Car rental in France

A better choice might be combining the train with local car rental. Take a train to the Dordogne, rent a car, explore, return car at a train station, take train to Provence, repeat.

Hi Karen, You stated that you wanted to EXPLORE those areas of France. By all means, rent a small diesel car and wander around. The driving in France is very easy. You are used to driving in the greater Seattle area so France will be no problem. There are many back roads in the Loire, Dordogne, and Provence areas, and lots of great exploring to be done by car. Order the Michelin maps of the areas you are interested in and look for the roads marked in green, indicating senic routes. Check out the Logis de France website for rural hotels and inns. Have fun.

Thanks so much Charlie! I'll start to work on this. This will be my fourth trip but my son's first. He wants to work/go to school in France to become a chef so we will be eating our way through the countryside...

If you can get good rates you might want to prefer Europcar as car rental provider. They're the market leaders in France an their stations are located conveniently whereas e.g. Sixt stations are usually a mile from the airport or train station (in France that is).

How long will you need the car? If you need a car for 17 days or more you might look into a lease through Autoeurope. We did that and it worked out very well. It costs less than a typical rental and everything is included in the price...paid is U.S. dollars. They pick you up at the airport and take you to the car. I would caution against driving through Paris.

Thank you. I would pick the car up outside of Paris(?) then have it for about 15 days...also, what about booking accomodations in small inns in the countryside in August? Do I need to do this in advance?

Karen'

I don't know where you are flying "into and out of", but we are using Paris as our portal.

So we spend out first few days in Paris, we hop the TGV to south France, pick up our rental car, and then wind our way back, stoping wherever we desire.

We like to always check rental car rates with AutoEurope, and we found out how wonderful it is to have our own GPS with pre-loaded maps of Europe.

We are flying in and out of Paris....I wonder if it matters where you pick up your car we plan to hit Versailles then Loire Valley....do they supply the GPS?

Karen,

We bought our own GPS here in the states (TOMTOM Go 920, comes pre-loaded with maps of EU and US) We learned how to use it in less than a week, and took it on our trip to Germany and Portugal. It was the best vacation money I have ever spent!

The GPS is USUALLY an option with your rental car agency, that CAN cost many $$$$. We decided not to throw our GPS $$$ at the rental agency, and just purchase our own; especially when the TT offers free software updates when you hook it back up to the Internet every so often.

To save money, we never pick up our rental at the airport, but look for a convenient location near the airport. ( But, dropping off your rental at the airport does not seem to affect the price. Go figure!)

We like Auto Europe because their website and lets you pick and choose pick up locations, and shows you whre they are. It is amazing how the prices change from one location to another. They also offer wonderful price matching, and the people at their 1-800 number are super helpful.

They also randomly offer free upgrades on their web site: free phones, free GPS, etc.

Hello,

I had a question that I posted a couple of weeks ago about rentals, and I was directed also to leasing a car rather than renting. The minimum is typically 17 to 21 days, but same price for a couple less days. I just looked at rentals versus leases again today and a rental for 16 days with the CDW insurance was $538 thru AutoEurope - which still left you paying a variety of fee's, plus deductibles (which can also be "bought down"). The lease was thru Renault for $989 for same amount of time, and includes all costs and insurance, with no deductibles. It almost seems to be about the same price when you add fee's and deductible "buy downs" onto the rental, but I have to say I do still like the idea of no other hidden fee's with the lease. Several people replied to me that they have truly found no hidden fee's as stated. Everyone of course has a different story, but that's something you could look into. Perhaps some others could weigh in on this too, since I am getting ready to book my car soon. Have a great time!

I've leased cars through Renault Eurodrive a number of times and the experience has been excellent with no problems, and no hidden fees. They have a wide variety of cars, both diesel and gasoline. All the cars have AC and CD players. Another advantage is that you get a brand new car with zero miles, not some worn out rental that smells like cigarettes and pulls to the right for 4000 miles. The minimum is 17 days and you must process your lease at least one month ahead of time. The office in New York is very efficient and helpful. I always pick up my car on the day I leave Paris and return it at CDG airport. The return lot is a 3 minute walk from the Ibis Hotel where we stay the night before an early flight back to San Francisco. As for driving in Paris, it's not difficult and not so different than driving in Seattle or San Francisco. But the parking is sparse and expensive, especially overnight parking. So use public transportation in Paris and use the car for the remainder of the trip. RenaultUSA.com is the website.

I have also used Renault Eurodrive several times and love them! Brand new car, no hidden fees, easy pick up location in Paris, and easy drop off locations throughout France. Don't know about the American office, but Canadian reps were very nice and very accommodating.

If I may stray off the topic slightly... Charlie could you tell me which Ibis hotel you stay in, and how close/how do you get to CDG to/from there? I think that sounds perfect for my upcoming trip (firsta nd last nights in Paris). Thanks.

Hi Linda, The Ibis that we stay at is Hotel Ibis Charles de Gaulle Aéroport / Terminal, hotel code 1404. The breakfast room opens at 4:00am, the tram to terminal 1 and 2 is right out the door, and the RER B station is 75 meters from the front desk of the hotel. The RER station has ticket machines but it also has a ticket office where you can talk to a real person. At the far end of the station there is an ATM machine. There is a parking lot at the rear of the hotel. Across the road and through a short tunnel is the office where the Renault Eurodrive car can be turned in (a four minute walk). We usually arrive at this hotel the afternoon before our flight, turn in the car, and leave very early the next morning to catch our flight to San Francisco.

Karen,
I wish you very happy travels.

Charlie,
Thanks so very much for your info!