Travelling by taxi at night and before dawn
Night does not stop the service, it reshapes it: fewer cars roam without a fare, and the meter charges the second rate. For the airport before dawn or the journey home late, the gap between standing at a rank and having a car sent amounts to a single call.
The fare steps up after hours
From a set hour, and again on Sundays and public holidays, the second fare takes over. The extra is worked by time slot and by day, not by how many of you are in the car or how many cases are in the boot. The exact hours and the amounts sit in the table of official fares, which is the source worth consulting; once you are in, the meter applies it by itself.
The street empties out
At hours nobody keeps, the cars running free are few and mostly in the centres with more nightlife. Out in the quiet villages a taxi passing in the street is rare: there the option is to ring the dispatch of the municipality and wait on the answer, rather than standing at the roadside trying to flag one down.
Before dawn, out to the airport
For a flight in the small hours, leave the notice the evening before and confirm it in the morning. Build margin into the run and into the check-in queue: at those hours there is no second taxi waiting behind the first at the rank, and whoever forgets the notice is left without a car.
Getting home at the end of the night
Coming back from a dinner, a christening or a concert, ask for the taxi before the outing ends rather than when you walk out of it, summer and long weekends especially. As the hour climbs, so does demand: whoever gave notice waits a while, and whoever did not walks, or waits a good deal longer.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get a taxi at any hour on the island? ＋
There is a night service, though nothing like the volume by day. At the airport the rank follows the arrival times of the flights; elsewhere on the island it comes down to how many drivers are on duty and to the dispatch of each municipality.
Is the night extra charged per passenger? ＋
No. It is a different fare by time slot and by day, and it applies to the journey whether you are travelling alone or with a heap of cases. It shows in what the meter displays and in the receipt they must issue you.
Is booking hours ahead worth it? ＋
For a night or early-morning departure, yes: fewer vehicles are working and there is little slack for anything to go wrong. For a short hop across the village at a civilised hour, a quick call beforehand is enough.