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Public Transport in Tours, France for car rental

Hi all,

I'm planning a trip through France in a few weeks time and rented a car to pick up in Tours. I'm taking the train from Paris to Tours and from there picking up my car at Europcar. Of course, I didn't do enough research and figured the rental place would be near the train station. And it is...by car. It's about a 10 minute drive north of the train station, but an hour walk. I've tried looking for buses or taxis going that direction but I'm not able to find anything that's not a trip to the chateaux. Realistically I figure I should be able to hail a taxi at the very least, but France can be a funny place. Is anyone familiar with public transit in Tours?

Posted by
20103 posts

Assuming you are referring to the Europecar at 194 Ave Andre Maginot. Take the "A" tram north from the train station to "Marne". Either walk the 1/4 mile down Ave Andre Maginot back toward the city center, or wait for the No 12 bus which will drop you by the door.
https://www.filbleu.fr/images/infosvoyageurs/plans/2016-fevrier/Plan_2016-01_global.pdf

In the coulda, woulda, shoulda department, there are car rental locations right at the St Pierre-des-Corps TGV station just a mile outside of town.

Posted by
3163 posts

Europcar has an office at the train station. Here's the address:
2 PLACE DE LA GARE
37700 ST PIERRE DES CORPS

See if you can change your pick up location. There might be an additional charge for train station pickup.

Posted by
2 posts

Thank you guys! Unfortunately, only the rental place on Andre Maginot had automatic cars so I can't change my location which would have been ideal. But at least I know how to get there now. Thanks again!

Posted by
12172 posts

There is an additional charge for pickup/drop off at a train station. It shouldn't be more than 15 to 20 euros. I think I looked at 34 euros, through Europcar, to pick up at one station and drop at another (seperate from the one way drop charge).

Overall, you are looking for the best total price that will work for you. I shopped around until I found the best deal and most convenient pick ups and drops I could find. For my set of circumstances this trip, Hertz worked better. Last time in Spain Europcar was the better choice. You really can't go with one and expect it to be always better than another option.