We are going to take the train from Paris to Provence. We were planning on taking the train to Avignon and spending the day in the city before picking up our rental car and driving to St. Remy that evening. I am trying to decide if we should take the train to the TGV station or the Centre station and what location to pick up our car.
I was planning on taking the train to the Centre station and storing our bags there. I was going to rent with Auto Europe. There location looks to be 672 Chemin de L%26#39;aulaniere which I understand from this forum that it is an industrial park several miles southwest of the station. How much will a taxi be and how complicated is it getting there?
Is this the best idea? By not renting at TGV we don%26#39;t have to worry about parking for the day, the additional $42 dollar charge for picking up at the airport and paying for a car for a day we are basically not using it.
However I don%26#39;t want to waste a few hours just to save a few dollars -vacation time is precious.
Thanks in advance for your advice.
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I%26#39;m a little confused about your post. If you are taking the TGV to Avignon, why not just pick up the car at the station,drive the short distance to Avignon and park in the car park which is just outside the walls of the city? My group is doing basically the same thing (doing a brief visit of Avignon then heading to a B%26amp;B in Caderousse for two nights). I%26#39;ve done this before and it is easy. Just don%26#39;t try driving within the city itself...too many small streets to deal with.
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By renting at a rail station there is an extra $42 fee. I will end up paying an extra day for car rental as well because I am not going to return it till 5 PM - 3.5 days later. However if I don%26#39;t pick it up until later in the day then I%26#39;ll pay for 3 days instead of 4. Also finding isn%26#39;t always easy, I read from a previous poster recently that he had trouble finding a spot in the usual 3 big lots available.
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I certainly understand about the need to pick up the car later in the day to save on rental fees. I%26#39;m afraid I can%26#39;t help much with prices for taxis, etc. to get to your rental site. Ease of findind parking spaces will largely depend on time of year when you are traveling.
Have a great trip. Provence is wonderful!
Liz
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Thanks for trying.. anybody else have experience with renting through Auto Europe at the city station?
Jamie
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When arriving at the TGV station, take the shuttle (about 2 €) to the old train station (basically into town).
There are several good hotels within a 5-10 minute walk.
The next morning take a taxi to the car rental office, about a 10-15 minute ride. The cost of the taxi will not exceed the train station pickup fee and you%26#39;ll save a days car rental fee.
I should not recommend leaving a car overnight in one of the free parking lots outside of the walled city. Your rental car will probably be left untouched there overnight, however it might not
There is a large and safe car park located under the courtyard in front of the Palais des Papes, enter on the city%26#39;s north side near the river. It%26#39;s well worth the cost.
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Thanks Sarastro,
That is what I was looking for- glad to know it is only about 10-15 minutes away.
Jamie
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Hello. Recently we did exactly the same thing you are doing : came in on the TGV from Paris, took the shuttle bus to the downtown train station for 2 euro (like Sarastro posted) and then spent the day and night in Avignon. The next morning we took a taxi (about 8 euro) to the Avignon Cortine industrial park car rental office (a few miles away) and off we went to see the rest of Provence.
I made the reservation to pick up the car at the Cortine office because I thought it was in downtown Avignon - not so. It all worked out just fine but wonder if more cars are available at the TGV station - we wanted an automatic small car and we ended up with an upgraded automatic diesel medium size Hyundai SUV - it turned out to be a great car with great mileage. We rented through Kemwell, a partner with other Europe car rental agencies we learned.
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Sorry about my first answer to your post. I thought you would only be spending part of the day in Avignon, then driving on to St. Remy that evening. I assumed you already had reservations in S-R for the night. If time in Avignon is not an issue, I agree that picking up a car at the old train station(which we did in 2000) is a good plan giving you more time to enjoy this lovely city.
Liz
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