Driving from Paris to Vimy Memorial (near Arras) -- where to rent a car?

Posted by Suzanne (Toronto-ish, ON, Canada) on 07/05/10 08:41 PM

Am hoping you can help. I'm going to rent a car to take three of us to the Vimy Memorial but would like to minimize the driving I do in Paris. Am thinking I could take the RER/Metro to a station that has (or is near) a car rental place, but I just don't know which station would be good for this purpose. I have found that Gare du Nord has car rentals there, but it's a little too close to the heart of Paris for us. I'd rather be closer to the edge of the city!

If it makes a difference, we're staying near the Cadet metro stop, which I believe is on the #7 line.

Thanks for your help!

Posted by Roe

Reston, Virginia

07/06/10 01:02 PM

403 posts

You could certainly follow Steve's suggestion of picking up a car at CDG. Another option is to take a mainline train to Arras itself. When I googled Arras car rental about 10 places popped up, apparently--according to the map--all clustered near the train station along with several hotels. You might consider basing yourself overnight in Arras and driving to the Vimy memorial and other nearby sites. Use the link on the RS main page to take you to the DB site, where you could get a detailed timetable of trains from paris to arras. With a little more research, you might find that it is practical to get from central Arras to the Memorial by bus, which would certainly save a lot of money over a rental car.

Posted by Suzanne OP

Toronto-ish, ON, Canada

07/06/10 07:23 PM

10 posts

I was avoiding renting at CDG b/c I think it costs an extra $50 or $75 to do so, and I was trying to keep costs down if possible.

We had wondered about taking the train the Arras, but there apparently aren't buses that go to the Memorial so would need to take a taxi there. Am also hoping to go to my great-uncle's grave in a cemetery about 10 km from the Vimy Memorial so that would be another taxi drive. It all seemed to be getting a bit too reliant on taxis, which is why I was thinking of going with a rental car.

I did hear on an old news clip somewhere (probably our CBC network) that there used to be a gentleman in Arras who would wait at the train station for Canadians to arrive who wanted to go to the Vimy Memorial, and he would offer his services for free. And he did that many many times, as a thank you to the Canadians who conquered Vimy Ridge in WW1.

Posted by Judy

Adelaide, SA, Australia

07/06/10 11:51 PM

977 posts

Google Arras Tourist Information Centre. They will be able to advise you of tours to Vimy Ridge We are travelling to Arras by TGV from Paris Nord (Gare du Nord) to do 'A Day in the Somme Tour' which tours the sites where the Aussies fought in WW1. I don't think it includes Vimy Ridge.