Dordogne/Loire

The post above was also my first thought. Last visited the region fall 2024.

There is a rental car agency directly across the street from the Saint-Pierre-des-Corps station, one of two train stations in Tours. Less than a 30 minute train ride from Amboise. I think you will more easily find a rental car selection in Tours than Amboise. Lots of trains between the Tours and Amboise stations - commuter distance.

If you plan on using Amboise as a base for sightseeing farther flung chateaux in the region, you may want a rental car to use from Amboise. But, if you planned only on sightseeing in Amboise, you can easily do this without a car. Charming, compact, and walkable village. Although I walked from the train station to my hotel in the center on several occasions, my hotel was happy to arrange a taxi pick-up when I initially arrived with luggage and to similarly arrange one for my departure.

What are your specific concerns about driving in France?

Good luck finding a major car rental agency in Amboise. However there are several right at the TGV station at St Pierre des Corps in Tours, whi ch has direct service from Paris. While it is possible to get around the Loire by public transportation or tour buses, it's much more efficient by car. Why not rent in Tours and drop after you are done in the Dordogne. Driving in France, outside the large cities is not much different than driving anywhere else. But don't speed, understand and obey road signs (there are websites where you can learn about these) and don't forget to get an International Driver's Permit from your local AAA

Agree with the previous answers. Rent a car in Tours, drive to Beynac, and return the car in the Dordogne region.

If you are going back to Paris after Beynac you can return the car in Bordeaux and then take a TGV train to Paris (Montparnasse Station)
Another option is to return it in Brive la Gaillarde and take a train to Paris (Austerlitz station, and it will not be a TGV).

There is no difficulty in driving in France or in the Dordogne in particular. Tens of thousands of foreign travelers do it every year.
The Dordogne (that's my region) is a very rural area with small roads and hundreds of small villages, that's what makes it attractive.
It's rather quiet and less dangerous than most American roads.

Please note that in the Dordogne it is better to follow the road signs indicating the directions of towns and villages rather than obeying a GPS which would like to save you 1 minute of travel time and lead you in dirt roads, then fields, then in, the middle of a farm :)
The road signs are excellent and also indicate places of interest (castles, caves, etc.)

Not sure what your safety concern is. Driving in France is exactly like driving in America, except that the signs are in French, use km instead of miles, and most rental cars are manual (I don't know if this is true anymore, but it certainly helps to be able to drive a stick shift, and they're usually cheaper).
I had a blast driving a Fiat500 around the Dordogne in 2018.
Beynac is a great choice. That was our favorite castle! If your trip is after the first week in July, be sure to stop in Sarlat-la-Caneda to see the strands of (artificial) flowers leftover from the Felibree. I had never heard of it until we happened to drive through Saint Cyprien, where the flowers were still up in late September. So pretty!

Not sure if this is helpful, but 20 years ago we visited Loire Valley and Dordogne by car after seeing Paris on foot. We picked up our rental car at the train station near Versailles when we were done with Paris, drove to Giverny and then we drove counter clockwise to D Day Beaches, Caen, Loire, Dordogne and all the way down to Nice. Driving was perfectly fine. Having car in Loire allows you to have lots of freedom in choosing which chateaus to visit and you can navigate faster than using public transport.. And easier for getting around Dordogne. I'd say either rent when leaving Paris or rent car after arrival in Loire for duration of your trip. Big cities don't need car, but its's much better to have car for the smaller cities/villages, countryside tour. Hope this helps.

One more warning about relying on GPS in a rental car in France. We rented one near Paris, and eventually drove from Tours to the Dordogne. What we did not know is that the GPS had been set to route us on very small roads (I guess to avoid the tolls on the Autoroute). It took us a lot longer to get from Tours to Dordogne than we had anticipated. so relying on road signs is probably the better way to go. Peter

Thanks to all for the excellent tips and confidence boost! However, I am looking at maps of downtown Tours near the train station and other areas, and I'm getting a little intimidated about getting a rental car out of the city area. Therefore, I found a RentACar listed for the town of Charge. It is seemingly very small town. Do you think it is reliable to rent a car in a small French town (will the car really be there)? I'm over-thinking things I suppose but trying to factor in all multiple considerations. Thank you!

I'm not sure what you are looking at for Tours. There are two train stations. The one most suggested above is Saint-Pierre-des-Corps. (not Tours station on Pl. du Général Leclerc) There is a rental place directly across from the St Pierre des Corps station.

https://www.nationalcar.com/en/car-rental/locations/fr/tours-saint-pierre-des-corps-f5zm.html
https://www.hertz.com/us/en/location/france/tours-saintpierredescorps/tufx92

Are you hoping for an automatic? I would book at a larger outlet if you want that.

I don't know this RentACar rental agency, so I tried to rent a car online in Chargé.

You should know that:

• They do not accept rentals of more than 5 days

• At the pickup they ask for a security deposit of 1000€.

• With their best rate the free mileage is limited to 600km

• There are restricted opening hours and days (no weekends, not before 9am, etc.)

• The offices in big cities are not located in train stations or airports and not nearby either.

Take the train from Paris to Saint-Pierre-des-Corps to pick up your car. From there it’s just a 30 minute drive, mostly along the Loire River, to Amboise. It looks like you will go through 3 roundabouts, which can be intimidating, but not difficult once you get used to it. Have the co-pilot watch the signs to know which exit to take and direct the driver. If you put it on your phone gps, it will direct you - “take the 3rd exit” for example, which would essentially be a left hand turn with a roundabout in the middle. You can watch youtube videos to show you how to get around them. You’ll love having the flexibility with having a car. You can do this!

From St P des C train station it was a very short, easy drive out and onto the road along the river. . Driving in the Loire area for a few days was likewise easy. .. well signed and no overwhelming traffic. We are cautious drivers and get the nerves easliy but that driving trip was a total pleasure. We had GPS and a paper map, the later helpful as we could see sights along our route that we were not aware of. Perhaps GPS can do the same but we are not that saavy. We’ve had excellent rental experiences with Autoeurope. You might call them; the folks are extremely patient, friendly and knowledgeable. Our time in the Loire area ranks among the best trips ever over many years. Safe travels.

Even when we are not flying, we try to pick up our rental cars at airports since they are on the edges of towns and therefore easy to exit. They also tend to have a good selection of cars and are open more hours. You could get an Avis rental at Tours airport and return it later at Brive which is a small city of about 50,000. Then take the train to Paris. We took that train - it was slow but a pleasant time to relax a bit.
I agree with the other posters that driving in France is not much different than driving in the US. One difference was that many of the major highways were toll roads. You get a ticket when you enter, usually from an automated kiosk, then present the ticket and credit card at another kiosk when exiting. Get a pin for your credit card "just in case."

Tips on having a rental car in France:

1) Don’t rent a huge car because parking spaces are small and tight.

2) read up on Priority on the Right road rules and learn the road signs indicating when those rule apply or not. These rules are common in very rural areas or in old villages like the Loire and Dordogne.

https://youtu.be/-9fqRCJkrGU?si=02gdp8O9vUoX-dmB

3) Traffic lights are rare. Roundabouts are everywhere.

4) Toll booths are confusing. Look for the toll lanes with a lit bright green arrow. Those lanes take cash/ credit/debit cards.

https://francetravelplanner.com/trans/car/how-to-pay-highway-tolls-in-france.html

The village of Rocamadour (eastern Dordogne) is very special and very popular for good reason.

I love driving through that area of France. The countryside and little villages are spectacular