Porte Maillot Taxi?

[kd1964]

Hello
I will be in a mad panic to get from Porte Maillot to St Lazare. I have pre-booked train seats but maybe it wasnt a good idea - the flight comes into Beauvais at 3.30 pm and train leaves st lazare at 6 pm.
Is there a taxi rank at Porte Maillot and if so, where is it situated.
Any suggestions appreciated
Thanks
Kath

 

[DrMoriarty]

There is indeed, just 50m from where the Ryanair bus sets down, near the front entrance of the Palais des Congrès (look for the red 'Tabac' sign). Map here.

If your flight touches down at 3:30 it will be after 5pm by the time you get to Porte Maillot and, unless it's a Sunday, traffic will be ferocious. But then again, so are most Parisian taxi drivers.

I think if I were you I would probably take the Métro, avoiding the traffic overground. It will be crowded, but you'll only have to change once at Champs-Elysées/Clémenceau — see [broken link removed]. It's a small station and doesn't have the miles of underground tunnels and staircases that you'd have to navigate if you took the (faster, but less frequent) RER train and had to change at Châtelet-Les-Halles and again at Gare du Nord, both of which are mayhemic at rush hour.

All of this assuming that you're travelling light and don't have small kids to manage, etc. Good luck!

 

[kd1964]

Thanks for the reply. Not knowing Paris, i figured the taxi would be quicker but will now go with the metro. Will be pushing it though

 

[DrMoriarty]

De rien.

Normally a taxi would beat the Métro, especially at night — but in rush hour traffic there's always a danger that even the zippiest driver could end up stuck in a bottleneck. Nothing worse than watching those minutes tick away as you inch forward at a snail's pace. At least with the Métro the trains come every 4-5 minutes at rush hour and you know that once you step on the train you have X minutes until arrival at the station you're getting off at. It will be tight, but with a bit of luck you should be able to make it in 25-30 minutes.

Is it too late to amend your train booking? It would take the stress out of it if you had an extra half-hour to play with, and I imagine it would certainly be cheaper (if not free, depending on your ticket and how far away your travel date is) than having to transfer/rebook after missing the 6pm departure ...not to be putting a jinx on you!