Private car Costs Lahave to Paris

[pris993]

Thinking of disembarking in LaHave France, port near Paris.

 

Wondering if anyone has done this and used a private car picked up. Would like to know what costs might be going from LaHave to Paris.

[Hlitner]

What an interesting question. You are talking about hiring a car for a full day in France, where even the taxis are quite expensive. I would take an educated guess that a car/driver for a full day (remember it is more than 5 hours round trip to Paris) would cost at least $600 and I am not sure you could even find anyone that cheap. Of course you could opt to simply rent a car (usually about $100) and drive yourself although I do not recommend driving in Paris for those not familiar with the city (or knowing where to park).

 

Hank

[RHefley228]

Thinking of disembarking in LaHave France, port near Paris.

 

La Havre is not near Paris. Unless you take the train, it will cost you a lot of money.

[cberge]

La Havre is not near Paris. Unless you take the train, it will cost you a lot of money.

I agree with both posters...take the train or plan of big bucks because the care hire has to return if this is not a day trip.

[Cruise Junky]

Are you looking to actually disembark there or just go into Paris for the day as a shore excursion? either way, I'd take the train or you might be able to arrange with the shore excursion desk to be able to take the "Paris on your own" and get dropped off with your luggage. It's France, a private car will be Arm + Leg + First Born ;)

[budmeister]

I looked into this a while back. It was between 945 and 1100 Euros_- I priced 2 companies- for there and back. The ship will not let us spend the night and take the bus back, and I fear the undependability of the trains that I have read so much about. There does not seem to be a good answer this transportation issue.:eek: We opted to take the ship bus there and back for 2 days, and just deal with travel time and short time in Paris. Our trip is in May 2010.:o

[RHefley228]

French trains are not undependable; this is a really simple trip by rail.

[Hlitner]

When you say "private car" this would depend on whether you simply rent a car and drive yourself or you want to hire a car and driver. A car and driver for a full day in France will generally cost you about $700 (this varies and is getting more expensive now because of the lousy dollar vs. Euro exchange rate). We often rent cars in Europe (including France) and generally expect a one-day rental to cost about $120. By the way, what is really interesting is how cheap it can be to rent a car long-term in Europe. We recently spent 18 days driving in Italy and France and paid Hertz a total of $625 for those 18 days (about $35 per day) which included all insurance with a zero dollar deductable on collision. We did this by using a so-called rental car consolidator (in this case it was Kemwel). These consolidators do not generally handle any rentals less than 3 days in length, so they are not of much use to cruise ship passengers.

 

Hank

[budmeister]

French trains are not undependable; this is a really simple trip by rail.

 

 

I would love to take the train, but the strikes scare me. If they went on strike, it looks like it would cost us $750 or more for a taxi back. Or if they went on stike when we wanted to leave for Paris, it would be too late to get the cruise bus excursion.:(

[Hlitner]

I would love to take the train, but the strikes scare me. If they went on strike, it looks like it would cost us $750 or more for a taxi back. Or if they went on stike when we wanted to leave for Paris, it would be too late to get the cruise bus excursion.:(

 

Unscheduled train strikes are very very rare in France. Nearly all strikes are annouced in advance (usually several weeks or even months in advance). You could take a car (rental or driven) and there could be a major accident, Tsunami, Hurricane, Tornado, etc, along the autostrade and you could get stuck in traffic for days and perhaps miss the ship! But seriously, if you are going to ruminate about getting back than you would be better off to just take the cruise line excursions. After more than 20 years of helping folks who want to do independent touring in Europe we have learned that there are just some folks who are too risk adverse to enjoy themselves on their own. That is why cruise lines offer lots of excursions and can often price them at ridiculous prices.

 

Hank

[CQG67]

Hello - just be prepared for the trains to be on strike or not running. This happens quite a bit over there and you never know when it is going to happen. They LOVE to go on strike in France and Paris for no reason. Also it is a good 2-1/2 to 3 hours one way to Paris which leaves you very little time to spend in this absolutely magnificent city. :)

[CQG67]

We will be We were in the port of LeHavre last year and took the all day Normandy tour which was fabulous. We have been to Paris several times and don't want to spend 6 hours of travel for 2 hours in the city, which leaves us

[Cruise Junky]

Hello - just be prepared for the trains to be on strike or not running. This happens quite a bit over there and you never know when it is going to happen. They LOVE to go on strike in France and Paris for no reason. Also it is a good 2-1/2 to 3 hours one way to Paris which leaves you very little time to spend in this absolutely magnificent city. :)

 

That's actually not quite factually. Most of their strikes are planned and advertised in advance.

