World taxi prices: What a 3-kilometer ride costs in 88 big cities
Here at Price of Travel we are now tracking travel prices in over 200 different cities around the world, hoping to help travelers make an accurate budget as well as pick places where their money goes furthest. Not surprisingly, transportation prices can vary dramatically, so we are tracking the cost of getting to and from the airport and getting around town, using taxis as well as public transportation.
In general, taxi prices can be very confusing in any given city, so trying to compare all the cities together was complicated. To do this we decided to track a typical price range of a 3-kilometer (about 2 mile) trip in each destination. We use price ranges instead of “average” prices because many cities have different prices with each company, or different price structures at night or on weekends.
So the prices below run from cheapest to most expensive, and some of the results are surprising. With the exception of the junker taxis used in India and the Mercedes taxis used in parts of Europe, the cars themselves tend to be very similar. For example, taxis in Bangkok are almost all late-model Toyota Camrys with air-conditioning, and yet the ride costs almost nothing compared to the most expensive cities.
Updated for 2017
This article was originally researched and written in late 2010. We’ve updated all of the fares for 2017 and added many new cities.
Also, check out our public transportation prices in 80 worldwide cities comparison as well.
NOTE: All exchange rates were updated as of June, 2017, shifting things around a bit.
Cost of a 3-kilometer taxi ride in 88 major cities
*All prices converted into US dollars on June 8, 2017
The left price reflects little to no waiting in traffic, the right price reflects high-traffic situations plus night or weekend surcharges. In many of the cheaper taxi cities it can be nearly impossible to get the official metered rate.
$0.82 – $1.24 Delhi, India
$0.87 – $2.90 La Paz, Bolivia
$0.88 – $1.37 Mexico City, Mexico
$0.93 – $1.40 Mumbai, India
$1.03 – $2.05 Marrakech, Morocco
$1.09 – $1.63 Antigua, Guatemala
$1.21 – $1.62 Manila, Philippines
$1.41 – $2.34 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
$1.43 – $2.87 Zanzibar Town, Tanzania
$1.51 – $2.26 Kuta, Bali, Indonesia
$1.54 – $2.05 Fez, Morocco
$1.59 – $2.65 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
$1.76 – $2.94 Bangkok, Thailand
$1.79 – $2.68 Yangon, Myanmar
$1.79 – $2.24 Arusha, Tanzania
$1.86 – $2.32 Cape Town, South Africa
$1.91 – $2.94 Beijing, China
$1.94 – $2.77 Cairo, Egypt
$1.98 – $3.09 Hanoi, Vietnam
$2.00 – $4.00 Quito, Ecuador
$2.25 – $3.27 Dubai, UAE
$2.27 – $4.25 Istanbul, Turkey
$2.28 – $2.43 Kathmandu, Nepal
$2.30 – $3.16 Sofia, Bulgaria
$2.50 – $3.38 Shanghai, China
$2.50 – $3.13 Buenos Aires, Argentina
$2.74 – $4.88 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
$2.76 – $5.35 Seoul, South Korea
$2.81 – $3.51 Montevideo, Uruguay
$2.82 – $5.63 Amman, Jordan
$2.94 – $5.35 Krakow, Poland
$3.00 – $4.00 Santa Ana, El Salvador
$3.00 – $5.00 Panama City, Panama
$3.26 – $5.80 Singapore, Singapore
$3.45 – $4.51 Santiago, Chile
$3.52 – $7.03 Moscow, Russia
$3.52 – $5.28 St. Petersburg, Russia
$3.53 – $5.77 Hong Kong, China
$3.58 – $5.97 Prague, Czech Republic
$4.00 – $10.00 New York City, USA
$4.32 – $5.98 Taipei, Taiwan
$4.49 – $6.74 Lisbon, Portugal
$4.53 – $6.20 San Jose, Costa Rica
$4.54 – $4.99 Zagreb, Croatia
$4.70 – $5.83 Budapest, Hungary
$5.31 – $7.97 Beirut, Lebanon
$5.38 – $6.73 Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
$5.62 – $7.87 Athens, Greece
$5.62 – $7.87 Madrid, Spain
$5.62 – $8.99 Tallinn, Estonia
$5.67 – $8.50 Tel Aviv, Israel
$5.93 – $9.63 Vancouver, Canada
$5.93 – $8.89 Montreal, Canada
$6.02 – $9.02 Melbourne, Australia
$6.67 – $9.63 Toronto, Canada
$6.74 – $11.24 Dublin, Ireland
$6.78 – $9.69 Nairobi, Kenya
$7.08 – $11.24 Rome, Italy
$7.50 – $11.00 Washington DC, United States
$7.66 – $10.79 Auckland, New Zealand
$7.87 – $11.24 Barcelona, Spain
$8.00 – $15.00 Orlando, United States
$8.00 – $11.00 Chicago, United States
$8.20 – $13.00 Boston, United States
$8.27 – $13.68 Sydney, Australia
$8.27 – $11.48 Stockholm, Sweden
$8.33 – $11.36 Cairns, Australia
$8.87 – $10.70 Lima, Peru
