I am planning our trip and still have some flexibility. I am wondering if it is known to be less or more expensive to rent a car (perhaps an automatic) in Nice as opposed to Lyon or Strasbourg? Any thoughts.
thank you
Posted by
Everett, WA
1299 posts
I have not rented a car in any of these cities. However, it has been my experience that one way to save money on car rental is to not pick it up at an airport. There is always an extra fee for that. They do not charge the fee for drop off just pick up. Sometimes the fee is worth the convenience, but since we always pick up our car before or after visiting large cities, I always look into whether I can pick up somewhere where I can avoid the airport concession fee.
Posted by
San Diego
552 posts
Lyon is a city where you want to avoid having a rental car, due to the cost of parking. There was no break for long term stay and it was $100 for a two-night stay.
In Strasbourg only a registered car can go into the center. The are lots of park-n-ride options with a great tram system into town though.
Nice I've not been to, but most of Provence is great by car.
Maybe go to the end of the TGV line (Avignon) pick up a car there and drive around the south, dropping the car off in Lyon, then doing the rest of the trip by train?
Posted by
Portland
3643 posts
Easy to check. Go to Autoeurope or Kemwel websites and put in your specifications for each locale. You can then use one of them or try to find a better deal elsewhere. We recently did rent in Nice. The intown pickup cost was lower than that from the airport. It became a substantial total amount because we had the car for 4 weeks. We got our car from Europcar, through AE, at a downtown location. It wasn't hard to get out from there. Ordering an automatic may limit your options, but that is also something you can check on those websites.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
When I have booked cars through Auto Europe or Kemwel, I never found any significant price difference to pick up or drop cars in any particular city within one country. Any fee related to airport, train station, or city-center location should be stated separately, but early in the booking process.
Posted by
Lake Forest, CA, USA
1633 posts
For me, this past September, an automatic was only available at an airport. Check AutoEurope and Kemwell online for availability and prices.
Posted by
6 posts
On multiple trips to France we leased a car from Ideamerge. Totally satisfied with it. Wide variety of cars available in many locations. All our leases were for a month so I don't know about shorter times. At CDG their lot is on the road to Terminal 1 and they have a shuttle service. The last time we visited we rented a little Yagoo diesel which was surprisingly peppy and agile and comfortable for the two of us and our toy poodle.
Posted by
6 posts
Additional note. Short-term rentals in France are much more expensive than renting a car in France from the USA before your trip. I've had the most success with National.