renting cars in France

Actually, renting a car at the airport can be more expensive. There are often "location" fees, meaning the rental agency has to pay extra for the privilege of having an operation at the airport. There are rental locations in Nice where you can pick up a car. Just googling it I see Enterprise, Hertz, and Europcar at Nice train station.

You pay the fee at the train station, too. The Nice airport is very close in, easy to reach.

The nice thing about the airport is you aren't too far from the big highway out of town. We rented there this year, but we stayed at a hotel across from the airport and walked over in the morning to pick it up. We did drop off a car in the city proper a few years back - Europcar at a spot just off the Promenade - well, the traffic was horrendous, we missed the little side street where the office was the first time, had to circle back and a few other things happened that added to our time - it took a good hour, whereas drop off at the airport was about 10 min, if that. I was kicking myself for just not dropping it at the airport instead of the Prom, as it would have been way less stressful. So just make sure you look into location and how easy it'll be for you to head out of the city, and whether you can get to the office easily via bus/tram/walking if you don't want to use a taxi.

But yes, you do pay a premium to pick up at the airport or big train station - and if you need an automatic, your choices will be a bit more limited - smaller offices may not have an automatic.

As for apartments with parking - just put that in your parameters when searching for an apt. When we booked with airbnb and had a car, I just made sure to put free parking/on premises parking while searching.

Where do you intend to drive? You can get to Marseille by train. If you stay on the coast, I'd stick with the coastal train. If you are going other places, I try to pick it up when the train won't work any longer then drop when I can start using the train again. Even the smaller towns have rental agencies where you can pick up and drop off. Check the major companies (I think I ended up with Hertz here). One thing I've found is if you request pick up and/or drop off midday, many of the agencies won't show up. They take a big lunch break, maybe 11 - 2 and are only open 7-11 and 2-6. If you put in a noon pick up or drop off, your search won't show all the options.

Thanks everyone for all the great feedback!

I too find that picking up a car at a big-city airport often makes a lot of sense. For example, one time we stayed in Bordeaux, then took public transport to the airport and picked up a car. We did the same thing in Marseilles. In both cases (and in Lyon), it was easy to get out of the airport and on the road.

Hi from Wisconsin,
We rented a car for the center of Lyon...oh my goodness. Why didn't I rent at the airport. Or take a train to a smaller city to rent? Some times I am so dumb.
wayne iNWI