Hello travelers, Renting a car for touring around Provence and Nice. There's just two of us and I want a very small car that will be easy to park. We do need enough room to put our two main suitcases in the car as well as two smaller bags, but only to transport to and from the train station, after that we plan to downsize to 2 small overnight bags. My Avis choices are a Subcompact (Renault Twingo or Similar) or I could go up a size to the Economy (Opel Corsa/ Citroen C3 or Similar). Anyone familiar with these cars, have an opinion? Do we need the larger car? I've looked at sample pics on the Avis website, but it's still hard to tell. Hoping to hear from someone with first hand experience or a lot of car knowledge.
Thanks as always to all you travelers willing to share you experience! So appreciated!
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33866 posts
Please be safe. Do not be tempted to put luggage on the back seat because it does not fit in the too small boot (trunk). If you have a collision your seatbelt and airbag may save you for a moment. Then the suitcases will keep going at the same speed you were doing before you stopped and fly through the windscreen, taking what they find on the way with them. So your car needs to be large enough to take all your luggage even if don't need all of it all the time.
Posted by
LaGrange, Ga, USA
1178 posts
I agree with the posting of Nigel....
Posted by
Dallas
1022 posts
I'm tall so I can't go with the smallest cars. Recently we've had two Peugeot 308 diesels that were great. Plenty of room, good power and mileage - around 42 mpg. One was a convertible, the other a hatchback. I liked the convertible better because on the days we moved locations we put the top up and everything in the trunk so it was out of sight while we stopped along the way to sightsee.
Posted by
Gettysburg, PA
1589 posts
Since there are only 2 of you, the smaller the better for parking, passing & fuel.
Posted by
Chicago
2876 posts
We drove all over Provence last fall & I can only recall having had to parallel park on the street once or twice. Most towns & sites had public parking areas or lots, and there were parking garages in the larger towns such as Arles & Avignon. We were in a small minivan (Renault Scenic). Personally, I don't see the compact car being much of a problem.
Posted by
Gaston, Oregon, USA
931 posts
France, we have given up on the Sub compacts in the EU. We almost got killed a couple of times in an underpowered Sub Compact when we were in Sicily, and learned our lesson. Now we will only rent an Economy...most to time a 4 dooor. For our trip to Spain this May I am renting a 4 door wagon for three of us. We got used to riding in one because our friends, who live in Germany, have one, and it is wonderful for the 4 of us. We have been in some very narrow Italian streets, and still can navigate. Go to the broker Auroeurope.com's website and play with the "pick-up' locations. You will see lots of various types of economy cars (they vary by location.) AE is an awesome broker, based in the US. We have used them over the years for most of our EU auto rentals.
Posted by
OP
Seattle, Wa, USA
7 posts
Thanks to all for car size recommendations and safety tips! Your input is such a help. I think we've at least decided to move up to the economy size. Happy Travels All!
-France
Posted by
Jeromesville, OH, USA
9 posts
I looked up the trunk capacity on the examples for each class of car and then compared it to that of our own vehicle at home--a Toyota Corolla. The compact cars are very similar in area and I know that the luggage we have will fit. We'll find out if I am correct once we get there!