I am thinking of renting a car near Barcelona - should I wait and rent a car in France? Then I need B and B type accomodations near Carcassone, Dordogne, Loire Valley, Mont St Michel. I was thinking of dropping the car off near Paris. Any thoughts on car drop offs and the charges? It just seems that the places I want to visit with 3 adults would be easier and cheaper to do with a car for a week. Thanks!
Posted by
Lake Forest, CA, USA
1633 posts
In ref to rental cars, check out www.autoeurope.com for prices. You could also get rates online with EuropebyCar. Depending on which one you choose, you can also bargain with them. They will meet or beat each other's rental prices.
Try to pick up your car in the same country you are going to drop it off in. Drop off charges can be quite high for a different country. However, charges are not higher for dropping it off in a different city.
Another tip. Rent/reserve a diesel car. Not only is the price per liter better, it also gets a lot better gas mileage. AutoEurope often offers a free upgrade and/or free GPS. Get a hatchback type car so that you can store your luggage in the back, out-of-sight. Also, when parking the car, hide all tour books, maps, etc. We also buy a local paper and leave it on the seats--looks like we're locals. For us, a family of 3, renting a car can be cheaper than taking the trains in several different ways. It allows us to find the least expensive, most quaint B&B's in small, out of the way, towns. We also enjoy stopping in these small towns to shop for picnic lunch fixings and local souvenirs. Purchase a good Michelin road map either here on this website or a bookstore before you leave. Most of all, have fun making lifetime memories on your trip!
Posted by
Chicago
2876 posts
I don't know how you'd visit those wonderful places without a car. You can easily compare different rental scenarios & prices on autoeurope.com
We've stayed in many B&B's across France and have always found Karen Brown's France B&B guidebook very helpful & reliable. Tripadvisor.com is always worth a look too.
Posted by
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
8293 posts
Check out this website: www.logis-de-france.com for locations of small family-owned inns all over France.
Posted by
Portland
3643 posts
Besides Karen Brown and Logis, both good sources, you might check out specialplacestostay.com and Gites de France. Our experiences with all four sources have been very good. We stayed at one of the "special places" a number of years ago - - sorry don't remember the name - - but it was just outside of the town of Cordes. Large, nicely furnished room with private bath, good breakfast, swimming pool, and very reasonable price. On the car question: usually the charge for dropping in another country is ruinous, many hundreds of dollars. You could take a train from Barcelona to one of the French towns near the border and pick up a car there. Check with AutoEurope to get a sense of the fee and of where you could get a car close to the border.