Rental car in France and possibly on over to UK

I strongly urge you to rethink your idea of taking a French rental car to the UK. There are several issues with that. First of all, once you get to the UK the steering wheel will be on the wrong side of the car. This can lead to all kinds of problems and potentially dangerous situations. Secondly, since the steering wheel is on the wrong side, the rental company can’t rent out your car again. It will have to be brought back to France and someone needs to pay for that. That someone will be you. You can expect to be charged a hefty one-way drop off fee on top of the rental fee if you do decide to go ahead with this.

The tolls in France are easy to pay, no need to set up an account. You drive up to the toll booth, tap your credit card at the reader and off you go again.

Thanks for that reality check. I hadn't even thought about the added confusion of trying to drive on the "wrong" side of the road with the steering wheel being what I'm used to all leading to making it even more confusing to drive on the side I'm not used to. And of course the rental car company not being able to really rent that car again until it is returned to France. I appreciate you pointing that out! L

1. How is the charging of tolls handled with rentals in France and UK? Do I have to buy something extra as part of the rental car agreement? In the states I had to set up a separate account with the CA highway authority to have my card charged. In NY they just sent me a bill. I don't want to have to set up multiple accounts if I can avoid it and I don't want to pay admin fees to the rental car company or some flat daily fee of coverage - again if I can avoid it.

Have not used tollways in France, they may use transponders, but most on here simply pay at the toll booth, or avoid tolls. Best to head to a manned booth, use your credit card, some report issues with US credit cards at automated toll booths, but I assume those gates are being upgraded to Tap-To-Pay which would alleviate the issue. I may be wrong, but I do not recall any tolls in the UK, or at least they must be easy to avoid.

2. Are their specific questions I should be asking or issues I should be aware of if I want to take a car rented in France, under the Channel and drop it off when I'm done traveling in the UK?

They most likely will not allow that, or charge you an enormous fee to do so. In fact they likely do not allow their rental cars to travel to the UK at all. You would be much better off determini9ng which days of your itinerary you need a rental, and rent locally for that period. You certainly do not need, or want, a car in any large city (Paris, London).

3. Are their any specific requirements I should be aware of in renting a car overseas?

Having an IDP is prudent for France, not required in the UK, consider what you will do for insurance, if just using credit card coverage, understand what it covers and what you need to do to file a claim (what paperwork needed, whether you pay up front or let them handle, etc.) Do some reading on rules of the road and standard speed limits. Speeds are not always posted, you need to know what the speeds are for the type and location of the road often. France (and the UK to an extent) liberally uses speed cameras and there is rarely a "grace buffer" of so many KmPH, the speed limit is the maximum speed. Rentals should have all required safety equipment and green stickers, but if you are pulled over or stranded by the side of the road, you are expected to know what to do (with vests, warning placards, etc.)

4. Thought we'd take a train from Paris to Caen to pick up a car there. Any comments on that - how to get here on what train. Tips to navigating from metro to rental office, better location to go to. We want to get to Normandy beaches as quickly as possible from Paris so we can start our time there.

For trains, start with the SNCF site https://www.sncf-connect.com/ If arriving at CDG, I believe you can get a train from the airport to Caen without having to head into Paris, and the Sixt rental is near the station in Caen.

Thank you very much for all the great info!!!

rthibeault,
Excellent advice already given, and all pertinent. One last thing. Do not exceed the speed limit. If caught on a camera you will probably get your ticket a few weeks or months after your return home, plus a charge on your CC from the car rental company as well. If that happens, pay the ticket as soon as possible because the cost goes up if not paid promptly. It may be under $100.00, but you definitely shouldn't ignore it if you ever want to rent a car there again.
Toll paying is easy, tap and go works nearly everywhere in France. We have never had to use a transponder type device, such as you find in certain locations in the US.
Have a great trip!

