How much would you expect it to cost to rent a car for 4 days? Whether it is in Paris or get outside of Paris by train and THEN rent a car to go to Normandy area head down to Mont St Michel and work way back to Paris. Maybe back through LeMans?
Not sure how rental cars work in France. Mile allowance, daily charges etc.hidden fees? Tolls?
Rental car costs vary by company, date, and many other factors.
Rental cars in France work roughly the same as here, but will be more expensive than here.
You will probably want to contact (online) the various rental car providers and do the usual thing, put in your requirements and see what costs you get from various providers.
You will probably want to make sure you are covered in case something happens, driving there isn't as bad as some countries but it's different from here and mishaps are somewhat more likely.
Thanks Kent. If it were you, would you rent a car or just take trains?
The price of the car depends more on the size of the car, type of transmission, and the number of days than on the pick up locations. A rental day is generally 24 hours, e.g., pick up at 10:00 a.m. and drop off at 10:00 a.m., with perhaps an hour grace period, after which you pay for another day. A certain train station or airport may have a "premium location fee" but it's nothing compared to the cost of dropping a car in a different country. Unlimited mileage is usually included. Car insurance has it's limitations and deductibles. Gas, parking, highway tolls, and speeding tickets cost extra, to pay as you go. See more car rental tips at http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation. Many of our readers do pick up cars at Bayeux and drop them a location outside of Paris (could by Chartres, Versailles, etc).
Car rental means a rolling closet full of Camembert and Cidre!
Unlimited mileage is always part of the rental. Have you called 'AutoEurope'?
"If it were you, would you rent a car or just take trains?"
I'd rent a car at CDG (not pick up in Paris).
Trains don't go where you want to go.
Look at Auto Europe for prices and terms. I've rented through them but you could try the individual companies websites to look for a better deal. There are rental locations around the Porte Maillot on the Peripherique at the west end of Paris, or maybe the La Defense area, which would spare you the worst Paris traffic, or take a train to Rouen or Caen and rent from there. As Ed points out (where is he anyway?), this may mean paying both train fare and car rental in the same day.
Gas and tolls are much more than in the US, but the cars get much better mileage, especially diesels with manual shift. They give you flexibility for areas like Normandy/MSM that trains won't provide. You don't need to return them to the same place as long as you bring them back to the same country, as you plan to.
Hi,
Dick is correct. Try Autoeurope they will probably connect you with Europecar. Beware of Hertz rentals. I have never paid a drop charge in France. The dropping at a different location than pickup, and I thought charging a drop fee was not permitted in France. However, a rental, the lowest cost rental I could find using Autoeurope was from Hertz. days later when reviewing the rental agreement, I discovered that a drop fee would be charged 'locally' and the fee was nearly as much as the rental. Obviously I canceled the rental and went with Europcar.
wayne iNWI
We always take a train to Caen from Paris and fetch our rental car right across the street from the Caen railroad station. We use AutoEurope and have had no problems. We prefer Caen because it's so convenient and the four rental agencies are open later and also on Saturdays, not the case in smaller towns. We avoid all the Paris traffic especially if returning on a Sunday with all the Parisians also returning to the city. Send me a PM and I can help you with lodging in hotels or B&B's centrally located in Normandy, in and around Bayeux. We've never had any hidden fees but we have credit card coverage for excess insurances and we have our own GPS with European maps and learned to use it prior to our trip. We also looked up addresses to our hotels, museums, etc and saved them into our favorites in the GPS so we could drive right to them. Driving gives you the freedom to explore, come and go when you want and where you want, and it's very easy. Driving around Normandy and Brittany (just around the bay from Mt. St. Michel) are some of our most memorable trips.
