My last two rentals came with a GPS including my current rental but I was not charged for them as I carry my own Garmin, Renting a GPS seemed high a few years ago when I looked into it at about ~ $20/day so we bought one with European maps included

Thanks Stu and mjs. We've booked a mid-size but the local agent isn't able to tell me if it comes with GPS. Think I'll call the actual agency at Avignon TGV, they should be able to tell me. I also need to find out when they close, hopefully 6pm, our train gets in at 5.05pm...

Call them for sure, but IME the car rental agencies at the TGV station in Avignon are usually open until 10 pm; they certainly don't close before 6 pm.

The Europcar office closes at 10:15 weekdays, and 9:00 Sat & Sun. Some mid-sized cars have GPs & some don't. More & more seem to have them as the year go by. You may have to wait until you arrive at the rental office to determine their "inventory" of mid-sized cars. Ask the rental agent for one with a GPS if yours does not have one. Avignon TGV office was one of the places that had a GPS for us and we did not request one & paid 0 for it - but that doesn't mean it will be that way for you.


Stu Dudley

How many are in your party? We booked a compact and were glad we did when it came to parking and driving on super narrow roads. Some of the roads were so narrow in the countryside (and in Cap Ferrat) that either we or the oncoming vehicle had to back up until we found a shoulder to park on in order to let the other one through.

Unless we needed more room for luggage and/or an additional passenger, we would choose compact again for these reasons in the future.

Boots

Thanks StCirq, Stu and boots... good idea to take a look at their inventory when we get there. We’re going to be five, so will need a mid-size, unfortunately a compact won’t do at all.

Boots, I know what you mean, last year we were in the Loire with my brother’s SUV and negotiating the narrow country lanes was tough, to say the least!

I just returned from Provence, driving a mid-size, manual rental car from Hertz that I picked up in Besancon. I had requested from Hertz a small Peugot 308 or similar; they gave me a jeep--Take it or leave it. Having a manual, and that size of a car, added a lot of stress. The roads in Provence are basically a bit wider than single lane and oncoming traffic, which seems to barrel through at high speeds, seemed just an inch or two away. I tried several car rental companies but couldn't find one that offered an automatic. Our friends whom we traveled with in Provence, managed to get a small, automatic BMW, from SIXT. We relied upon Google Maps and that worked fine for navigating whether in the car or on foot. However, it uses a lot of data so I recommend that travelers get a local SIM card from a French carrier like Orange, as I did.

We got an automatic BNW hybrid from Sixt, though I agree the roads are so narrow a compact would be ideal... unfortunately we’re five of us and needed a mid size.

Laura_A- Verizon also offers monthly international plans for either $25 or $30 which we find more reasonable in the long run.

We used several Michelin maps for Languedoc-Roussillon and Dordogne areas this past May. They are invaluable even with car GPS or phone Google.

HappyTrvlr- I use Verizon (In California) and paid $80 for 250 MB of data. The alternative was $40 for !00 MG. After those thresholds, you pay $25 for each additional 100 MG of data. I used 250 MG in the first 3 days of my trip, even though I kept it on airplane mode as much as possible and closed it once I set up Google Maps. So I purchased a local SIM card from ORANGE for $40 and without paying more, that lasted for 2 and half weeks. Verizon also has a plan for $10/day where you get to use your regular data plan and your own number. In the long run, that would have been the smart option for me.