Tolls in England (and when using a French left hand drive car it will be murder at the booths which will be on the right hand side)

London Congestion Charge - very expensive to drive in central London, parking nearly impossible plus the £15 (£17.50 if you pay within the 2 days grace period) online Congestion Charge. Street parking very very expensive, no meters, all done on an app or by phone. If you try to use a parking facility the ticket in and ticket out machine will be on the wrong side.

Oxford - much of central Oxford is off limits unless you pay an online environmental charge. Parking very expensive.

Dartford Crossing (on the east side of the M25 where it crosses the Thames Estuary at Dartford) is £2.50 for each use of the Elizabeth Bridge (southbound) or Dartford Tunnels (northbound). Pay online, and it goes sky high if you don't.

Severn Crossings between England and Wales.

M6-Toll is an extremely expensive toll road around the worst bits of the M6 in the Birmingham area. Toll booths, will be on the wrong side.

There are a number of (very quaint) private toll bridges in the rural areas. Very inexpensive, very cute, very difficult if your car is left hand drive.

and some others....

I recall that others have mentioned problems scheduling pick up of rental cars in France. The agencies are likely to close for lunch every day, close very early on Saturday and not be open at all on Sunday. I imagine hours are better at airports, but I don't know that for sure.

A lot of folks like to use one of the rental car consolidators (AutoEurope, Kemwel or Gemut). They say the cost is usually not greater than booking directly, and sometimes it's lower. I'd think those companies might save you some time researching the hours of operation at the various rental locations.

Since you're interested in the D-Day sites in Normandy, I urge you to either do a lot of research ahead of time or book a guide for at least one day. I really don't think it's a good area to tour on your own unless you are already very knowledgeable when you arrive. Except for the museums, I don't remember seeing a lot of posted information; I know I wouldn't have gotten much out of just going to the sites myself without a guide. There are quite a few companies offering small-group (van) tours. At least some of them will also do private tours. I think there have been recommendations here for someone who will guide you in your own car, which I'd think would be somewhat cheaper. There are a number of museums and cemeteries in the area which can be readily visited on your own.

Just to add to Nigel’s pretty comprehensive list of tolls in the UK, the Tamar Bridge coming back into England from Cornwall :-) - £2.60, just tap your debit or credit card on the card reader - which of course is on the right-hand driver’s side.

Renting a car in France and returning it to the UK is not possible in my opinion.

If you find a rental company that allows it, it will probably cost as much as your flight tickets to Europe.

In France take a train to Caen, at the Caen train station there are several rental companies, including Sixt.
From Caen you can travel around Normandy without taking any toll motorways. The only place where you will have a toll is the "Pont de Normandie" to cross the Seine estuary at Honfleur, and a short section of the A13 motorway that you can easily avoid and which is now "free flow" anyway (no toll booth, payment online within 48 hours)

And note that from Normandy you can go to the UK by ferry from Ouistreham (near Caen), but also from Cherbourg, Saint Malo or Le Havre.

See Brittany Ferries

https://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/

I would caution folks on a tight schedule that those Channel ferries sometimes get cancelled. I've booked five (all between May and September, so no winter weather to worry about), and two were cancelled--one of them for three days in a row. I was traveling between St. Malo, the Channel Islands and (most recently) Poole. I ended up scrambling to get a last-minute airline ticket from Jersey to London, and then a bus to Poole.

I would caution folks on a tight schedule that those Channel ferries
sometimes get cancelled.

This! The one and only time I took the ferry, I was booked from Poole to Cherbourg. That ferry got cancelled, and we had to scramble to get to Portsmouth (1-1/4 hour drive) for a ferry from there to Ouistreham/Caen. Had to rearrange our rental car, etc. I'd like to do it again some day, but only if I am very flexible and have a plan B (and maybe C).

In France tollbooths are no longer manned, despite what was written in one answer above. Use Visa or Mastercard to tap. You won’t have a problem, but there’s a button to push if there’s a glitch.,

Choose a lane to pay that shows a rectangle for credit card. It will also show a T for transponder, but that’s not a problem. Some lanes have only a T.