Renting a Car in Villefranche?

[sonvoltken6]

We are wanting to see St. Paul de Vence, as well as Eze on our trip to the Med this May. It occurs to me that our best bet might be to rent a car, but my wife is leery of the idea of driving in a foreign country.

 

Is there anything special we need if we want to rent a car? Has anyone ever done this in this port, and if so, is the drive somewhat easy? I think this would be much more enjoyable than doing a shore excursion that includes one or the other.

[cberge]

We are wanting to see St. Paul de Vence, as well as Eze on our trip to the Med this May. It occurs to me that our best bet might be to rent a car, but my wife is leery of the idea of driving in a foreign country.

 

Is there anything special we need if we want to rent a car? Has anyone ever done this in this port, and if so, is the drive somewhat easy? I think this would be much more enjoyable than doing a shore excursion that includes one or the other.

 

Do a search on this board as there is a lot of info here renting a car in the area especially from Hank and other's who have done it. One can spend a day in St.Paul so I really would pick one and that would be St.P,but of course this is all up to you.

[Hlitner]

Everyone has their own level of comfort when traveling in foreign lands so we are reluctant to try and persuade others to follow our example and rent cars. Driving in the south of France is similar to driving in the USA except the rental cars are generally stick shifts (you will pay more for automatics and they can sometimes be hard to book). Renting (or having your own)GPS is very helpful to avoid the uncertainty that happens when you thing (or are) lost. In France (and several oForther countries) they now make liberal use of speed cameras (you will find the fines added to your credit card bill a few months after you return home) so it is wise not to speed (especially on the high speed Autostrade). For getting to both St Paul de Vence and Eze on a port day, a rental car (or a private car/driver) is the way to go since public transit options are too time consuming. Driving from Villefranche will also give you a good opportunity to see some of Nice and possibly Monte Carlo..depending on how much you want to cram into your day.

 

I agree with Cberge about St Paul de Vence (it is, by far, our favorite place in this part of France) and we would suggest going there in the morning so you are not rushed. Another possibility is to first stop at Nice's Flower Market (located at the Cours Selaya) and then on to St Paul de Vence. If you have enough time left over you might be able to later stop at Eze Village..... DW and I usually find ourselves planning to only spend a couple of hours at St Paul de Vence and later find it turns into 4 hours (or more) with a nice lunch.

 

Finding a rental car company that will deliver a car to the pier at Villefranche is not always easy (especially on Sundays). We have sometimes seen Hertz and/or Avis bring cars in from Nice and other times they are not to be found and will not take a reservation. There is also a small rental car company http://www.locauto.fr/index_uk.htm

that will often provide cars (with a reservation). But do not expect to jump off your tender and find lots of rental cars just waiting to be rented as you might be very disappointed. Reservations are almost a MUST unless you happen to get very lucky.

 

Hank

Edited January 15, 2014 by Hlitner

[frenchrci]

I agree with Hank !

 

Don't speed, even inside of the cities... Tooooo much speed cameras.... :mad:

 

Even for red lights. Do not overtake by the right.

 

And... everything will going fine. ;)