If you are coming for the first time in Romania by plane or train and nobody awaits for you at arrival to drive you to the hotel or the apartment where you'll stay, certainly you will need to appeal the services of a taxi, and this can become a quite unpleasant experience if you won't take into account the few warnings which we'll try to show you through the following rows:

The taxi in Romania, same as in each other country of the world, represent a real problem for the foreigners just arrived in a country they don't know much about it and this way they need to face a trial not always with a happy end.

To easier for you this 'first trial' (after hoping that you passed well the sometimes too zealous custom house officers), we advice you to:

-don't take a cab you find in front of the airport or railway station. Sometimes they represent real traps for the foreigners coming tired by travel, bewildered and hurried, and the desire of those taxi drivers to take advantage of your weakness is the only reason that makes them wait several hours in front of airports or railway stations.

-do not accept the 'cheap' offers from the people who accost you even from inside of the airport or railway station. They are only wanglers with a pretty big commission which you will also pay through the huge tariff the taxi driver will illegally charge you. Moreover, most of those 'foreigner's hunters' are persons that practice illegally the taxi driver job.

-don't judge any yellow car as a taxi like every other one. We have to inform you that you'll find in Romania two sorts of taxi drivers. They can be taxi drivers who work for a company or independent taxi drivers. It's proper to appeal ONLY the taxi drivers who work for a company and in no case the independents. Those last ones can charge you few times more than a taxi driver who works for a company (the taxi companies having very many cars in "fleet" and being in a harsh competition with another companies with the same province. Competition.. so low cost! To make somehow sure you won't be squeezed out of money, we advice you to make a phone call to one of the taxi companies which anybody around you in airport, railway station or even on the street can tell you the phone number (7 from 10 romanians knows to speak English or Italian or French, so... ask and you'll be answered). To make it even easier, you can note from the beginning few phone numbers of some serious taxi companies which you may call (in Bucharest):

Taxi Meridian - 021 9444;
Taxi Leone - 021 9425;
Taxi 2000 - 021 9494;
Taxi Apolodor - 021 9499;
Taxi Rodell - 021 9415;
Taxi Cristaxi - 021 9461 / 021 9466;
Taxi Confort - 021 9455;
Taxi Eurostil - 021 9426;
Taxi Fly - 021 9440;
Taxi Mondial - 021 9423.

-ask for the personal phone number of the taxi driver if you have been satisfied as well by services and tariff he charged you. For few euros more, it's almost sure he will come anytime to drive you safely and for a fair rate wherever you need to go.

-be careful at the tariffs shown. In Romania, the taxi drivers are determined by law, no matters if they work for a company or are independents, to post their tariff in a visible place. This means either on the coachwork (door or mudguard of the car) or on the wind screen. The taxies have also a starting tariff which you should pay attention to it and this one (legally) must also be displayed on a visible place (usual in the same place as the tariff / km). An other tariff which should be displayed is the waiting tariff (at traffic light or at your request). If you see more taxies parked there try to compare their rates. Of course, it’s preferable to take the cheapest one.

-when you climb up into a taxi, try to keep the Bucharest Map at sight to make the driver believe it will be hard to trick you driving through devious streets;

-do not start a dispute with a taxi driver. Generally, they have very strong psychically sketched so called 'herd spirit' and at the smaller incident occuring, they may call their fellow-workers through the radio station or pure and simple they will be spontaneous helped even by the fellows from the rival companies happens to be there. It's to avoid a situation when you could find yourself alone surrounded by few taxi drivers with no much education and used to communicate only through verbal or physical violence.

-make sure you have Romanian money to pay the drive. At the airport, when you arrive, try to exchange some of the money you have in LEI (romanian money) and of course in small change too. This way you will avoid the unpleasant situation when the taxi driver could tell you he doesn't have small charge to give you the rest. The exchange of money will also help you to give some reasonable tips to the chamber-maid and baggage handler.

-look at the taxi-meter that shows you the km running and how much you are charged. There are some taxi drivers who make some cheats to theirdevice and through a simple push of a button (damage button or the cane for lights) push up the numbers of km or the amount of money you have to pay. This kind of trick is mostly made when the drive is almost at the end. It's best that the taxi driver to see you very watchful at the taxi-meter even by when you climb into the car.

Good luck and good journey!

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