I have read that driving in Lyon is a nightmare and wondered if it would be better to train out to visit Burgundy and rent my car there? We will be then be driving out to the Loire and Normandy, finishing up in Versailles to return the car- no Paris driving for me! I will use autoeurope to do my rental.
Thank you in advance for any suggestions.
Assuming you are flying in from somewhere, are you flying into Lyon?
We were just in Lyon in April and even though I’m used to city driving I would avoid driving there if possible. If you can get the car you want in Dijon I would get it there. If Lyon works better for you, the airport is out of town and it would be easy to drive from there to your next destination. We took a taxi from old town Lyon to the TGV station at the airport because we had an early train, but you can take a tram there for less money depending on how many people are traveling.
How will you arrive into Lyon?
If by plane, the main airport is far outside town and you wouldn't need to drive into town to go north to Bourgogne, so I would rent there.
If by train, I would ask what kind of car you intend to rent. If a manual transmission, and if you're intimidated by driving in Lyon, then take the train up to Dijon and rent there if it would make you feel better.
On the other hand, if you need an automatic, you're better off renting in Lyon. It's a much bigger city with a much bigger rental pool.
Driving in Lyon isn't terrible. It's just irritating. Lots of tailgating. If driving through the central city prepare to be blocked by trucks making deliveries on one-way single lane streets. Prepare for traffic jams on the highways leaving the city, especially this time of year.
It's a hassle but it's not insurmountable for the average experienced American driver.
I agree with the previous comments but I think many American drivers would find driving in Lyon pretty stressful. My husband and I know the city very well (many visits over 25 years), and we still find it hard to navigate. Picking up a car at the airport and heading north or east would be easy, but if you pick up a car at the Part-Dieu train station (which we did multiple times this spring), getting out of town can be more of a hassle. There's a lot of construction in the area for the next couple of years while they redo the station. The other train station in town, Perrache, also has car rentals available, but we found that prices were significantly higher there. So compare different rental locations carefully.
PS We were interested to meet a couple from Alsace, visiting Lyon for the first time, who thought it was impossible to navigate and decided to take the train in to the city from where they were staying, rather than driving. That made us feel less like we were incompetent Americans! But I don't want to exaggerate: if you have someone who can navigate while someone else drives, it's perfectly possible.
If you have the option of renting a car at Lyon Perrache, not Part Dieu, then you are basically next to the highway entrance, so driving is easy (if you pay close attention to the instructions you receive at the car rental office, as there are many ramps going in all directions), and you save yourself the expensive trip to the airport.
Plus, car rental offices at Lyon airport are not at the airport, but a shuttle ride / 15-minute walk away. I did the walk in March from the train station: it is VERY annoying.
This being said, if you can rent the car you need at Dijon Ville, then even better!
