Renting a Car - Paris or Tours?

Many French rental car companies do not charge a one-way drop off fee so you can probably eliminate that expense from your calculations and pick up the car in Paris. Depending on where you get the car, it can be easy to get to the "highway" and an excellent driver (with a good navigator and no back seat drivers) should be able to do it. Take a look at the car route from Paris to Tours on Via Michelin and see how much it will cost with tolls, if any, and gas and the amount of time for the trip and the rental car cost and compare that to the expected train fare to Tours and the cost of renting a car there and then make the decision. My husband and I do not mind driving in Paris so it would be really a question of the schedule and cost for us -- plus some concern about traffic. If your son does not want to drive even for a bit in Paris and its environs then the answer is obvious -- take the train. Other points for not getting the car from CDG: it is in the opposite direction from the Loire Valley from Paris and do not forget about the cost of getting to CDG from Paris and car rental rates from the airport (and train stations) are higher than the rates from a city location.

There is a Sixt car rental on Blvd Brune in the 14th. It could not be easier to get on the périphérique from there. If I remember correctly, it a right turn out of the garage and a right turn on to Ave de la Porte Montrouge and then a left onto a boulevard that leads to the périphérique.

Thank you, JHK. Is Sixt car rental the way to go?

I use Sixt pretty frequently because I have a frequent renter (like a frequent flyer) card with them and they also have locations in the US in places where I frequently rent cars. I mentioned them because of how easy it is to get to the "highway" from that particular location but most rental car companies in France to me are pretty much the same except for Enterprise and the fact that US-based ones will usually charge a one-way rental fee. The Place d'Italie Sixt location is also one that also has super easy access to the highway. I suggest looking for the car through AutoEurope. They will offer up choices of rental car companies. Oh by the way, does your son know how to drive a manual transmission vehicle? We can so we never consider it but I did once have a drive a friend who was visiting us in Burgundy to Lyon airport to find an automatic transmission. There were no automatics to be had in Dijon. I don't know if that is an issue in central Paris (it's not at CDG or Orly) or Tours but I thought I would mention in it. If it is and an automatic is a must, then pick up the car from Orly not CDG.

I ran a few scenarios on Sixt. I was able to put "Automatic" in the search options. Lots of price variations. To pick up at the location you mentioned and dropping off at CDG airport, the charge was $20 for the different location. Not bad. To pick up in Tours and drop off at CDG, the charge was $108. But the daily rate was different for different pick-up places for the same car. I'm going to have to run several sets of numbers to see what the total cost for us will be, including trains & local transportation where needed.

Also, I will look into AutoEurope.

We just took the train from Paris to Rennes; picked up a rental car at the Rennes train station and then drove to Mont St Michel, then parts beyond. So that may be a location option to drop off the rental then take the train back to Paris.

We used Enterprise Car Rental, reserved an automatic. Ended up with a nice automatic BMW; and I also suggest looking at Auto Europe. The drop off fee to a different location wasn't very much.

I'd probably pick up at Orly or on that side of Paris and drive to the Loire and then Normandy and drop it at CDG. We have never paid a drop fee for that in the past. We have picked up at CDG and dropped at Orly in the past.

Also, plan to get dinner at a town on the road before CDG and stay AT not NEAR the airport at one of the many hotels on the CDG VAL. You don't want to have to get dinner AT the airport though. Small hotels often have excellent dining rooms. Find one on your route for dinner and drop the car and spend the night at an airport hotel.

I'd probably pick up at Orly or on that side of Paris and drive to the Loire and then Normandy and drop it at CDG

I would do the same thing, now travel to Orly is easy with line 14. Or pick up at Gare de Lyon, from where it is relatively easy to get to the highway to the Loire.

I’d take a taxi to Orly and rent from there. If it was your arriving day I would take the train due to jet lag. I’ve done both of these options. They both work well. I just think the expense of the train isn’t worth it if you are well rested. Driving out of Orly is easy. You are outside the city relatively quickly.

One question though is how much luggage will you carry? The train gets trickier the more bags you have to manage.

One more question is whether starting your trip in the Loire makes more sense? You can land at cdg and take the train to tours on day 1. I’ve done this twice and it works fine.

Thank you all for being very helpful and taking the time to respond. I've learned a lot from each of you.

baslo - I'm glad you mentioned Gare de Lyon and being a good place in Paris to start. We're staying in the Latin Quarter, and it's only one stop away on RER C or 4 stops on M10 and then a short walk. I'm adding that to the list of considerations.

Matt- Luggage for each of 4 people is a carry-on and backpack, so train conducive. Your idea of starting in the Loire valley makes more sense, but I have all of my accommodations reserved, so we are leaving from Paris.

Janet - I reserved the last night at the Ibis IN CDG. I'm a big fan of spending the night before a flight in the airport to save on stress. Thank you for your advice on eating dinner before getting there.

KD - my very brief research showed that dropping off at a different locations can vary from $20 to $108. However, I had not thought of dropping off at Rennes and then taking the train, so I will look into that.

My husband just said that he would prefer to take the train to Tours because he likes riding trains. Oddly enough, we don't have another train ride planned into this trip. So we might throw frugality out the window and just do that.

Conclusion: I compared AutoEurope and Sixt from picking up at Paris 12 Gare de Lyon (a 20 minute trip from our hotel, using M 10 or RER C), and from picking up in Tours, both dropping off at CDG later. The AutoEurope picking up from Gare de Lyon was far cheaper than anything else, so I booked it.

Thank you all for your input.