France Travel Help

What would the price be to have a rental car upon departure from Paris with a drop off in Nice? I love the drives in and of themselves. We usually stay at an Ibis or a B&B outside of any city and train or bus in. Guess it's a personal choice. The train does allow you to get up and move around during the journey. The car allows you to stop at that interesting whatever. Oh, and then there's the price of fuel to factor in. Hummm

Your question is a litle vague - I can understand perhaps training from Paris > Beaune, but after that I don't know if you want to drive from there to Lyon, from Lyon to Avignon and "provence area", then from there to Nice and "riviera" for 3 days... 1) Do you need to drive around while staying in Beaune, or just want the flexibility? (probably a car, but if the driver is drinking...no). 2) Do you want to meander b/n Beaune and Lyon (by car), or just get to Lyon (by train)? 3)Same thing - meander b/n Lyon and "provence area"? 4) You can train around the 'Riviera', depending on where you want to go... I don't know your exact dates in June, but you can get a €17,00 per person, 2nd class ticket b/n Paris and Beaune if you act ASAP. For Beaune to Lyon, €23,70 per person, 2nd class (no advance purchase discounts on this route). I don't know if you'd rather drive the rest of the way, so I won't check all of the possible train routes and ticket prices... You should be able to return the car with no penalty anywhere in France. Use this site for perusing/purchasing French train tickets: http://www.tgv-europe.com/en/launch Select 'Great Britain' as your 'Ticket Collection Country'.

I think this is a thoughtful itinerary and you will have a great time. It was more than ten years ago, but when when we used those rail-drive passes we rented in multiple locales, using (as you propose) trains to get from region to region, and cars to explore locally. The only thing I would add is that around Beaune, bicycling is a charming and practical way to see the grapes, and there is a marvelous rental shop in town, with some great ideas for routes. Even supposing that you have a car, you night consider it for an afternoon. Other than that, you will want wheels for Burgundy and Provence; arguably not for Lyon, unless you plan to sightsee out of town, and I don't know about the Riviera. Have a blast!

Thanks everyone. Our thoughts were to train from Paris to Beaune, Beaune to Lyon and Lyon to Avignon and Avignon to Nice... I like the idea of cycling around Beane vinyards, so that could save us a day of car rental. I definitely want a car available for day trips out of Avignon... but not sure about Lyon area. I'm comfortable relying on public transport once we get to the riviera. One thing I'm not sure about - when you buy the combo pass... do you have to buy the extra days of car rental up front or can you tack them on later if you decide that you want them? Are the dates in which you will use the car rental flexible or do you have to reserve up front? Thanks for the help - We are very excited about our France adventure!

I would keep the car and enjoy the drive from Avignon to Nice ( traffic doesn't bother me and I like pulling over on a whim). But, full disclosure, I drove from Paris and thru much of France with a teenager for more than 2 weeks!

Your other two possible train trips: Lyon > Avignon: €22,00, and Avignon > Nice: €24,00. That makes your possible total €86,70 per person, 2nd class. Again, I had to just pick a date in June...and these are advance purchase tickets that you can easily buy at the website I gave you in my previous post. For a "France Rail-n-Drive" pass, you'll have to go to RailEurope.com They should have answers to your questions..."Europe Through the Back Door" doesn't sell "Rail-n-Drive" passes. In my experience, car rental in France is pretty inexpensive. You could come out ahead by booking a car separately from your train tickets; it just depends on how many days of rail and car you want.