Three of us will be arriving at CDG on June 4th. We%26#39;ve rented a car to drive to the Loire Valley so we can have it for exploring. We want to drive the car back towards Paris, but would rather not drive in the city. We%26#39;re staying at Hotel Eiffel Rive Gauche in the 7th arrondisement. Any ideas on the best place to drop off the car? We%26#39;d like the least costly, yet least complicated option. One idea is to drop off the car at Orly airport and take a taxi to the door of our hotel. Another option would be dropping the rental at Gare Montparnasse and taking the train. Though it would probably be cheaper, I%26#39;m worried that it%26#39;s too far inside the city and might be a difficult drive. A Paris suberb might be another good option. Please help!
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You don%26#39;t say which rental company you%26#39;re using so its difficult to truly help you...I think there are some rental dropoff%26#39;s near Invalides...However, the issue ssems to be driving inside the pheripherique, and so, I would say check the sncf website and consider dropping the car in the Loire and taking the TGV back to Montparnasse..You%26#39;d still have a short cab ride to your hotel in the 7th...It might be the most restful of all...and perhaps only a smidge more in $...
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We have dropped off at both Orly and Versaille for the very reason that we did not want to drive into Paris. In 2004 we rented from Hertz and dropped off at Versaille and took a cab to our hotel in the 7th. There were 4 of us and the price was about 42 euros plus tip.
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From the Loire, Orly is your best drop off. The stretch from Orly back to CDG is best avoided. Trust me........
Just be aware youll probably be charged a one way suppliment. Your other option may be somewhere like Chartres (If youre using one of the big firms that will be no problem- a smaller hire firm may not have an ofice there)
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Another vote for Orly if you dont want to drive in the city center. The Montparnasse station is very large and it could be confusing to find the drop off location.
Another option would be to drop the car off at the Tours TGV train station (St Pierre des Corps). The TGV will wisk you to Gare Montparnasse in about an hour. I checked June 7th (not sure of your date) and there are multiple trains with %26quot;Prems%26quot; fares still available in 2nd for 20 euros per person. You would need to book ahead online at http://www.voyages-sncf.com (look for the british flag for english) and print your tickets at home.
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Here%26#39;s another vote for somewhere further out of town. The Tours (St. Pierre des Corps) TGV station is great since it is pretty easy to find, and the car rental offices are very handy to the station.
If you want to see Orléans - which is worth a couple of hours of your time, IMO - you could drop your car off there. It would take you about the same time to get to Paris from Orléans as from Tours. If you do decide to drop your car off there, take your luggage and two of your party to the station first. I know Europcar%26#39;s offices are a bit away from the station (less than a mile) and I%26#39;m not sure about the other places. Europcar will drop the driver back at the station - at least they did for me. The name of the station you would want is Orléans les Aubrais.
Orly would be my third choice. It won%26#39;t save you much (if any) money once you%26#39;ve paid for a taxi, and the Autoroute system round Orly is not that easy to navigate and traffic can get pretty busy at times. But I would agree that it is preferable to Montparnasse if you%26#39;ve never driven in Paris.
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We too will be picking up a rental from CDG to drive to the Loire Valley. We%26#39;re scheduled to return the car at Montparnasse, but after reading that it%26#39;s a large confusing place, I%26#39;ve decided to take the recommendation of those of you who are in favor of dropping the car off at Orly. Thanks a lot for the tip...and thanks to you, 3generations, for your post.
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Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions. I%26#39;d prefer not to give up the car in Tours. We%26#39;d like to tour at least one chateau on our way to Paris on June 6th. We could drop the car off at Orleans, but since there are three of us, I thought it would be less expensive if we get closer to Paris before buying individual transportation tickets. This is why I thought Orly might be the better option. Air France coaches seem to be about 8 euros each which will only get us to Montparnasse. The taxi looks like it will cost around $30-$35 euros and will take us to the door of our hotel. This seems to be the least expensive and least time consuming option. If anyone has an idea of how much money and trouble it would be to drop off the car at Orleans and buy train tickets for the three of us to get to our hotel, I%26#39;d love your opinion. Another cost consideration might be the very expensive fuel and tolls. This could also add to our overall cost taking the car to Orly. It%26#39;s my understanding that there is no additional cost from the rental car company to drop the car at a different location from where we picked it up. It%26#39;s so hard to compare everything. I%26#39;d love to hear from anyone who can help me figure this out. We%26#39;d love to save every euro so that we can have more for dining out in Paris!
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One way fares from Orléans to Paris gare d%26#39;Austerlitz should be about 15€-16€. Trains run at least every hour, I think. Not sure where yur hotel is, but the RER will take you to e.g. Champ de Mars in the 7th for the price of a metro ticket. Or you could just take a taxi from the station for (at a wild guess) about 15€. Be sure to check where your rental compan%26#39;s drop off is. Some *may* be in the center of Orlean in which case Orleans gare would be better than Orl´áns les Aubrais. Orléans is no that big and I%26#39;ve never had any problem driving in it. And the cathedral and old town are worth a look. There are of course major historical connections, esp. with J. of A.
Check timetables and fares at
www.voyages-sncf.com
From Orly a taxi right to your hotel would be best. Connections from Orly to the center of Paris by public transport are not good.
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We rented from Auto Europ and dropped off the car Place d%26#39;italie (13 Er). It was not that difficult if someone looks for exit signs. The taxi or metro from there would be easy.
We did tour Orleans and it is neat place! I have never turned a car in there or gotten a train from there.
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