Car travel in France

We used Europcar (via AutoEurope) and picked ours up on Ave Foch. We were a bit limited as it was a Sunday morning. But the location - just the other side of the Arc de Triomphe - was easily accessible via metro and a short walk, and was pretty much a straight shot to the ring road/perpherique. (which we actually hit, but had a GPS snafu and ended up back in the middle of Paris - but it was all our fault). I figure why spend money on a train ticket and a car rental...but some people would rather get away from Paris before picking up their car. Time of day and day of the week could have an impact as well - I wouldn't want to try and pick up a car at rush hour on a Friday and get out of the city...

Is there a reason that you want a pickup? They are quite rare in Europe so if you find somewhere that rents them that may be your only answer.

Also, if you have any luggage it is likely to be exposed in a pickup.

Is there a reason that you want a pickup?

I wonder if that was just a typo. And I've never seen a pickup among the available vehicles from rental car agencies in France.

We picked ours up in Versailles. However, as someone previously mentioned, opening hours can be limited. Particularly if you are picking up on the week end. Airport pick ups can cost a little more but have extended hours. The main thing is to get outside the congested city. I use Autoeurope to book. We only had a problem once and a call to their toll free help line cleared it up. ( something I had not been able to do after arguing with the over zealous salesman for 20 minutes)' While it appears Versailles would not be good if you are headed towards Reims, there will be other outlaying pick up spots. I agree with a previous poster that it makes more sense than buying a train ticket and paying for a day of car rental.

All,

Thank you for your feedback! Yes the second pick up was a typo and really looking for a small or medium car that has a trunk to hide our luggage. We only have the carry on and day back but still one can not be too safe I suppose. We have 16 days and can't wait to get there in May and our first time to France. I am definitely going to shuttle back to the airport to pick up a car where we will drop off before leaving or one of the spots in town as suggested. Any recommendations on autos?

In gratitude,
John

Pickup and drop off should depend on your itinerary. Don't go out of your way to get a car, you can get them almost anywhere there is a train station.

For instance, if I were going to motor tour from (say) Alsace, I would take the train to Colmar and pick the car up when I was ready to use it, not before. That wouldn't be the same day I arrived, there is plenty to see in Colmar.

Regarding the often-stated reluctance to pay for a train and rental car "on the same day" -- car rental is on a 24-hour day, so if you pick up at 4 p.m. after riding on a train for 3 hours, you are NOT paying double for the hours on the train. Your rental day ends at 4 p.m. the next day.

We took the train to Caen, rented a car for a week, drove Normandy beaches, Loire castles, Chartres, returned to CDG. Enterprise rental. Chose Caen because we needed automatic, have driven the loong way from Paris on an earlier trip.

Start with a consolidator - I use autoeurope.com. Try from Paris and from Reims. There may be fewer options from Reims. I would not shlep out to the airport to get a car without a compelling reason, like a most unlikely huge price saving - or need for an automatic, with more likelihood of that where there's a bigger fleet on hand.

You can then go to each company's website to compare prices. Sometimes you'll get a better deal, but read the fine print for both options. Sometimes autoeurope looks cheaper until you find that there are extra fees. Also try gemut.com. They are based in the US so you can also call them. You can't get prices on their site, but you can get quotes. There's also a wealth of info on driving in Europe if this is your first time. With Autoeurope you have to pay when you make the reservation, but I've cancelled at least twice and had the money refunded to my credit card in 2 business days.

GPS is really, really helpful. I think just about any car above the first two classes will hold your luggage. They do show how many pieces the car will hold.