I'm in the process of figuring out our car rental for a spring trip to France and I'm trying to find out the best place to drop our car in Paris. Our hotel is close to the Tuileries Gardens but I have absolutely no intention of driving in Paris. Which airport is easiest to drop the car and catch the Metro/RER or taxi into Paris? Or for that matter is there a suburban station with a rental car drop that provides easy/fast access into Paris. if it makes any difference we'll be driving to Paris from Honfleur.
Posted by
Green Bay
21217 posts
What rental car company?
Posted by
Florida (previously California)
4007 posts
I suggest you drop the car off in La Defense and then take Metro Line 1 into Paris. Most rental car companies have locations in La Defense and it is an easy metro ride with no changes on Line 1 to a Tuileries metro stop. I think that is easier than taking mass transit from either Orly or CDG.
Posted by
OP
Kansas City
454 posts
We're going through AutoEurope so in my experience its always been Hertz, Avis or EuropeCar. Basically one of the majors.
Posted by
Green Bay
21217 posts
If it is Avis, there is a location at 99 Ave Charles De Gaulle, south side of the service road. The Les Sablons Metro station (Line 1) is right there. It is about half way between La Defense and the Arc de Triomphe.
Posted by
Everett, WA
1300 posts
We dropped our car at Orly airport and found it very easy to get to Paris. I was stressed about it, because it sounds confusing in the book. But just follow the directions step by step from the Rick Steves France book and it works great. We got there, found the area he told us to stand in. Once there, the directions about which number to wait under made sense. We took a bus to a RR station and caught our train in from there.
Another option would be to drop your car in Versaille. The problem is these smaller rental places (including Defense) are only open until 6:00. I did not want that limitation. The airports are open until midnight. I thought the Orly airport was more convenient coming from the west (we were coming over from Bayeux via Giverny. We also found it convenient to stop and see Versaille on the way to the airport rather then taking a train back out there from Paris. )
Posted by
Cottage Grove, MN, US
58 posts
Where are you coming from? If possible maybe return it there the night before and take train into Paris. I rented a car for Lorrie Valley and wish we would have rented it down there. The drive back to Paris we ended up in a traffic jam at 2pm. Later we found out it is always that bad. I think we returned it to Orly.