Car rental in Bayeux, Normandy

I usually rent from AutoEurope when I'm in Europe, including France. AutoEurope acts as a consolidator for a number of car rental agencies, so you can plug in your information and it will show you a list of places and their prices for the time that you need and the places you are going to. The price per day will obviously vary depending on the agency, but also the car. Also keep in mind that if you pick up your car in one place and return it in another, there is usually a drop-off fee. It could be very little and it could be a lot, but just be aware of that.

It will then give you the option of choosing automatic or manual transmission and tell you the cost per day and all the other details that you need. Then you choose the option you like, and you will get more details about that and what it will cost and insurance and all of that. It used to be that it was difficult to get automatic transmissions unless you booked really far ahead, but I'm finding that more and more places in Europe now keep more cars with automatic transmissions available.

I like Auto Europe because they keep control over the process and they can be a big help if something goes wrong. I've been renting from them for decades, and I've never had a problem.

Edit to Add:. With regards to renting in Bayeux or Caen, I would just check both when you're on their website. See what cars are available in both places and decide which makes the most sense.

I'm not aware there even IS car rental in Bayeux. Its a pretty small town. Certainly Caen has all the options right adjacent to the station.

it is quite an easy decision - Caen has everything for a good choice right next to the station, Bayeux has nothing, zero, zip. OK, one very small rental place at a gas station outside the town of Bayeux.

no "s" in Caen by the way

As the others have opined your easiest, and cheapest, option will be to rent from one of the many outlets across the street from the train station in Caen. We, too, usually rely on AutoEurope for our rentals in Europe, though for our own trip to Normandy a couple of years ago I actually found a better deal by booking directly with the company ... Hertz in our case. So, it does pay to shop around especially if you have any travel club memberships - USAA, Costco, etc. Can sometimes find some pretty good deals there.
It's only about a 30 minutedrive from Caen over to Bayeux. One thing to consider in your planning will be parking at or near your accommodation. Parking in general in central Bayeux can be problemmatic. The only unlimited free lot we found was south of the town along Bvd. Marechal le Clerc (which is what Overlord recommends for people driving into the city from out of town for one of their tours).

Thanks so much for the info everyone, at least I have some clear options now. Likely go to Caen.

E. Leclerc in Bayeux rents cars and vans. It has a few with automatic transmissions. E. Lecerlc is an "hypermarché," like a large Meijer store or a Fred Meyer store in the U.S. I'm sure Walmart has a similar kind of store but I'm unfamiliar with Walmart. It's common for larger stores (E. Leclerc, Carrefour, Intermarché, and so forth) to rent vehicles.

I have never rented from Leclerc, so I don't know how easy it might be with a non-French driver's license, but it's a possibility that might be worth exploring..

I would agree that there are more/wider options in Caen.

I understand there is one company, about five minutes from the Bayeux city center that offers rental cars --
https://www.bessin-location.fr/

Pick up your car in Caen. So many recommend AutoEurope, and next time I may go that route. I went directly through Enterprise because it also let me reserve an automatic transmission and the fee to pick up and drop off in different parts of Normandy wasn't extremely costly. I use Costco Travel domestically for car rentals, but it doesn't allow for automatic transmission requests online. Someone on the forum said if you call, you can request an automatic transmission for international travel.

Definitely make sure your accommodations have parking availability. There's very limited parking in the otherwise very lovely, charming Bayeux.

In Bayeux the car rental place may have very limited days and hours of operation. Rent in Caen...just 30 minutes from Bayeux.

I rented a car in Bayeux several years ago and had no problems. As I recall, it was an automatic. I can't remember the name of the agency, but it was in a gas station and may be the one shown in an previous reply in this thread. Some of the vehicles in their inventory have automatic transmissions. If it's the same one, they now appear to have branches in both Caen and Bayeux. The owner of the hotel I was staying in kindly made all the arrangements for me, as the car rental staff spoke little or no English. I managed to make it through the rental process with my limited French, but these days that would be much easier with live translation.

AFAIK you will need an International Driver's Permit in France, which is used in conjunction with your home D.L. You can obtain an IDP at any AAA / CAA office for a small fee. The IDP is valid for one year - https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F1459?lang=en .