Aix-en-Provence Travel Forum

Can anyone tell me where can i get the best deal and have the best chance of getting the small car I am looking for? I hear some rental agencies tend to run out of small cars and upgrade customers to larger vehicles that burn more gas.

Generally speaking hire cars in Europe are not big ones - fuel prices have, for a long time, been very much higher than in North America. We usually take our own car to Europe but in at least a dozen tentals have only once (in Nice) been upgraded to a larger car - at no extra cost.
I can't recommend a specific company In Aix and suggest you simply Google - car rentals Aix en Provence or try these rental brokers

www.novacar.com

www.carjet.com

Car hire in France does tend to be more expensive than in Spain for example and even for a small car you might be looking at the equivalent of 25 -30 euros per day.

The key to receiving the car of your choice is to reserve early and call the pickup office several days in advance to confirm availability. When cars are upgraded, they do not automatically upgrade with significantly larger engines so this is not really a negative. Remember French small cars have very limited space making traveling with luggage sometimes difficult.

If economy is your object, specify a diesel engine. Diesel fuel is sold everywhere gas is sold but costs much less. Your diesel powered auto will get better millage as well.

Save additional money by picking up your rental somewhere other than either a train station or airport. Pickup fees for these locations can be as high as 50$. These fees, as well as road tax fees are not always specified in a rental quote.

The best pricing is available through rental brokers which handle rentals for period of 3 days or greater:

http://www.autoeurope.com/
http://www.europebycar.com/index.html
http://www.interrent.com/
http://www.kemwel.com/
http://www.france-car-hire-rental.com/
http://www.kayak.com/cars

My preference is Autoeurope.

Here is a list of car rental companies you may contact directly:

http://www.avis.com/
http://www.citer.com/
http://www.europcar.com/
http://www.ttcar.com/fr/index.php
http://www.hertz.com/
http://www.sixt.com/
http://www.ada.fr/

Oddly, diesel fuel is now more expensive than regular gas. You still may save with a diesel since they get better mileage but you should do your math before you rent.

BTW, as I recall, you will be in Aix for 3 weeks. You can lease a Peugeot or Renault if you stay 17 or more days. That's what we do and we love it. You get exactly the car you request and it is brand new. You pay before you leave home so there are no extra or hidden charges. They also have 24-hour roadside service and I can attest that it works! We've always used Peugeot and the contact information is http://www.autofrance.net/

The phone number in the US is (800) 572-9655 but I think you are Canadian and I don't know if you can use the same numbers. If it's different, your contact number will be on the web site though. We use the Peugeot 207 and get an automatic. It's small and reasonably fuel efficient and we can get all our luggage in it without a problem. We even took our daughter with us and her luggage fit in with ours. That was a bit crowded though! LOL

<<<diesel fuel is now more expensive than regular gas>>>

I am unsure of the source you are quoting but if diesel is more expensive than regular gas it is only by a couple of centimes per liter and even then at very, very few locations. I found only a couple out of the 100 stations I checked in Aix-en-Provence for example.

Here is the latest composite figure for France:

98 oct. - 1.550€

95 oct. - 1.51€

Diesel - 1.46€

Source is the ACL:
http://www.acl.lu/fr/a_la_une/prix_des_carburants


For prices more specific to Aix-en-Provence (or any other location in France):

http://www.prix-carburants.gouv.fr/

I'm quoting the prices at the petrol stations in France and Italy a month ago when we were there. There were truckers strikes in France at the time protesting high fuel prices. Perhaps the strikes did some good for the truckers.

This came up on another forum and someone was told diesel was cheaper and I commented that it was up to 10 cents higher in the US at that time, and someone from Europe said it was the same there. This goes back to April. I haven't checked prices here since we came back although regular gas has gone down dramatically in the US. The price of diesel is affecting all our goods in the US because we ship so many things over the highways.

In all honesty, we were not in Aix on our last trip; we got no further west than Grasse but we did drive all over Italy and southeast France. Regular gas was slightly over $8.00 US a gallon. It doesn't look so bad at the stations because they post prices and sell by the liter. Perhaps we should try that here; it would look cheaper. LOL

Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. Yes we will be in Aix for 3 weeks but only plan to rent a car for 10 days and take bus and train tours the other days . Have you ever been to the Sunday morning antique market in Isle-sur-la-sorgue ? Are there any other "must see" towns in the area you would recommend ?

We haven't been to the antique market but it gets great reviews her on VT. Nearby you might enjoy visiting Silvacane Abbey and then across the Durance River, the town of Lourmarin. It's touristy but the reason is because it's so pretty. There are lots of galleries there that we enjoy and the drive is spectacular. A bit farther on is the village of Roussillon which is stunning and the ochre quarries there are a wonderful walk.

If you are driving around, Gordes, Oppede-le-Vieux and Fontaine-de-Vaclause are all beautiful hill towns. St. Remy isn't too far and the old town is very nice and on the edge of town is Glanum, the Roman excavation. I believe it is still free entrance on Sundays. Beside it is the asylum Van Gogh stayed in and you can walk there from the Glanum parking lot. Les Baux is nearby to St. Remy and is worth a visit. It can be very crowded in season, and off season many things are closed but you can park. Difficult choice! LOL

If you visit Silvacane Abbey, the nearby town of Roque-d'Antheron has a very nice little restaurant, L’Artichouette, that is quite reasonable.

There is so much to do and see in the area, you could never stay long enough. We just love it there. Have a wonderful time.

Thanks again

If I get a GPS for my rental car will I be able to program it to talk to me in English ?

Our GPS, bought in UK, has the necessary mapping software (or whatever) for travel all over Europe and ONLY speaks in English! I have seen people renting one as an extra with their car and would imagine that they are available in different languages.