[swimmer_steph]

Since I haven't actually booked my specific cruise just yet (doing my research here before I commit) do cruiselines sell excursions from Le Havre to Paris? If so, does anyone have an idea on cost?

 

The cruise we're considering is a Royal Caribbean in April 2010.

 

Thanks so much.

[Ms Understood]

If you go to Royal Carib's website and click on shore excursions, city tours, le havre you will see what they generally offer there. Looks like costs are from $100 to 200 pp depending on what you want to do.

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Helen

[TLCOhio]

We will be We were in the port of LeHavre last year and took the all day Normandy tour which was fabulous. We have been to Paris several times and don't want to spend 6 hours of travel for 2 hours in the city, which leaves us

 

Lots of good posts have been made on this question. The above is correct that it is a long way to go with much wasted time in logistics to get to Paris and then turn around go back to your ship. Paris, however, is super great and a world-class experience to see, even if for only a few hours. Most train strikes are known in advance. A rental car would be cheaper, but not easy either, given the traffic and congestion in and around this large city. Then where do you park your car? Per MapQuest.com, it take 2 hours 5 minutes to drive 122.01 miles to travel from Le Havre to Paris, one-way.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

[mike23]

Thinking of disembarking in LaHave France, port near Paris.

 

Wondering if anyone has done this and used a private car picked up. Would like to know what costs might be going from LaHave to Paris.

 

I was thinking of renting a car in Le Harve for the day and driving down to Normandy and the visting the D-Day beaches. I am not concerend about the cost I was just wondering about the logistics of doing this, does anyone know of a good rental agency to use, how far would a car rental agency be from the docks, woud the ship arrange a rental for me (travelling on princess) are taxi's easy to come by to get back and forth from the rental agency?

 

any directions and recommendations greatly appreciated

 

Mike

[TLCOhio]

I was thinking of renting a car in Le Harve for the day and driving down to Normandy and the visting the D-Day beaches. I am not concerend about the cost I was just wondering about the logistics of doing this, does anyone know of a good rental agency to use, how far would a car rental agency be from the docks, woud the ship arrange a rental for me (travelling on princess) are taxi's easy to come by to get back and forth from the rental agency? any directions and recommendations greatly appreciated

Mike

 

Agree that seeing the D-Day beaches is a very special priority that needs to be done by rental car or tour. Not really possible by scheduled bus or rail. I would check Avis. They do one-day rentals. Normally use AutoEurope.com, but they generally only do three-day or more rentals. Here are my notes on this wonderful Normandy area:

 

WORLD WAR II LANDING BEACHES: The largest military landing in history took place in Normandy on June 6, 1944 with 130,000 troops landing that day on the beaches. Monuments, museums and bunkers are a living commemoration to the Battle of Normandy. The American Cemetery is located near Colleville-sur-Mer on a cliff overlooking Omaha Beach (one of the landing beaches of the Normandy Invasion) and the English Channel. It covers 172 acres and contains the remains of 9,387 American military dead, most of whom were killed during the invasion of Normandy and ensuing military operations. The graves face westward, towards the United States. This cemetery is very moving and is maintained in an incredibly beautiful manner.

 

nearby is:

BAYEUX: This charming town is built around the magnificent Cathedral of Notre-Dame and is home to the 200-foot long Bayeux Tapestry. This is a world famous masterpiece whose cartoon-like scenes depict the epic tale of William the Conqueror's expedition conquering England in 1066 AD. We had a wonderful lunch at the Lion d’Or, a former coaching inn dating back to 1770. The town/area tourism website is: http://www.bessin-normandie.fr

 

If more time:

MONT-ST-MICHEL (mohn-san-mee-shel) is a unique abbey perched precariously on a 264-foot high rocky islet connected to the mainland by a causeway. Surrounded by over half a mile of massive walls and reached by a steep climb up winding streets, it remains one of the greatest sightseeing attractions in Europe and the second only to the Eiffel Tower as the most visited place in France. Its fortifications enabled the islet to withstand repeated English assaults during the Hundred Years' War. The abbey served as a prison during Napoleon's reign. Restored after 1863, and connected to the mainland by a causeway in 1875), Mont-St.Michel is also known for its tides, the highest on the continent. For more tourist info/options: http://www.ot-montsaintmichel.com

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio