Can I use a card to pay for taxis in France, or should I carry local cash?
I mostly avoided street taxis and used Uber or Free Now throughout my trip. Both apps let you link your card and everything is handled automatically. No need to carry cash or deal with card machine issues. If you're sticking to cities and using apps you can rely on card but for rural areas or late night rides it's smart to carry at least some local cash.
I had a bit of a mixed experience in Marseille. Some drivers were totally fine with cards while others flat out refused. One guy told me it’s technically required to have a card machine but many just don’t bother. I ended up using cash a few times when I couldn’t convince them otherwise. From then on I started asking before every ride and kept around 30 to 50 euros in cash just in case.
In Lyon I booked taxis through the Free Now app and paid by card through the app itself. Super convenient and no awkward conversations at the end. Even when I hailed a taxi from the street most were fine with card as long as it wasn’t a really short ride. That said I always carried some cash just in case especially late at night.
In Paris I used my card for almost every taxi without a problem but I still asked the driver before getting in. Most official taxis have card machines now and accept Visa and Mastercard but a few still prefer cash or claim the machine is broken. I once had a driver ask for cash because the machine wasn’t working and he didn’t warn me until we were already halfway through the ride.