Le Harve Car Rental

[dallascruiser]

Can anyone help me with car rental info for Le Harve. I am planning on going to Giverny.

 

Thanks

Linda

[Hlitner]

You have a few options (as long as you are not in Le Havre on a Sunday). There is one rental car company that has a small rental desk in the cruise port terminal. They are called Rent-A-Car and their web site is rentacar.fr. But they do not show the port location on their web site so you need to send a direct e-mail to their regular Le Havre office. We are not big fans of this company because they are quite expensive (more then 90 Euros for a small manual shift car) but they are certainly convenient. The other option is to go out of the port. It is about a 20 min walk from the ship out of the port to where there are several rental car offices including Europcar, Avis and Sixt. We recently (last month) rented from Europcar where we paid less then 60 Euros for a car. Keep in mind that most European rental cars are stick shift...and if you want an automatic you will either pay a big premium or be out of luck.

 

Hank

[dallascruiser]

You have a few options (as long as you are not in Le Havre on a Sunday). There is one rental car company that has a small rental desk in the cruise port terminal. They are called Rent-A-Car and their web site is rentacar.fr. But they do not show the port location on their web site so you need to send a direct e-mail to their regular Le Havre office. We are not big fans of this company because they are quite expensive (more then 90 Euros for a small manual shift car) but they are certainly convenient. The other option is to go out of the port. It is about a 20 min walk from the ship out of the port to where there are several rental car offices including Europcar, Avis and Sixt. We recently (last month) rented from Europcar where we paid less then 60 Euros for a car. Keep in mind that most European rental cars are stick shift...and if you want an automatic you will either pay a big premium or be out of luck.

 

Hank

 

Thank you so much Hank!

 

Linda S.

[sasset]

Would the Avis location be the one listed as being at the train station on the Avis site?

[Hlitner]

Would the Avis location be the one listed as being at the train station on the Avis site?

 

No, that Avis location is by the train station which is a good 45-60 min walk from the ship (or a 10 min taxi ride). Europcar and Sixt both have locations on the Quai Southampton which is less then half that distance from the port. For those who do not mind hiking out of the port we would recommend one of those two. I thought there was a 3rd agency at that same location but cannot remember. There is also a Hertz office, but that is in a different area which is probably best accessed by a taxi. And we have no problem recommending both Europcar and Sixt which are large European rental car companies.

 

Hank

[sasset]

Thanks. Just checked Sixt. Much better rate than Avis even with corporate discount.

[Hlitner]

Thanks. Just checked Sixt. Much better rate than Avis even with corporate discount.

 

Just beware that most European rental cars are manual (stick) shifts. If you need an automatic you need to make that very clear when you reserve...and you will usually pay a premium for the auto.

 

Also print out a Google map of the area. You will walk out of the port, over the bridge, then make a left turn and get on the Quai Southampton (which is a road rather then a quai). The rental car offices are about 5-10 minutes once you get on that road and are on your right side.

 

 

Hank

Edited September 8, 2014 by Hlitner

[screenplayguy]

so is there's a way to rent a car on a sunday in le havre before getting on the cruise ?

[Wine-O]

I would caution renting from Avis -- we rented from them a few years back for our trip to Giverny and hit some traffic coming back. They closed at 6pm and they don't have a key drop for after hours return. I recall that Europcar did. They were both next door to each other.

[Hlitner]

so is there's a way to rent a car on a sunday in le havre before getting on the cruise ?

 

Probably not. The French do not like to work on Sundays or holidays and could care less about losing the business. We actually have learned to plan our European trips around Sunday closures and will even reject a particular cruise because of where it will be on Sundays and even Mondays in Italy.

 

Hank

[lamchops]

so is there's a way to rent a car on a sunday in le havre before getting on the cruise ?

 

I rented a car from Europecar in the fall of 2012 on a sunday when I was doing a TA. They charged another $40eu for the Sunday pick-up and drop-off. We had to pick-up the car before 10am and drop it off at a near-by hotel.

[cboyle]

so is there's a way to rent a car on a sunday in le havre before getting on the cruise ?

Yes, you can rent a car in Le Havre on Sunday. However, you cannot do it online.

 

Contact Julien at le_havre@rentacar.fr; he will tell you what is available and the price.

 

The office at the cruise ship dock is only open on Sunday when cruise ships dock there.

 

And yes, we have reserved a car before for a Sunday in Le Havre.