Rental Cars in Paris
 

We are going to Paris in September and plan to stay at the Hotel Opal (near the Madeleine metro)for four days. We then plan to get a Hertz Rental and drive to Reims. We will circle down and through Lorie Valley returning to Paris to stay at the Hotel St. Christophe near the Monge Metro Station (We decided it would be fun to stay on both sides of the Seine). Any ideas on the best place to pick up and return a Hertz rental? Should we take a cab to the rental station to avoid the trains and luggage? How bad is it trying to "hoof it" with rolling luggage? We plan to bring two mid-sized rolling bags. It has been suggested to go to the airport or one of the train stations to pick up a car to avoid traffic in the city. We plan to leave town early in the morning. Any good ideas?

In many cities (I'm not sure about Paris), picking a rental car up at the airport causes a surcharge to be added to your costs. In some places this charge can be substantial. You can probably find out easily enough if this is true for Paris by doing some internet searches or comparing prices between airport pickups and other locations. An alternative to an airport pickup would be to get a car at Gare du Nord and head directly for the Peripherique, the ring road circling Paris that will get you out of the city in any direction. I would take a taxi to the rental car office.

Alternatively, you could take the train to Reims and pick up your car there. Likewise, you could return the car in the Loire Valley and train back into Paris.

kaster,

I would pick up the car at Porte Maillot and return it at Gare Montparnasse or Gare de Lyon.

Definitely cab it to & from the rental stations.

Hope this helps,
Andre

Our usual mode is to do the outlying travel first, picking up the car at a train station (after training to Provence for example) and returning to airport. Then do the Paris portionn of our trip and taxiing to CDG for departure. We prefer to end our visit in the city. That said, picking up a car IN Paris can be daunting to get out. The advice to train to Reims is attractive. Whatever, take a taxi TO the rental agency. It won't be expensive and your luggage in the Metro will be a nightmare.

I would definitely pick up a car at Gare du Nord and probably return it to the Gare de Lyon. Another option is to return the car to Orly and then cab into the city.