Tagggart

Hello knowledgable travelers,

I'm going to be driving a rental car from northern France (Amiens) to Paris. I'm going to be staying in the 3rd Le Marais. Does anyone have recommendations on where I should drop the car? I'm thinking dropping off outside of Paris and taking a train in makes more sense. I do have a family of 4 with luggage, but I'm from the states I also don't want to get us all killed by trying to drive in the city.

Would appreciate your suggestions.

Chris

StuDudley

Just drop it off at Amiens, and take the train in from there.

Stu Dudley

Michael

Agree. The other option is to drop the car off at CDG, which is NE of Paris. According to Google, the 1.5 hour drive is fairly direct.

janisj

Depending on which rental company you are using . . . If it has a location there (most of the biggies are there), leave it in Amiens - simple. But if there isn't a drop off point in Amiens -- just drop it a CDG. The advantage of CDG is that every major company is there and one doesn't have to worry about opening hours.

lavandula

Last driving holiday across France we wanted to drive from Brussels to Rennes with some of Brittany thrown in, ultimately leaving via Paris. We actually had a car that was being returned to France so that was all OK. However, when we were booking the return, Rennes was a far more expensive location to drop off than Paris. We ended up booking the drop-off for CDG which had a very good price for drop-off and staying in an airport hotel and commuting into Paris for the last couple of days. That was a good arrangement because we didn't need to see much of Paris, we have been before and we also had some time in Versailles before we left the car. However, the roads around CDG are spaghetti junction, so if you are a trepidatious driver you should look for an alternative. Seriously, the satnav in our car was different to the road signs for the hotel. My husband followed the satnav on gut instinct, turning into an unmarked road and suddenly we were there, and all this at the high speed that cars are whizzing around the airport. A miracle that there was no rear-end! So do plug in different drop-off locations into the search terms, you may find a difference.

Lavandula

Tagggart

Your suggestions are great. So if I do choose to travel by train, I'll need to be taking some large cars from our lodgings to the train station and vice-versa. It'll be me, my wife, and our 11 and 8 year-old (they're respectful travelers, I swear). Is it reasonable to think we can get a taxi or uber/lyft/etc big enough to take us and our luggage?

lavandula

Yes, totally reasonable if you are somewhere like the airport, and if you are not travelling from there, you can order a taxi to suit your needs (assuming you are not in a backwater). Don't forget to pack light (always important).

Or ... worst case scenario you can take one taxi with one child, your wife takes the other with the other child. So you both need to be on the same page with your destinations !

Lavandula

janisj

Just how much luggage are you planning for 2 adults and two young children?? 4 rollaboards and 4 handbags/totes/day packs is all you'd need (or maybe instead of rollaboards the adults could us 24 inchers which would need to be checked but are still a manageable size)

IF you have too much luggage for a taxi, you have too much luggage to take trains

Sarastro

The easiest solution would be to drive to CDG, taking D934 to A1 which goes directly to the main airport entrance. There are signs, in English, directing you to the rental returns, which are basically found at the lowest level of terminal 2´s open center.

Taxis from CDG are fixed price: 53€/58€ to the Right/Left Bank respectively. CDG will have taxis large enough for your family and luggage, but keep it manageable. When you are fully packed, take everything out of your luggage and leave half behind.

Use one of the official taxi queues at CDG, do not accept rides from clandestine drivers soliciting from outside the official taxi boarding area. Obviously, a taxi from CDG will take you directly to your hotel. If you arrive Paris by train, you'll be on your own.

kerouac

Frankly, once you have driven in France for a few days, driving into Paris should not scare you. French drivers are no crazier than the waiters are rude or the French are unfriendly. Leaving a car at CDG just adds to the expense and the annoyance, especially with luggage and kids. (What North American drivers tend to find the most unsettling is that most of the streets do not have marked lanes, and you just make as many lanes as convenient. This freedom can be scary)

The speed limit of just about all of the streets in Paris is now 30 km/h while the actual average speed in the streets is 16 km/h, if that calms you at all.

KTtravel

We dropped off our rental car in Paris and didn't find driving there any worse than driving where we live. That being said, we live in the SF Bay Area. We had good directions and picked a drop off spot that didn't look too difficult to manage.

tomboy

We picked a rental car up about 10 years ago from an underground garage somewhere near the Napoleon's tomb. I think it was 2 levels underground. I just googled "paris rental car" on google maps, and it looked like there were about 6+ places to pick up (and, I suppose, drop off) a car. But it all depends on which brand you rented , which you didn't mention.

jpie

Totally agree with kerouac about the speed of travel in Paris. However, over the past few years, the city has added many new express lanes for buses and taxis and it is becoming harder and harder to actually drive a car into Paris. They are really discouraging private vehicle driving onto the city-which ultimately is a good thing I think. We still have done it on occasion to see my SIL on our way out to CDG, but it is becoming more and more of a hassle. So I do agree with others here to either drop the car at Amiens gare or CDG. Either way with four of you I would just take a cab once you arrive at the gare du nord from Amiens or at CDG. Usually at the taxi lines at gares and airports they will ask you how many passengers there are in your party and they can direct larger van type cabs over to your group.

shelemm

There is nothing unusual or scary about driving in Paris. Of course, depending on the rental company, you have many options on where to drop off your car.

StuDudley

""There is nothing unusual or scary about driving in Paris.""

Are you saying that driving in Paris is the same as driving in Indianapolis (for example). And driving around the Arc de Triomphe is no more scary than driving around Monument Circle in Indy. I bet there are more narrow medieval streets in Paris than there are in Indy.

Stu Dudley

kerouac

One very rarely has to drive around the Arc de Triomphe since there are a zillion ways not to do so, and it is just a microscopic area in Paris although taxi drivers love it when the meter is running and they are giving the "grand tour" to clueless visitors.

shelemm

I have rented cars from or dropped them off in Paris at the beginning or end of a trip. Train station location. I was not required to go down any medieval streets.

MaineGG

<< So I do agree with others here to either drop the car at Amiens gare or CDG. Either way with four of you I would just take a cab once you arrive at the gare du nord from Amiens or at CDG. Usually at the taxi lines at gares and airports they will ask you how many passengers there are in your party and they can direct larger van type cabs over to your group.>>

I agree with jpie and others. This would be the simplest and least stressful for me.

joannyc

I have driven around the Arc de Triomphe on a few different trips when leaving or arriving in Paris. Didn’t have any issues.

StuDudley

If the nyc in your name stands for NYC, then your driving experiences in the USA might be different than experiences from someone who lives on a farm in Iowa.

I've lived in either LA or San Francisco for 74 years. In my younger days, I drove into Paris & out several times. It was not something I enjoyed. For the past 30 years, I've avoided driving in Paris.

Stu Dudley