tuscanlifeedit

It appears that AutoEurope has rentals at Place d'Italie, and we are headed to Burgundy, somewhere around Semur en Auxois. It looks like a straight shot out of town on maps, but I wonder if anyone has experience, or if Parisians would chime in.

It seems like a lot of trouble to take a train a smaller town to try to rent a car, and most rental agencies I can find aren't near the stations. SO: that would mean a taxi to the station in Paris, a train to wherever, and then a taxi to a rental car office.

It seems so much easier to rent in Paris, although that too would require a taxi to Place d'Italie. We have driven in and out of several cities in Italy but only Reims and Nice in France.

Macross

We did ok renting out of CDG. We got the car back by 2pm to avoid the work traffic. I think my husband did fairly well. Very well marked plus we had a GPS. We had first planned to take the train to a city and rent from there but the fares for three of us were pricey and the car was not. We are renting again but from Lille in Nov. Parking was a pain everywhere because of the snow. He is asking for a tiny compact for ease of parking in the garages in Lille.

cdnyul

I would.
No experience with Paris, but have driven in and out of Brussels, Berlin, Madrid and Krakow.
Driving is driving, if you are experienced, confident and can walk and chew gum at the same time you will do fine.

kja

I've driven out of Paris. With a GPS, no problem, but IME, alertness is critical.

You don't say where you will be before renting. If coming from a transatlantic flight, please don't!

Sberg

We drove out of Paris a few years ago and headed to Burgundy. I can't remember exactly where we got the car (I will try to look it up). We took a bus out to the edge of the city (it was in the same direction as where you mentioned but I think it might have been a little bit further out). The rental agency was in a hotel. We exited the agency and the highway was almost directly across the street. It was very easy.

Sberg

I think it might have been Hertz - Paris Porte D'Orleans, 70-74 Avenue Aristide Briand, 92120 Paris, France. It was a straight shot to the highway.

Jean

Many years ago, we drove out of Paris, and, by chance, the rental office was in a great location for the direction we were headed. Within a few blocks we were out of Paris. Traffic is much worse these days, so the rental office location would be more important to us now. Place d'Italie seems to offer a relatively easy, if boring, route. But I find highways inherently boring for the most part.

More recently, coming from Beaune, we've returned a car at Avis at the Auxerre train station and walked less than 100 meters to the station. Trains to/from Paris use the Paris-Bercy station, and some rides are 1:36-1:47 hours with no change. From Auxerre to Semur-en-Auxois is 1-1.5 hours depending on whether you choose to drive via Vezelay and/or Avallon or stick to the (boring) A6.

KTtravel

We have driven out of Paris twice and once found ourselves circling the Louvre which we definitely hadn't planned on doing. Fortunately, it was a Sunday and the traffic wasn't bad. This was pre-GPS days. Our second adventure went much more smoothly. If you are used to driving in a fairly busy city, you should be fine.

Michael

It should be an easy out of Paris. Look at Google maps to see how you would get to the highway. Getting out of Paris is easy, it's leaving the car in Paris that is more difficult.

kerouac

Driving out of Paris is super easy, even without a GPS. There are lots of signs to point you in the right direction, but it often helps to know which "porte" you want -- any of them will do, because then the périphérique will take you to where your autoroute branches off.

tracilee

We’ve done it a couple times, no problem at all!

Tulips

Same here; have driven into and out of Paris several times. Not a problem at all, but try to avoid the worst rush hour times if you can.

LancasterLad

I lived just outside the Peripherique at Le Vesinet for 4 years.

Before I got a car a month after arriving, I had nightmares about driving within the Peripherique, and also navigating into and off the Arc de Triomphe. So much so that I, that I never once took Central Paris on, preferring the RER and Metro.

Driving in France outside of Paris is a breeze.

My car was a little Peugeot 106, Right Hand drive, Central Paris [75] number plates, GB sticker on the back, with my local UK football team stickers on the windows.....attracted quite a lot of attention.

Be very careful parking in Central Paris, bumping parked cars to get a place is a favourite Parisian pastime.....be warned in a Hire Car.

cafegoddess

We drive in and out of Paris, no problem. Traffic in Paris is not bad, it’s not Bangkok.

tuscanlifeedit

This is exactly what I was hoping for.

We will be coming off a four night stay in Paris, so jet lag shouldnt be a problem. We will have GPS and have driven in and out of many large cities in the US, Europe and Canada and aren't anxious when driving.

We did consider the Auxerre option, but taking some form of transport to the station in Paris, then the train, then the rental to our yet to be determined base in Burgundy seemed time consuming for a very short weekend. On Friday we head to Burgundy and turn the car in at CDG on Sunday night, for an early flight on Monday morning.

RJD

To save trouble you can take the TGV to Dijon and rent a car at the train station.

PalenQ

Place d'Italie is nearly out of central Paris - just head south to catch autoroute ring road to east and follow signs. Easy peasy - try to void rush hours and weekends are much better but from Place d'Italie to autoroute a snap IME (several years ago but can't be much different).

aliced

We have rented cars several times out of Paris too, a bit confusing get through and out of city, but once on our way, perfectly fine. You do need a car in Burgundy, and do hope you stay in Dijon couple days before heading down the Cote D'Or; it is a charming city.

StuDudley

The TGV from the Gare de Lyon to Dijon takes about 1 hr 35 mins, and there are around 10 departures daily. Price will probably be around 35E. The rental offices in Dijon are all next to the train station. Lots of cars available in Dijon. We've picked up & dropped off several cars there. We'll do so in August next year.



The drive from Paris to Dijon will take about 3 1/2 hrs & cost about 50E in gas & road tolls.


We were in Paris for 3 weeks recently, and on work days there was bumper to bumper on many roads near central Paris. Don't know about the traffic around the Place d'Italie.


This would be a "no brainer" for me. Only way I would even consider driving in Paris was if this trip was on a Sunday (unless it was a "no car" day in Paris that day - we've encountered this twice in the past 3 years). I've lived in LA for 28 years, and San Francisco for 52 years - so I'm familiar with city driving. I've also driven in & out of Paris several times - and was "stressed" each time.


Stu Dudley

tuscanlifeedit

We won't be going to Dijon, or any cities or larger towns. My wish list is very short, just as is our weekend. Vezelay, Fontenay Abbey, Poligny Abbey and hope to throw in Auxerre on Sunday, on our way to CDG. It was originally Fountainebleau on Sunday, but we'll see as we get closer to the dates.