age restrictions for renting a car in England

Different companies will have different rules regarding age. My father rented cars in the UK (as a UK resident) until well into his 80s but he needed to check around because places that had rented to him later didn't and he had to go elsewhere. Generally he was more successful at smaller, non-chain, places. There is no "chunnel". You will never hear it spoken in Europe, except by some American tourists. There is a Channel Tunnel. The tunnel has only tracks in it. You can drive to Folkestone, drive onto a Eurotunnel train, switch off the engine, relax, and 35 minutes later drive off in Calais. Advance purchase tickets can be as low as £44 each way for the car and up to 9 passengers, and all their luggage. It is unlikely that the rental agency would permit it, or if they did there would likely be special conditions. Additional insurance is required to take a car to France from England, and you need all the car's papers, as well as additional equipment required by the French such as a alcohol breath test device, hi vis vests (in the car not the boot), fire extinguisher and extra bulbs. You could also take a ferry from Dover or other ports, same rules. Note that when you rock up in France driving a British car your steering wheel will be on the wrong side, and your passenger will have to deal with the ticket barriers and tolls on roads, car parks, etc., because the ticket thingie will be on the left and the driver is on the right. You can fly. You can also take the easiest option of going to St Pancras Station in London and hopping on the Eurostar high speed train to Paris. 2:15 later you walk out the front of Gare du Nord station in Paris.

Every hire car agency has its own rules for age restrictions and policies. You'll need to check with each one. They also have their own policies for where you can take the car and for how much. It doesn't make sense to take a British car into France as described above. Just rent cars in each country. Besides, if you are only going to Paris, you most definitely do not want a car. Rental cars in Europe are not for driving from city to city - they are for seeing small towns, rural scenery and visiting parks and such.

" Is it possible to drive through the chunnel or possible only by train?" Respectfuly, this statement indicates that you should spend some additional time researching your upcoming trip. When in doubt, please look at the search function on this board. There are tons on posts to read to get up to speed ( no pun intended! ) for your trip. Please consider using the extensive train systems available throughout Europe, which could well provide a more stress free trip. Have a great trip!

" Is it possible to drive through the chunnel or possible only by train?" Sounds like a reasonable question to me. Cars can get through the tunnel, it was just a question of how it's done. And, as for renting two separate cars, that sure ups the price since two short term rentals will cost more than one long one. Nigel likes to toss his on the train, which works. My preference is to use the Dover-Dunkerque ferry which takes longer, but is cheaper than Nigle's method if you don't make advance reservations. Just because some people like to ride around in trains, doen't give them the ax handle to beat drivers over the head. And, in response to the orginial question : British law does not currently impose a max age limit for driving. The real problem is the cost of dropping a car on the other side of the channel (going in either direction). It's way the heck more than the astronomical cost of a regular old second country drop-off. And, yes, you can drive in Paris without being sent to eternal damnation - - but you may wish you had when you try to find a place to park. I'd pay close attention to Nigel's thoughts, but I routinely take cars across the channel in both directions - - but take them back to the place/country in which I got them. Last thought for the naysayers: don't knock it unless you've done it. It only looks like two of us have.

There may be no legal limit on renting a car, but that doesn't mean that you won't run into companies that will not rent to older adults. I'm sure it is an insurance issue. (Why they don't just ask for more insurance, I don't know. ) My dad and I ran into this when we went on a trip to Orkney. He rented the Orkney car and I rented the car and the mainland in order to split the costs. We were very surprised to find out that because he was over 75 they would only rent the car on Orkney if I were the driver. So, thus started a trip where I drove my parents everywhere in Scotland. ; ) It worked out for us, but clearly would have been a problem if my parents had been traveling without me. The moral of the story is, ask. ; ) Pam