Driving from Paris
 

We are picking up a lease vehicle from Charles de Gaulle Airport in April and heading north towards Amsterdam. Does anyone have experience or information on accomplishing this. How difficult is it to find your way out. Given that we are from Australia and will be learning to drive on the opposite side of the road with all the mad french drivers. Would appreciate any advice.

Nothing simpler. Just leave the airport and follow the A1 motorway signs marked "Lille - Bruxelles" (the other direction is "Paris"). Once you're on the A1, Lille is the direction that you really want, until you see the signs for Gand (Ghent). The direction after that is Antwerpen... oh, just look it up on www.viamichelin.com ! :)

Hi L,

It's about a 4:30 hr drive to Amsterdam.

Will you be picking up your car right after getting off the plane?

((I))

Thanks so far for the replys. We are arriving in Paris a week earlier so will have seen Paris before picking up the car so therefore just want to get out into the country. Probably only head up towards the Belguim border before stopping and then onto Leiden near Amsterdam the next day. Anywhere good to stay near the border?

If you're heading up the A1, the easiest place to rent from is the Gare du Nord in Paris.

We picked up a rental car from Gard du Nord and headed up to Calais with a stop near Amriens on the way up. It was a little scary indeed leaving Paris as Gard du Nord is very central. We live in NZ, so it was our first experience at 'driving on the wrong side'. My husband had a bit of practice in the parking lot before leaving and then we were on our way. There are no maps in the rental cars, so make sure you have a good one on you, we didn't. We just had a basic photocopied map and ended up having to stop at a roadside station to buy a decent one. Once you are on the motorways or small country roads, the driving is fine, its the cities and large towns you need to have your wits about you. Most large centres will have ring roads, so you don't need to drive into a city if you don't want to. For instance the one around Amriens was good, the exits were all numbered, and we knew exactly which one to get off at. We got a bit lost around Charles de Gaulle as we had to get off the motorway there and onto one of the A roads, and had to stop and ask directions at a service station because we had no idea which direction we were even travelling in The women at the garage didn't speak a word of English (this was before we bought a new map). So we had alot of fun and games, but got there in the end. Hubby wasn't keen on driving there, mainly because the wheels on the car were out of alignment (it was a brand new one car) and that coupled with the controls being on the other side, etc, he found it a little hard going. However, he has said that he will do it again. Charles de Gaulle is right out of Paris, so you shouldn't have too much stress at the time and the motorway is right next to it. Note that parts of the motorways are toll roads - we spent something like 15 euro just on the drive from Paris to Calais. Hope this has been of some help.

Thanks amamdab for all your information. It was good to hear from someone who understands about driving on the other side. We did it 25 years ago also but had a right hand drive vehicle and I think traffic was not as bad and reflexes better. Your advice about the maps was great. Will get them in Paris before we pick up the car