We just returned from a 2 week car trip in France/Italy. We drove from CDG and returned our car at FCO. Our travels included Beaune, Provence, along the Med through Genoa, Portofino, and Umbria in general although we based in Todi. I was apprehensive about the GPS rental but finally selected GPSrentals.biz. My experience with them was excellent and the unit performed superbly. I picked up a couple of AAA maps of France and Italy but rarely needed them for anything other than orientation occasionally. Their price and service were superb - I love their biz model. I didn't want a GPS for the USA because I use my phone and Google maps. This saved me money and I didn't have to pay for future Europe map updates.
Posted by
Eugene, Oregon...Formerly Ventura, CA
2262 posts
That's an interesting concept. I have requested GPS in our upcoming rental out of Marseille (Europcar thru Autoeurope) and, not being a user of GPS here in the states, am wondering how user friendly, and thereby useful, it will be. In looking at the GPSrentals site, it looks like a price of about $77 to rent it, including insurance, wall charger, and shipping. We are gone about two weeks, though we will only have a car for five days. The cost is about $90 additional from Europcar, so for the $13 difference it means I don't have to carry the separately rented unit with me for the whole trip.
I can certainly see that it would make more sense with more driving days, and GPSrentals does say that they try to ship unit to you a few days ahead, so you have some time to play with it before relying on it, which could be useful.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
Thanks for reporting!
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33820 posts
any reason not to take your own gps from home, one that you know all the tricks for, and just add Europe maps?
Posted by
OP
3 posts
The company shipped to me so I had it couple days in advance to get used to it. They give you 2 days at the end of the trip to send it back in their paid for envelope. They don't charge for those 4 days. The process worked very well. I did not use the wall charger at all so didn't really need. Kept it charged while driving. I use Google maps on my iPhone at home since I travel a lot on business. Works superbly so I just didn't want to buy one more electronic toy that I wouldn't use. It also appears that Garmin charges for European downloads but not US. If you're not going to use the whole time since you're not with a car, you might find it helpful walking BUT you'll then need the wall charger
Posted by
OP
3 posts
One more thing. I read that sometimes the rental companies just don't have a rental GPS when you show up to get your car. I didn't take that chance. I can't overemphasize how valuable an English speaking GPS is for your peace of mind in very unfamiliar territory. I didn't even buy Michelin maps this trip.