What is a fair fare?

Wondering how much it would cost to take a taxi from Heathrow to downtown London? I came across this interesting web site the other day, www.worldtaximeter.com, and thought to pass it on. It’s in beta testing right now, so there may be some bugs. It purports to calculate approximate fare in many cities worldwide. While I can’t vouch for its accuracy in Austin or Zurich, I did check a few familiar routes in Barcelona and Paris, and found the figures within reason. The big variable is time spent waiting in traffic, so factor in time of day and day of the week when evaluating a guesstimate.

Once in your destination city, the Metro or bus is your least expensive mode of transportation – tickets work for both, but you still may want to take a taxi for some trips. On the way you may get a dose of local culture, as we did a few years ago in Florence. Dinner over, Charlotte and I were ready to head back to our rented room at Villa la Sosta, http://www.villalasosta.com on Via Bolognese, about two miles from the Piazza della Republica. To this day we’re mystified how our driver, a man who looked to be in his 30s, got us home safely, as we swear his hands never touched the steering wheel the entire trip. Instead of steering he was gesticulating wildly with one hand while holding a lively conversation by cell phone. As we don’t speak Italian, we could only surmise the subject of the passionate exchange, but we guessed it was about a woman.

Our host, Antonio Fantoni, left, Carl and Ron outside of Villa la Sosta, Florence.

One question that comes up a lot from clients and on travel forums is the best way to get from the airport to your lodgings. The right answer is as varied as the traveling parties. Those on a tight budget will want to take a train or bus, then the Metro or a taxi to their destination once in the city. There are a few options from Roissy - Charles deGaulle to Paris, including the RER suburban train to some center city Metro stations, the Air France shuttle bus to the Arc de Triomphe and a few other stops,  and the Roissy bus to the Opera Metro station. They all are cheaper than a taxi, which runs in the area of 50 euros. If that’s affordable, you avoid a lot of hassle and get door-to-door service.

An in-between choice is a shared shuttle van, into which up to six passengers and their luggage can be crammed. The disadvantage of this is that if you are not the first off (or last on going back to the airport) you’ll be riding around while others are dropped off or picked up. This can mean an hour or more earlier departure from your apartment. I don’t like that, as I prefer to linger as long as possible on our last day. And remember that at roughly $20 each, the savings over a taxi is minimal for a couple.

The choices are more limited from Barcelona El Prat, the main airport. Since a taxi runs only 25-30 euros to most destinations, that’s our first choice. The train makes only two stops, the Sants and Passeig de Gracia stations, and the bus goes only as far as Passeig de Gracia and a few points west. And, of course, shuttles are available, although there’s little or no savings.