Recommendation for Taxis in Paris
 

Will be in Paris in May with elderly mother and I need recommendation for dependable taxi companies. We are planning to use Hop On Hop Off bus to tourist sights during the day, but need taxi to return to hotel at night, when tour buses stop running.

The Hop-on Hof-off tour is a terrible idea. It is slow and expensive and leaves you sitting in traffic and waiting for forever at its stops. Use G7 taxis to get around if you don't want to use public transportation.

We always use the metro whenever possible but when we need to call a taxi (usually for the airport) we use G7. They have been recommended to us by hotels as being the "English speaking" cab company. We have always had good experiences with them.

Taxi G7 is the largest taxi dispatcher in Paris. All taxis are regulated by the police and prices are uniform.

City buses, not the hop on, hop off, would probably be a good solution for you.

Absolutely agree the HOHO is not a great option. If you get a pass - NOT the ripoff Paris Visite or other tourist marketed products, rather a week long (Monday through Sunday) Navigo or daily Mobilis as described here - you can use the entire system of buses and metro trains to get around at whim. The Metro often requires considerable walking, including stairs, for connections so may not be a good choice for mobility limited travelers. The bus, on the other hand, offers the advantage of being able to see the city at ground level and with a pass you can hop off at whim if you see something that catches your eye en route. It also allows for some sitting down in between sites visited, often welcomed for more senior travelers. There are a couple routes particularly useful for tourists such as line 69 - check and print out the bus route map, and see general tourist info including a link to download an app

I dont think the hohos are such a bad idea.. for most folks.. but not for an elderly person.. The best seats are upstairs.. and the stairs are steep and curved and the driver sometimes starts moving before youre up the stairs... dangerous for someone with reduced mobility.. the seats on bottom level are hot and boring as you dont get the views you do from up top.

I disagree that the hop on, hop off buses are a bad idea. I take them in many of the foreign cities that I visit, and for the most part find them convenient for getting an overview of each city. I usually stay on the entire circuit (in many cities like Paris there is more than one route), and go back later to see those that interest me. If there is more than one route, I try to start the first route where the routes will intersect so that I can do an entire loop, then start the second route where the first route ends. I find them reasonably priced for being able to use the transportation to see the highlights of the city, listen to a narrative (either tapes, or sometime done live by enthusiastic guides) that explains what you are seeing and some brief history, and use the system for an entire day or two. Visiting a city is not merely a matter of getting from point A to point B. If you want to see sights, you want to be ABOVE GROUND and have someone pointing out what each sight is. This won't be accomplished on the Metro or by taxi, no matter how inenxpensive they are.

I know people who have really enjoyed the hop on hop off bus tour, particularly the night tour that stops right in front of the Eiffel Tower precisely when it starts to twinkle.. Several people here immediately jump on the posts about it and turn people away. I did one a dozen years ago and it was fun. The Bateaux Mouches are also a great way to see things for an hour without much walking involved. Tell your taxi driver that you have a handicapped person and they'll let you drive right down to the boarding area.

I do take buses quite a lot and they are relatively easy and handicapped friendly.

It might be a good idea, if you have a smart phone to download a few taxi apps before you come. I use G-7, Uber and Chauffer Privvee. I tend to use Uber the most because it's the least expensive, generally really comfortable and cashless. The other two are also cashless but tend to be a bit more expensive. Using the apps also eliminates your need to give the driver verbal directions if your French is not good.

Stay away from the metro with your mother. You'll most likely encounter lots of stairs and people moving very quickly. Plus, you can't see anything underground.

Any taxi should be fine, but there is probably a reason that the company that owns both G7 and Taxis bleus operates 11,000 of the 17,700 taxis in Paris. (The Taxi bleu brand name will be disappearing soon to become G7 as well.) If you want to be ecologically responsible, choose a G7 GreenCab -- they are all either hybrid or electric. There is a logo on the side of the cars.

I never care about the name of the taxi company, as long as they are legit, I don't worry about it.

I don't think the HOHO bus is a terrible idea. I think it's fine especially if you mainly want to relax, ride around and sightsee from the rooftop seating. I think it's a bad idea as a form of efficient transportation, that's all. I don't think it's that expensive for an all day thing. Also, the traffic and waiting were really only bad when I took it in some areas on the Right Bank which are much more congested, say around Opera, that area. So it depends what your needs are. If you only wanted to get out at a few places, it would be fine. Now I do agree with Justine, however, that's the main caveat. Getting up to the top can be tricky on the stairs, and sitting downstairs isn't really worth it that much cmopared to regular buses (except the routing may make it a lot easier than trying to figure out the entire Parisian bus system).

We don't really know the age/physical status of the OP's mother, anyway, or if they have ever taken one of these elsewhere and enjoyed it.