gktravels

We are considering driving from London to Paris. How long does it take if we were to go non-stop? Are there any nice towns along the way that would be worth visiting?

We would like to drive to Paris and then drop the car off there and then fly back to London. Any thought on this would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Karen

drsawyers

I would think that dropping off a car in Paris that was rented in London would be more of a hassle than usual - due to the fact that the steering wheel will probably be on the right side of the car.

Also, do you really want to drive a right-handed car in right-laned France? (Even if you can rent a left-side car in England, then you have the same problem there)

InvisibleTraveler

No need to pay for ferrying the car and yourselves across the channel when you can take the Eurostar across and then get a rental car in France. This way you don't pay an outrageous drop fee, either.

melr

Hi Karen,

You could definitely do it in a day. I've driven from kent to Reims in a day, a similar distance. It would probably take about 8-10 hours, including ferry journey and a few stops on the way.

If you're hiring a car the best thing to do might be to hire a car from London to Dover, then from Calais to Paris. You then have the steering wheel on the correct side of the car for the whole journey, and you then would only need to get a foot passenger ticket for the ferry. This would save on the price of the ferry ticket (a few tens of pounds instead of a few hundred), but you would effectively be paying twice for one day's car rental.

Good luck!

Alec

I don't know why you want to do this in a rental car, but if you insist on it, Hertz do Le Swap. Drive a British Hertz car via Eurotunnel shuttle to Calais, and swap with a French car at the terminal. Price includes Eurotunnel crossing. Check Hertz website.

gktravels

First of all, I am not insistent on renting a car.

All I was hoping for was some additional information to help me decide whether it was really worth doing in the first place. From what everyone has said it sounds like it may be more of a hassle than necessary.

What initially got us thinking about driving was that one year we drove throughout England and Scotland and had a wonderful time. We stopped in a number of lovely towns and liked the freedom of having a car. On that trip, however, we did not see the southern region of the UK and thought it might be fun to go this time around.

So, if we were to drive we probably would not go non-stop, but try to break it up and stop somewhere nice for a day or two. But untimately, I guess, we would only go through the trouble of doing all of this as opposed to flying if there were some places worth seeing. Any recommendations??

Karen

curmudgeon

I seem to remember that some (most?) of the time, the UK rental agreements prohibit you taking the car to France. The Hertz swap thing works, though you pay a fair bit extra to keep the car with you through the chunnel (but then you don't have to manage bags). The alternative is to drop one car at the Dover ferry terminal, take the ferry, and pick another car at Calais ferry terminal.

I didn't find that region of France up around Calais to be all that interesting, but we really enjoyed spending time a bit farther south in Normandy; places like Caen, Arromanches, etc.

flanneruk

The time depends on the time of day, whether you do Le Swap and how clever you are at getting out of London quickly.
My personal best:From the Northern end of the Blackwall Tunnel to the Folkestone Channel Tunnel Terminal: 100 mins. Hanging around at Folkestone: 30-40 mins. Le Shuttle: 35 mins. Frethun Terminal to the A1/peripherique intersection: 160 mins, by the A26/A1, though possibly less if you head south to Boulogne.
If you're not too interested in seeing Canterbury and Dover (or feel you can do that some other time), you might think of taking the Eurostar to Calais/Frethun, then hiring a car there. A lot less hassle than trying to organise a one-way (though it's possible)
On the French side, there's a clutch of moderately pretty towns like Arras across Northern France, or WW1 battlefields - and cemeteries - then Amiens and Chantilly if you go A26/A1. Or head south from Calais along the coast to Boulogne (nice cliffs and beaches if you really go onto the coast road: Montreuil sur Mer isn't sur mer but is pretty): again Amiens. And this route offers a handy detour for Giverny.

We drive this route a lot, as it's pretty much the only way to get your car to the Med if you're a Londoner taking a serious holiday there. The Calais-Paris drive can be pretty if you try very hard, though hardly in the same league as a drive through Tuscany or the Alps.

If you can find a copy, Arthur Eperon's "Travellers' France" has several nifty, non-autoroute, itineraries for this journey, though I think it's out of print now, and my copy's in storage.

Incidentally, non-autoroute roads in France are, by UK standards, positively empty. They're almost a joy to drive on, except that your fellow-drivers are, of course, mostly French.