Hiring a driver in Provence
 

This is an enquiry on behalf of someone who will be staying in our house in Provence (the Vaucluse) later this year. They have asked me if it is possible to have someone to drive them round rather than drive themselves in a rental car.

Now, I have driven extensively in France and and I know that it is no harder than driving anywhere else, albeit small villages can be tricky, and driving on the right does take some adjustment (these people are Australians) but they are keen to pursue this option.

Does anyone have any suggestions that I can pass on?

I can't suggest anything specific, but maybe if you said where your house was, it would help someone (I mean the exact town). Otherwise, if you live there, wouldn't you be best to know locally who might do such a service or who to call to find out? In small towns, "private" taxi services may have guys who are willing to do private chaffeuring for a reasonable fee, less than regular taxi rates, of course. Lots of guys who are drivers for a living may have a rate they would charge for a half day or full day or something.

Thanks Christine,

The house is in the village of Beaumes de Venise, and I don't live there, it's a holiday house. I'm not aware of anyone who offers this service in the town, otherwise I would have just passed their details on to our guests. I was just trying to be helpful for these people and thought that maybe some Fodors readers had previously sought to do this or had some knowledge.

Personally, I'm suggesting to them that they rent a car and drive - they drive here - but it's not my choice.

Friends used Marlene Boyer of Experience Provence and were extremely positive about their day with her. She is based in Avignon but provides guide services for the broader region and picked up our friends in Bonnieux. She's a one-person business and her website is simple: http://experienceprovence.blogvie.com/

Kathy

Thanks Kathy, I'll pass that address on.

Most of the taxi companies in such areas have full day and half day rates, which you can often find directly on their websites. I'm sure that some of the drivers are just as good as tour guides and that others are just.... drivers.

Thanks kerouac, I'll pass that on as well. Actually, I think they may now be going to get their own car which I think is a much better approach.

I had a really great experience with this company: http://www.taxi-provencetours.com/

If you click on my name there is a thread where I reported on the fun time we had on our tour with Sylvain.

Also it appears that their name has slightly changed, but both the link above and the one in my original post link to the same website.

Thanks to you too Lunabella, I'll pass that information on as well.