Late night taxis in Paris
 

Putting together a loose schedule for my May trip to Paris (yipee!). Quick question, I'd like to visit a few night spots (Jazz clubs/dance clubs) while I'm there. Are taxis readily available say after midnight? Should I have a number to a cab company for a late night pick up?

It depends where you are, generally you can't ever just find a taxi roaming the streets and hail it. Taxis in Paris don't work that way, they have to be called or at an official taxi stand.

I don't stay out until after midnight usually, so can't comment on the availability of taxis at official taxi stands after that. I know they aren't there in the neighborhoods where I usually stay. They probably are on the Champs-Elysees or maybe near the clubs up in the 18th or the Marais, etc. Now I do often stay in Montparnasse, and they have taxis lined up there in the middle of the street on bd Montparnasse at times late at night, it seems to me, waiting for a fare. People do go out there at night, so I suppose that's why.

Good luck on getting a cab to come when you call, I can't get them to answer a lot of the time (when I call the Paris-wide taxi number which relays to the nearest location where nobody ever seems to be). But maybe I just have bad luck.

You may or may not be able to flag down a taxi, they do not have to stop if they are in so many meters of an offical taxi stand. There is a website listing the stands but I don't have it handy

The number for the G7 taxis is 01 41 2766 99

The club should be glad to call it for you.

There is a minimum fare and the meter may have some euros on it when it comes to collect ytou, they charge from where they are to where you are!

Taxi Bleu (24/24) is 0 891 70 10 10.

If you're near a train station you should be able to find one, or in a major late-night area; otherwise you'll need to find a a taxi stand (which may be deserted late at night) or call.

How about outside the Opera Bastille? The ballet will be over around 10:30 or 11:00 p.m. Will there be taxis outside I can get?

There might or might not be, though yes there is a taxi stand there, near the Café de la Paix. You can text or email Taxi Bleu and I believe if you do that they waive the charge to come pick you up. They have an explanatory website.

But at that time of night I would take the métro or bus anyway.

Ooops, I just realized you said Opéra Bastille, not Garnier. Don't know anything about taxi stands there. Sorry.

According to this hotel website there is a taxi stand in the "Place de la Bastille".

http://www.hotelparisbastille.com/uk/index.php

The Hotel Paris Bastille is on the Rue de Lyon opposite the Opera Bastille.


Here's a website about Paris taxis:

http://www.taxi-paris.net/page19.html

The most difficult time to find a taxi is just after 1 a.m. (2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday) right when the metro closes.