Nikki

I am in Paris now, and thinking of renting a car to take a trip out of Paris overnight. What is a good location for car rentals in central Paris to avoid going out to the airport to pick up a car? We will be heading toward Lorraine, and it would be nice if there were relatively easy access to get out of town, although it will be Sunday so hopefully not too much traffic. We are staying in the fourth arrondissement.

Michael

Gare de Lyon is on the east side of Paris. It might be the most logical if going to the Lorraine.

Nikki

I was thinking about Gare de Lyon, that makes sense. Is the car rental right in the station?

Michael

On the other side of the rue de Bercy, in the big parking structure.

cigalechanta

Nikki, will you visit in Nancy?
There's a beautiful Brasserie there, Excelsior

tomboy

At the Gare, you'll pay an extra fee (RR or airport pickup).

We've used the rental place (was it AVIS?) just north or east of the Napoleon's Tomb museum, west of the Eiffel Tower. No extra fee, quite central. A fairly short drive to the Peripherique.

Michael

If the RR fee is an issue, Europecar has an agency by Bastille which is a straight shot to the Gare de Lyon and out of Paris (check it out on Google maps).

overdhill

How much is the extra fee for renting at the train station?

Sarastro

The train station/airport location surcharge is typically 40€. However I do not believe that you will pay this fee if your rental is only one or two days. The fee is generally assessed only on rentals 3 days or longer but you should ask the rental company directly to be sure of all charges.

Nikki

Thanks everyone. We have reserved a car through Auto Europe at the Gare de Lyon. I just checked and it is the same price from the Bastille, so I guess there is no surcharge.

Mimi, we are going to Vittel. Alan's father's cousin was shot down there during the war, and we are going to see if we can find the cemetery where he is buried.

Sarastro

While I am a long time Autoeurope customer, I should not use them for a one day rental. Unless there has been a recent change, Autoeurope has a 3 day minimum rental period (you can still return the car for a shorter period) which will trigger the location surcharge. Autoeurope quotes generally do not include such charges as: road tax, environmental fees, additional driver charges, or location surcharges. These additional costs are charged locally when you drop off the car and are not collected by Autoeurope.

For a rental period of only one or two days, I might contact Europcar, Sixt, or Citer directly and ask for a quote which should be all inclusive. Make sure you understand all of the costs and fees that you will pay.

Nikki

Thank you, I'll be checking this out. A preliminary look just now shows me that there are different prices for one, two, and three days on AutoEurope. But the strange thing is that the three day price is lower than the two day price. And Europcar is higher for one, two and three days, by a substantial amount, more than a dropoff fee.

Either way, it will work out, even if I don't end up with the optimal price.