After spending 7 days in Paris we are heading to the Normandy area--will be spending the first night in the Mont St Michael area and the next 2 in Bayeaux. Wanted
to rent the car in Rouen, see that city and then head to Honfleur before going to MSM for the night. Training from Paris to Rouen. On AUTOEUROPE car rental site it
shows I can pick up a car at a city office 2 Avenue Jean Rondeaux in Rouen (want to avoid the surcharge they tack on for railroad station pickup/drop offs)--here's my question:
on the Autoeruope site it is showing that address as right next to the train station but on Google maps it is showing that same address 2.3km away from the train station...can
someone tell me the closest pick up to the train station for a car rental.

Autoeurope does not have car rental sites. What company is supplying the car?

I show that 2 ave Jean Rondeaux is about 500 meters from the train station and probably close enough to trigger a train station pickup.

Sarastro--Auto europe is offering a Hertz rental car--2 Ave Jean Rondeaux is showing it is near a gare du rouen orleans-- am only seeing trains from Paris to Rouen Rive Droite station..am assuming I go into Rive Droite and then bus to the rental place on 2 ave Jean Rondeaux--would be much simpler if I could train from paris to gare de rouen orleans..thoughts??

My experience in rentals outside Paris is that if the rental agency does not charge the RR station fee it may charge a one-way fee that is higher than the pick-up fee. That was the case for Hertz picking up a car in Bordeaux and dropping it off in Limoges. I noticed recently that AutoEurope is very careful about posting warnings that some fees are not included in the contract. You need to compare the difference between the contract of the different rental agencies, for example Hertz vs. Europcar; and if you can't make a determination on line, call AutoEurope. At any rate, rent the car on your way oiut of Rouen. The car is useless in the city.

The sites are a good distance apart. I'd recommend leaving the station and to your right is the taxi queue. Just get a taxi to take you down the hill and across the river to the Hertz station. Based upon your original post, you are training to Rouen, car to Honfleur, then out to MSM. Then you are going to Bayeux? Rouen is on the eastern end of Normandy. MSM is on the western end and Bayeux is in the middle. I would consider training to Rennes, rent car there, then go to MSM. After that, head toward Bayeux. Finish up in Rouen so that you can avoid the backtracking. You'll pass Bayeux to go to MSM, then drive back to Bayeux. That is at least 4 hours of driving on the fastest route.

The Gare Rouen-Orléans has been defunct for decades, so it definitely wouldn't be easier.

I think RR and airport fees are usually determined by the facility, it's a user tax. It isn't determined by the car rental company, all rentals have to pay it, I think.

IN any case, the rail station location they give IS near the main rail station. The other one is not called a rail station office, just a city office. I think that old rail station you see is only used for freight trains nowadays. YOu can't take a passenger train there.

We are leaving Paris by train to get a rental car somewhere and wanted to spend that day seeing Honfleur and Rouen before arriving at MSM for the night..planned to do MSM the next morning and head towards the Normandy DDay beaches..we have 2 days to do those and Bayeux...leaving on the 4th day to return the rental car and get back to Paris for a train to Brussels...so really the only day to see Honfleur and Rouen is the first day on our way to MSM..won't have time on the last day when we return the rental car. Just looking for a central place to rent a car that would enable us to spend the first day seeing the country as we got to our destination of MSM. I want to pick up and drop off at same location to avoid extra surcharges...

Location surcharges, fees for rail station or airport pickup, are not always charged separately. I have rarely, if ever, seen them added to a car rental quote directly from Sixt or Europcar. Admittedly I have never rented from either Avis or Hertz as they regularly add one way fees, within France. Location surcharges have been part of every US Autoeurope quote I have ever received.

When I used to rent cars in France, I would make every effort to avoid the location surcharge, doing the same thing that bornintheusa is doing. Perhaps the best thing to do is to ask AE which stations will, and which stations will not trigger the surcharge.

Actually I would recommend your renting a car somewhere near the southwest corner of Paris, join the périphérique to Porte d´Auteuil and pickup A13 to Normandy, avoiding the cost of train tickets completely.

I don't think the extra surcharge will be so much as to warrant the doubling back, but it is your trip. Train to Rouen, car to honfleur and stay in Bayeux the first night. That will give you 2.5 hours of non-driving time to see more sites, including potentially some of the D-day stuff on the first day. Then do a full D-day tour, focusing on the eastern portions. Day two, work your way past Pointe du Hoc, to Utah Beach stopping at the several historical towns on the way. At the end of that day, drive down the peninsula to MSM for the night. The next morning, you return the car in Rennes and train to Paris. There are trains that get you in Paris as early as 7:45 am, but in any event enough time to arrive at Montparnasse and transfer to Gare du Nord for the Belgium trip. Good luck and enjoy your trip, however you decide!

