After landing, a taxi is usually the easiest way into town and also the part of the trip whose price you know least about. Several big European cities have therefore set fixed fares between the airport and the centre. If you know them, you can budget the last leg before you book and you will notice straight away if a driver asks for more. We have collected the official amounts for Paris, Nice, Rome, Madrid and Athens and set them against trains, buses and pre-booked transfers.
Fixed taxi fares at a glance (October 2026)
| Route | Fixed fare per taxi | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Paris Charles de Gaulle to the Right Bank | EUR 56 | service-public.fr |
| Paris Charles de Gaulle to the Left Bank | EUR 65 | service-public.fr |
| Paris Orly to the Right Bank | EUR 45 | service-public.fr |
| Paris Orly to the Left Bank | EUR 36 | service-public.fr |
| Nice airport to central Nice | EUR 32 | service-public.fr |
| Nice airport to Cannes / Monaco | EUR 85 / EUR 95 | service-public.fr |
| Rome Fiumicino to the historic centre inside the Aurelian Walls | EUR 55 | Roma Servizi per la Mobilità |
| Rome Ciampino to the historic centre | EUR 40 | Roma Servizi per la Mobilità |
| Madrid Barajas to anywhere inside the M-30 ring road | EUR 33 | Madrid City Council |
| Athens airport to the city centre | EUR 40 by day, EUR 55 from midnight to 5 am | Welcome Pickups guide |
The French government lists the Paris fares for 2026 and they apply in both directions. From the fifth passenger a Paris taxi may add EUR 5.50. In Rome all supplements are included in the fixed fare, and in Madrid nothing may be added on top. For Athens we could not reach an official page, so the figure comes from a transfer company's guide dated August 2026.
What a fixed fare means
The price is for the whole car, not for each passenger. Traffic jams, luggage and time of day do not change it, unless the city has set a separate night rate as Athens has. It only applies inside the defined zone, though. Heading to a Paris suburb, an address in Rome outside the Aurelian Walls or a part of Madrid beyond the M-30, the meter runs as normal. Rome sets an upper limit for those trips: a metered ride between Fiumicino and anywhere inside the GRA orbital motorway may not cost more than EUR 80.
Rome also fixes fares to its railway stations. Termini lies inside the walls and so falls under the EUR 55 fare from Fiumicino. Tiburtina costs EUR 60, Ostiense EUR 50, and a taxi between Fiumicino and Ciampino EUR 55.
Taxi, train or bus: worked examples for Madrid and Athens
Whether the taxi is worth it depends mostly on how many of you there are. Two examples using the prices in Welcome Pickups' guides for Madrid (April 2026) and Athens (August 2026):
- Madrid, family of four: the metro costs about EUR 5 per person including the airport supplement, so 4 times EUR 5 makes EUR 20, plus the one-off travel card. The taxi is EUR 33 for everyone. The gap is about EUR 13 plus the card.
- Madrid, travelling alone: metro about EUR 5, airport bus EUR 5, Cercanías commuter train EUR 2.60. The taxi at EUR 33 costs more than six times as much.
- Athens, family of four: the metro is EUR 9 per person, EUR 36 in total. A daytime taxi is EUR 40, so for EUR 4 more the family goes door to door with its bags.
- Athens, two people: metro EUR 18, express bus 2 times EUR 5.50 equals EUR 11, taxi EUR 40.
From three or four travellers, a fixed-fare taxi often costs little more than public transport. On your own, the train nearly always wins by a wide margin.
Pre-booked transfers
Instead of queuing at the rank you can book a driver in advance who meets you in arrivals with a name sign. Welcome Pickups quotes from about EUR 43 in Athens and from about EUR 40 in Madrid, a few euros above the taxi fare. In return the price is fixed before you travel, including for addresses outside the fixed-fare zone, and the driver waits if your flight is late. It is worth comparing for people carriers, child seats or late-night arrivals.
On tripprice you will find several transfer companies with vouchers and cashback, among them Welcome Pickups, Kiwitaxi and GetTransfer. When comparing, check whether waiting time, luggage and tolls are included.
At the taxi rank
Fixed fares apply to licensed taxis waiting at the signposted rank outside arrivals. For Athens, the Welcome Pickups guide points to the official rank at Exit 3 and suggests confirming the fixed fare before you get in and asking for a receipt. That habit helps in the other cities too, since agreeing the amount up front avoids an argument on arrival. Drivers who approach you inside the terminal are not part of this system, and no fixed fare binds them.
Step by step
- Before you travel, check whether your accommodation is inside the fixed-fare zone, for example which bank of the Seine in Paris or whether it is inside the M-30 in Madrid.
- Count heads and compare the taxi fare with the train or bus fare multiplied by the number of travellers.
- On arrival use only the official rank and mention the fixed fare before getting in.
- For a night arrival, lots of luggage or an address outside the zone, pre-book a transfer and compare the total.
- Ask for a receipt. It helps with any dispute and with expense claims.
Other costs at your destination
Getting from the airport is only one of the extras at the other end. Paris and Rome also charge a levy on overnight stays, often paid at the hotel rather than when you book. You will find the amounts by country and city on our city tax overview.