dalexa5

I will be traveling to the Loire Valley from Paris in August and will be spending 2 nights there. I will be staying at Chateau du Pray in Amboise and from many of the posts Ive read, it seems that it is crucial to rent a car. Im trying to do this the most economical way. Id really appreciate any feedback on the following questions...

1. Should I rent a car in Paris and drive to Amboise?

2. Is it better to take the train to Tours and rent a car from there?

3. For either option, which is the cheapest car rental that has automatic vehicles?

Thanks in advance.

Momof3sons

I can't help you with your questions regarding costs, however with a few basic internet searches, you should be able to find out which car rental agency is going to be the cheapest, and find out what train fare would be.

What I can tell you is that if you do plan to rent a car in Paris and drive to the Loire, the Europecar office located at 8 Avenue Foch (just west of the Arc de Triomphe) was a great location for getting out of Paris. You just have a short drive down Ave. Foch until you hit the expressway ring around Paris (there was no need to navigate through the busy Parisian traffic). This location worked beautifully for a group of six travelling to Normandy and was actually cheaper for us than the train/car combination would have been.

wren

Several summers ago, we took a train from Gare Montparnasse, rented a car in Chartres from Europcar, stopped to see the cathedral there, and then drove on to the Loire. The rental actually was from a popular car rental company here on Fodors, Autoeurope. We have used them everytime we have rented in Europe and never had problem.

We did not have an automatic, so I can't address that.

dalexa5

Thanks for your replies

Momof3sons:
Is the ride from Paris to Loire difficult for first time drivers in Europe? How long does it take?

Thanks again

nytraveler

If you want to be sure of getting a car with automatic you should rent from the largest office possible - preferably at the airport or center of Paris. The smaller the office the shorter the hours and worse the selection of vehicles.

bilboburgler

Depending on size of party (cost) it varies but for me take the train and rent locally