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Where to rent a car in/near Paris

We will be staying near the Louvre. We will use public transportation while we are in Paris. But on a Monday morning we will be renting a car and driving to Caen then on to Bayeaux for a 4 day stay. Right now I have a car reserved at Gare Du Nord. There are 5 of us ( boys ages 16, 14 and girl 9) I figured that my husband would take public transportation to Gare du Nord, get the car and then come pick us up. But then I've heard it is awful driving in Paris. So should we rent on the outskirts of Paris? But we would be taking our bags on the metro during rush hour as we would really like to leave by 7or 8am if possible so we can spend the day in Caen. Christine

Posted by
9110 posts

Carol's idea would work well. It's a straight shot out of town and, also very easy to get back from there to the Louvre area.

Posted by
2193 posts

There are also rental car offices at the Air France bus terminal at Esplanade des Invalides, which should be closer to you than Gare du Nord but will still present driving challenges getting out of town...I used Hertz there. It was easier for me driving back into Paris and dropping the car than it was leaving. Whatever you choose, your driver will be okay with a good navigator who can help look for street signs (plaques on building walls). It's not going to be super easy, but it can be done. As Ed said, just make sure he has a navigator. Happy travels.

Posted by
9110 posts

The problem will not be getting out of town from Nord. The probelm will be his getting back to where you're staying. It's not hard to drive in Paris, but you've picked one one the meanest routes in town - - look at a map and see how the streets run between the Louvre and Nord. The poor guy will go nuts. Either go with him to the train station or consider picking up somewhere closer and easier to get back from. Invalides would work fine.

Posted by
1499 posts

We rented our car from Budget/Avis near Les Sablon metro station. We took the metro there with our luggage which consisted of carryons. It stops right across the street from the office. It was really easy to leave Paris. Coming back was also easy as far as finding the agency but we hit a lot of traffic. Wherever you pick up your car be sure to leave an extra hour on your return.

Posted by
107 posts

I'll definitely look into Carole's suggestion. We aren't returning it to Paris. We are going to Versailles and Verdun after Normandy and dropping it off in Forbach before we take the train into Germany. christine