$8.99 – $11.24 Brussels, Belgium
$8.99 – $13.48 Munich, Germany
$8.99 – $13.48 Vienna, Austria
$9.08 – $11.80 Tokyo, Japan
$10.11 – $13.48 Berlin, Germany
$10.39 – $15.58 London, England
$10.39 – $10.39 Amsterdam, Netherlands
$11.00 – $15.00 Honolulu, United States
$11.00 – $15.00 San Francisco, United States
$11.22 – $11.28 Copenhagen, Denmark
$11.24 – $16.85 Paris, France
$11.24 – $16.85 Helsinki, Finland
$11.24 – $15.73 Monaco, Monaco
$11.69 – $18.18 Edinburgh, Scotland
$11.78 – $15.31 Oslo, Norway
$12.00 – $16.00 Los Angeles, USA
$12.16 – $19.26 Reykjavik, Iceland
$13.48 – $16.85 Nice, France
$15.00 – $20.00 Miami Beach, United States
$18.56 – $24.74 Zurich, Switzerland
Notes about world taxi prices
- The prices above reflect metered prices, although in some cities each company charges its own rates.
- Generally, if you are obviously a tourist, the cheaper the normal price the greater chance that the meter will be “broken” or unavailable.
- These figures are for in-the-city rides, many airports add an additional surcharge in one or both directions.
- Typical airport-to-city price ranges can be found on each of the main city pages, along with public transportation prices.
- Some cities charge more at night or on weekends, so the overall range tends to be greater in those cases.
- Prices for waiting/standing still and typical traffic conditions vary from city to city, and this also increases the price range.
Being honest, even when all companies in a city use a fixed price scheme it can still be difficult to research them because many taxi drivers make a better living by the public not knowing what they should really expect to pay. On the other hand, we are confident that all of these are at least very close, although if you have new information we’d love to hear from you so we can update our records.
The worst confusion almost always involves airport taxi scams, so it’s worth being aware of those before you arrive anywhere.
geez guys taxi prices in moscow are verry much higher say at night and it also depends on location. For 4 bucks mentioned they’ll drive u like a 100m)) an airport drive to central moscow say from sheremetievo airport may cost u a $100 if u take a wrong guy))
price of taxi in zagreb is not correct
The exact price is 5,60$ – 7,60$
correct mistake
You have wrong prices at list in Finlad, Helsinki. You wrote 13,89-19,44 but it´s fail. Right price is 9,47 eur (= 12.34 US dollars). Count yourself from web site:
http://www.taksihelsinki.fi/htdeng/069e6a71-d573-4da1-acb8-1566ce62ed76.aspx
En primer lugar informarles que el taxi y los taxistas de Madrid somos de los mejores del mundo, catalogados por hotels.com como los 6º mejores. Sobre el traslado aeropuerto barajas a madrid, , la distancia a la ciudad es de las mas cortas de europa, el precio medio al centro ciudad esta entre unos 20 y 30 euros aproximadamente, ademas los precios no se negocian , van en taximetro y estan regulados por el ayuntamiento, con toda la seguridad para el usuario.
Todos los taxis tienen la obligacion de llevar en la ventanillas las tarifas visibles, poner el taximetro cuando monta el cliente y pedir factura o ticket , si tienen algun problema se puede denunciar o llamar a la policia en el momento. Pero espero que no lo tengan que hacer.
saludos
Ricardo Cid (psicotaxi)
3 km in Bulgaria are less than 2 USD. Author should correct the post.
Thanks for the comment and the follow-up information, Momchil. The price for Sofia has been fixed on its own page and on this post.
?stanbul Taxi prices Evening and night SAME…
are you kidding? I’m from St.Petersbourg. well, there is only 1 km from my house to the nearest subway. and taxi costs about $5 for it! how did you calculate this price??? there isn’t such price in St.Petersbourg! it’s just impossible.
Thanks for the comment/correction about St. Petersburg. Prices in Russia do seem very complicated since there’s a mix of informal taxis and rip-off professional drivers. If you are paying that much for such a short ride things must really be bad there, since that makes it one of the most expensive cities on earth, without the high incomes to back it up. Is there a higher “official rate” you can point me to?
Tbilisi, Georgia – whole public transport 0.23-0.28$ (0.40 – 0.5 lari)