We're starting and ending our France trip in Paris. Is it easy finding the car rental places at Gare du Nord? Is it difficult driving in/out of Paris to/from the Gare du Nord? Is there a better place to pick up a car near Paris?
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
Nord's about as good as anywhere. It's easy to get out and you're channelized by the railroad tracks coming back in (if you come in from the north) making it easy to get back to the rental place.
Posted by
Vestal, NY, United States
2 posts
Yes it is hard driving thru Paris. We picked up a Hertz rental car a Porte de Maillot, easy on to the Périphérique. We also dropped the car off at CDG airport, difficult to actually drive up the the rental car area but once we found it very easy to get to once we figured it out. Easy access to the highways out of Paris. Gard du Nord is a quick train ride to either spot to get a car.
Posted by
Vestal, NY, United States
2 posts
Yes it is hard driving thru Paris. We picked up a Hertz rental car a Porte de Maillot, easy on to the Périphérique. We also dropped the car off at CDG airport, difficult to actually drive up the the rental car area but once we found it very easy to get to once we figured it out. Easy access to the highways out of Paris. Gard du Nord is a quick train ride to either spot to get a car.
Posted by
Abruzzo Mountains
1088 posts
I agree with Cynthia. Don't drive in Paris if you can avoid it. If you're renting a car, you're likely headed out of Paris, so take public transit (RER suburban light rail transit) in the direction you will be driving and pick up a car in the suburbs. Last summer, we were headed east, took RER to Marne-la-Vallee/Chessy train station (Disneyland Paris) and rented a car there. It was so easy. And there's nothing around there but farmer's fields and small towns, so you can get your sea legs driving in France before dealing with traffic. You can do the same to the north, west, or south of Paris and save yourself some aggravation.
Posted by
Little Rock, AR
42 posts
We booked and paid for a car from the US (Auto Europe or EuropeCar) and at the end of our Paris stay, took the metro/train to Orly Airport and picked up the car. I figured that Orly was smaller and easier to get out of than CDG. Great experience! We had no trouble getting out of Orly and into the countryside. We returned the car in Germany. We down loaded Europe maps on our GPS and couldn't have had a better driving experience.