Bucharest Taxis

Bucharest’s dodgy taxi drivers have a refreshingly liberal sense of equal opportunities. Basically, when it comes to ripping people off, they view anyone as fair game. Locals, foreigners, young, old, male, female: anyone who steps in the wrong kind of taxi can expect to be well and truly buggered.

The important thing to remember when getting into a taxi in this city is that there are two kinds: those which are operated by a tried and trusted taxi company (good) and independents (bad). The problem is spotting the difference.

By and large, trustworthy taxis are easy to spot as they are emblazoned with the name and phone number of the company they are associated with. To counter this, the independents have also started to plaster phone numbers over their cars, alongside copy-cat logos that look cunningly like those of decent taxi companies. 

They also try other tricks. 

In the photo above, all appears well at first glance. The tariff is a cheap as chips 1.35 lei.

Except it isn't.

Look again: Tarif 1 is 3.5 lei. A hell of a lot more than 1.3 lei.

As a rule of thumb, do not get into any taxi displaying the words Taxi Bucuresti or Taxi Arsenal: these are usually a lot more expensive than standard taxis. 

Never pay more than 1.69 lei per kilometre.

Be extra careful when getting into a taxi around Gara de Nord, Baneasa Airport, Bucuresti Mall, Piata Universitatii, Piata Unirii and the Old Town / Lipscani area. When leaving a hotel or restaurant, always have the concierge or waiter order you a cab.

At Otopeni Airport, ignore any taxi drivers who approach you in the arrivals hall, and use the new taxi ordering system.

More on arriving at Otopeni in the Arriving chapter. 

The best way to avoid being ripped off however is to pay careful attention to the tariffs, displayed on the driver and passenger door of all taxis.

There should just be one single tarif displayed, and anything higher than 1.69 lei per kilometre should start alarm bells ringing.

Some of Bucharest's taxi companies now have iPhone apps which make use of your phone's GPS capabilities to get the closest taxi to you as fast as possible.

The best (and only one currently available on international AppStores) is from Meridian.

The Android version is here.

More on avoiding Bucharest's dodgy taxis and the tactics they use over at Bucharest Life.