Hello- my husband, 16 year old son and I will be in Angers visiting our daughter studying there in March. The plan is to take the train from Paris on Tuesday to Angers and spend the night there. The boys want to see Normandy on Wednesday and tour the area. How best to get from Angers to Normandy- trains look like we’d need to go back to Paris(or almost) we are heading to London on Thursday. I assumed we’d take the Eurostar from Paris but are there other options if we overnight in Bayeux? I would be open to renting a car - is a one way rental common in Europe?
Posted by
Surrey, UK
788 posts
Firstly, although one way car rentals are possible in Europe, for these purposes Britain is not in Europe and a one way rental to UK is unlikley to be available at any price - apart from anything else, the cars in UK are right hand drive.
Another thing to consider is that Angers to Bayeaux is 275 km and will take about 3 hours by road - train is a bit longer and will involve two changes. Caen is not much shorter. Bayeux to Paris by road is about the same - train is about 2.5 hours with a change.
"Normandy" is quite a large area and I suggest that on your timetable, you are not going to see very much.
I'd rethink.
Posted by
1666 posts
A one way car rental within France is very common and we did it last year. Nominal one way drop off fee. Rent a car in Angers, then explore the Normandy region. One day isn't realistic though. I suggest returning the car in Lille (we did this and then went to take the train to Belgium.) You could take it to London. But again, the timeframe you have is rushed.
Posted by
Middletown, RI
1516 posts
If by "see Normandy on Wednesday" you mean spending both Tuesday and Wednesday nights in Normandy, it is barely possible, but very rushed. Anything less is just not worth it IMHO (and I LOVE Normandy). Yes, to go to London from Normandy would usually involve a train back to Paris (Gare Saint-Lazare) and then a Eurostar train to London from Gare du Nord. There are some ferries from places in Normandy (Ouistreham and Cherbourg) to the South coast of England (Portsmouth and Poole), but they aren't that frequent or dependable.