxis waiting and then you'd have to know a phone number to call.

Queue for cabs at stations like the Gare du Nord can at times be dauntingly long too - metro could then be faster for folks with manageable luggage

What train station? What hotel?

As noted above, it works the same way as at any train station in the world. Get off the train, follow the taxi signs (they always have pictures as well as words), go outside, stand in line, get in a taxi.

No one can tell you what the cost will be, as you haven't said which train station or which hotel.

Thanks for all the helpful info. We rarely have the opportunity to ride trains and appreciate all the suggestions.

Long taxi lines at Gare du Nord go pretty quickly. There is a "starter" who will find out where you are going, how many of you there are, and how much luggage you have before putting you in an appropriate taxi. If there are lots of you and/or you have a lot of luggage, he may put others in taxis ahead of you. This is NOT someone who approaches you; you can watch him work while you wait in line.

BIG TIP: have the address you want to go to printed or printed out on a piece of paper for him and for the driver if your French [Italian, Croat, it is the same everywhere] is not good. Or at least reasonable.

It is useful to have looked at where you are going on Google maps or elsewhere. I had to warn friends that going to a particular address involved lots of traffic and making a big circle around some one way streets. Their fare was half again as much as Avalon2's, and they weren't being cheated.

Great info!

I agree with comments above on Gare du Nord and the ease of using the taxi stand. Note that last year we arrived in Paris Gare St Lazare at 7 PM on a Friday night. Much traffic in the area, no taxis at the station. It took us a good 30 min to find a taxi. Finally ended up walking a block away from the station to a small taxi stand.

I am lucky in a way. I use a cane and I always go to the head of the line at Gare de Nord!!