Hello. When my wife and I were planning our trip to France, we didn't take into account being in Loire Valley and Normandy on the weekends before and after Paris. For Loire Valley, we won't get there to Amboise early evening on a Saturday and originally, we were planning on renting a car to drive around chateaus on Sunday. But upon further research, we've come to realize that it's hard to rent a car on a Sunday. Guided Tours were our "Plan B", but I'm also finding out that there's not many tours available on Sundays. Any tips? For Normandy, we can get to Bayeaux by early afternoon the following Saturday and plan to drive to Mont St. Michel in the evening as Rick suggested, then do Normandy Beaches on a Sunday. Does that sound like a good plan? Thanks in advance for your help.
Posted by
Park Ridge, IL
524 posts
Erik You will need to check both weekends for Sat and Sun rental car pickups and drop offs times. Often smaller towns are only open until noon on Sat and then Sun have no hours. This can be a problem as you have found out. Not sure what your schedule is on Sat but you can take the TGV to Tours and it takes a 1/2 hour. Rent a car there on Sat. Still may have to get there by noon and not sure about return on Sun. Have you researched picking the car up in Caen in early PM? You can also check to see if picking up a car in Rouen might work better timing wise . Is it possible for you to leave Tours and Normandy in the early morning on Monday? Check that option. Is it possible for you to rearrange your Paris schedule? It is very hard to figure out all transportation options with the car rental limitations, train schedules, hotels, and timing. Good luck Bobbie
Posted by
Portlandia
3313 posts
Why not rent your cars from Paris? You'll have better available hours for pick up.