If I go Autoeurpe rental out of Rouen I found that I can easily metro from the train station to the city pick up location avoiding any surcharges...so it looks like the rental car for 3 days through Hertz is about $61 US basic rate (will get insurance elsewhere)...train from St. Lazare to Rouen is only 10E each way -- Sarastro, if I wanted to rent a car somewhere outside of Paris and drive to Rouen and then Honfleur where might that be....we don't mind driving and that would enable us to see some of France other than Paris (our first time here).

Where are you staying in Paris?

Location surcharges are typically 45€ for airports or train stations pickups in bigger locations such as Paris or Nice, probably just below 40€ in smaller cities. Steps taken to avoid location surcharges are worth the effort for many.

Consider picking up a rental at an in-town office near your hotel. You´ll have the cost of a rental for that day anyway. You´ll exchange the A13 toll (about 3€) and the cost of fuel for the price of train tickets. Driving out of Paris is not at all the same as driving around Paris. If you wanted to leave the car in Rouen or elsewhere and train back to Paris you could. The location surcharges are for pickup only, not drop off and Sixt or Europcar will typically not charge for a one way fee.

I read a lot of posts from people who are not really clear about driving out of Paris and do not understand how easy it is.

Sarastro--We are staying near the Charonne metro --Here is my ultimate goal if possible: rent a car somewhere outside of Paris easily got to by Metro (with no extra surcharges, drive to Rouen, Honfleur, etc--then be able to return the car at the same place and get to Gare du Nord easily for our train to Brussels on the last day of our Normandy excursion.--is this possible??? I like your idea of avoiding the price of train tickets since we need the rental car anyway....Where would be some of the best places on the outskirts of town to do this?? Thanks for all of invaluable advice

Specifically, what day and time of day are you planing on departing from and returning to Paris?

Leaving Paris on a Thursday as early as possible (7:30ish or whenever car rental is open) and returning on Sunday (this may be an issue since lots of car rental places are closed on Sunday--need to be at Gare du Nord for 2:25pm train--will be leaving Bayeux about 7am to make the 4 hour + drive back towards Paris.--do you have an idea of what I can do??

There doesn't have to be a human being at a car rental agency in France for you to drop off car. There is almost always a box where you can drop the keys and the green insurance pamphlet. There is a car rental agency open at 7:30?

You can work this out when you pick up the car.

I would never plan on a 4-hour drive to drop off a car and make a train on a Sunday, but then, I probably have years more experience than you do with the vagaries of such types of planning. Same as I am never more than a taxi ride away from my airport of departure when leaving the country.

I don't know why you are fooling around with the car so much. You could easily get rid of the car on Saturday, I'm sure you are just staying in Bayeux overnight, right? You aren't going to be touring around by car on Sat night. Probably save a day rental fee, also. Then take the 8:35 direct train to Paris on Sunday morning which goes to St Lazare and take a short taxi ride to Gare du Nord. You'll have plenty of time as that train arrives in Paris at 10:47 am. If bought in advance, you can get that train fare for about 30 euro. If you think that wastes too much time in Paris (maybe you'd get there an hour or so early), you can take the train an hour later but it requires a transfer, then you get into Paris at 12:19. I'd take the direct myself. Of course you can take metro between the two train stations but there is no direct line and with baggage, maybe why bother, you have plenty of time. The rental car company should be open in Bayeux until about 5 pm on Sat. I know I don't like leaving a car when no one is there either, although I have when forced to. Just afraid something may go wrong with the account.

On the other hand, you really don't have to worry about car rental companies at major rail stations in Paris not being open on Sunday. I just would never do what you plan to do myself, drive to Paris from Bayeux on the day I need to leave. YOu won't save any time anyway, you save time by taking the train, if you planned to leave Bayeux at 7 am. It's really about a 3-3:30 hr drive if all goes well, but you need time to turn the car in and time in case something goes wrong, of course.

Take pictures of car when returning it so no damage claims can come up, at least to body.

And you really need no car for just those two spots. take train from Paris to Bayeux - train to MSM - bus to Rennes and train to Paris. You have little time to drive much anywhere and mini-bus tours from Bayeux to D-Day sites are informative too. Save lots of money by not using a car.

Was hoping to include Rouen for Joan of arc sights/Notre Dame cathedral and Honfleur to see a seaside village on the way to MSM the first day, doing the Normandy sights on the 2nd and some of the 3rd day, and Bayeux the 3rd day--Autoeurope is not allowing me to do a rental pick up in Rouen and a drop off in Bayeux....

Sarastro and others-- yes, I know the majority of you don't think I should have a rental car---we are not "tour" type people so will need a car for Normandy beach areas..we enjoy driving to see the country- any ideas of where I might get a rental car outside of Paris if I wanted to drive to Rouen and then Honfleur on my way to MSM--- -need the car from Thursday at 9am to Sunday 9am--thoughts please??