We are renting a car in Paris in early May and driving to Colmar. We would like a scenic route through the French countryside. Google Maps prefers the route heading south on A6 through Auxerre and Besancon or heading east on E50 through Reims and Metz. I like the looks of A5 heading southeast through Troyes, Langres and Vesoul. Any thoughts on these routes or others from Paris to Colmar? We are planning a long day for the trip.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33823 posts
Renting in Paris?
Be prepared for very short on and off ramps, different signage, plenty of traffic, and very close cars on quite narrow lanes - that is all on the Pérepherique.
If you are going around a holiday or Friday expect plenty of get-away traffic.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33823 posts
If you want to see when the bad traffic, use the most excellent Bison Futé service of the French government.
They publish a calendar of peak traffic at
http://www.bison-fute.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/Calendrier2015BisonFuteA5_DEFV2.pdf
Posted by
OP
Montana
5 posts
Thanks, Nigel. Hopefully the traffic will not be too terrible since we are picking up our car Sunday morning then leaving Paris. I am sure the driving experience will be much different than what we have in the wide open spaces of Montana.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33823 posts
Make sure that the location you want to get your car from is open on a Sunday. Sunday is when most of France is not at work, and goes for most things on a Sunday. Most car rental places except for the most major ones are closed all day on Sunday, some are open for 2 hours in the afternoon for rental returns.
Check that yours is open when you want it to be.
The advantage of driving on a Sunday is that most trucks will not be on the Autoroute unless they are a critical sector delivery.
Posted by
IJzendijke, The Netherlands
2085 posts
Along the A5 you can also visit nice Essoyes the place where Auguste Renoir lived for a while and also is buried there and Colombey-les-Deux-Églises a kind of a political pelgrimage about Charles de Gaulle.