Automatic Car versus Manual Stick Shift

For car rental, we partner with NATIONAL - ENTERPRISE because they have the highest amount of automatic cars available in France. 

In France, people usually drive manual shift vehicles. Although automatic transmission is considered a luxury feature, there is a current trend for turning to automatics. For your peace of mind, we usually highly recommend renting an automatic car.

 

Insurance Package

We book the cars with the full insurance coverage, also called "all included/zero-excess", which avoids our travelers having to pay for any damage to the cars. 

  • The car rental package includes: unlimited mileage, collision damage waiver (CDW), theft protection (theft liability waiver), windshield and tyre protection, station/airport pick-up fee, and returning the car to a different location than pick-up. No excess fees or deductibles. 
  • It does not include: gas, toll charges or any intentional damage to the car (like filling up the tank with the wrong type of gasoline).  

 

Car Rental Category

For 2 Travelers

The rental car included in our packaged itineraries is a CDAR Category with an automatic transmission, such as a Citroen C4, Peugeot 308, Toyota Auris or Mégane Renault.

This car category can easily accommodate two pieces of sizeable luggage as well as carry ons.

Travelers often make the mistake of going for bigger cars. These are less easy to drive on smaller scenic roads or to park in France. 

car rental france

For 4 or 5 Travelers

We hire a IVAR-FVAR category with automatic transmission, such as a Peugeot 5008, Citroen Grand C4, Ford Grand C-Max or Volkswagen Sharan.

These are 7-seaters so taking out the back row gives enough space to accommodate the luggage of 4 to 5 travelers. 

family size car rental france

We can adapt to your wishes

If you would like to drive a manual transmission vehicle, or choose a different category from Economy to Luxury, we will be glad to provide you with a new quote for your itinerary.

 

GPS

  1. We highly recommend using WAZE or GOOGLE MAPS apps and will be happy to help you get familiar with them if you are not already a user at home. In our opinion, they are the best tools - from far - to navigate in France. 
  2. If you have one, bring your GPS from home (such as Garmin) but make sure you have the updated French maps and have in mind that it won't route you based on live traffic. 
  3. If you want to get a portable GPS from the car rental company, it costs about 10 euros a day (plus a repositioning fee if you return the car to a different agency from the pick-up location). These is not our favorite solution as it may be difficult to learn how the rental GPS works. Also car rental built-in GPS have often proved not reliable or not updated enough. 

French addresses can be different from other countries and we will explain how to set up your GPS with French streets and town names. 

Our new smartphone App is designed for our travelers not to have to enter destination addresses : you just click on the place you want to go to and the address is automatically set in your phone's GPS. 

 

Train Tickets

Trains in France can be tricky. Laura and Emilie know very well on which legs it is better driving and on which legs, it is wiser to take a train.

If needed, we will also include train tickets to your trip.

Have an idea? Want to make it happen?

Self-guided driving tours in France

Based in France, we also explore France all year long, selecting the best places for our travelers. We test the accommodations, eat at the restaurants, visit the cellars and take the guided tours to make sure that you will have great French experience.

Feel free to contact Laura and Emilie to start planning.

Contact us

Our Travelers’ Reviews

Duncan & Myrna
This is our second trip with France Just for You. The expertly organized trip we experienced the first time, brought us back again. The B&Bs and the activities planned for us were diverse and totally enjoyable! Picnic in an active winery in harvest, cooking in a French kitchen, dune buggy ride in the vineyards at the base of Mont Ventoux all …
Craig & Ginette
France Just For You, made going to France a seamless experience. They took care of all the arrangements: train, and car travel, tours and stays. The bed and breakfasts were hosted by delightful people who took an interest in you and had met and praised Emilie. Emilie tailored the trip to our specifications. Her organizational skills are unmatched …
Margaret & Rob
We would like to add our names to everyone else here who have had a truly excellent experience when using Emilie's, France Just For You company. We drove 2800 km on a recent holiday, and it was all arranged by Emilie. Everything she organized was perfect. We stayed in B and Bs and although we know a little French, all of our hosts spoke fluent …

Our Travelers’ Photos

Ann & Jim
From the US
In Amboise castle by the Loire river
Bob & Naomi
From the US
In Monet's gardens in Giverny, Normandy
Beverley & John
from Canada
In front of the Louvre pyramid in Paris
Susan & Gary
From the US
At the summit of the famous Mont Ventoux in Provence (famous as a mythical step of the Tour de France)
Bridget & Tyler
from the US
In Monet's house kitchen in Giverny
Ginger & Tom
from the US
At their B&B in the Loire Valley
Ginger & Tom
from the US
On the Eiffel Tower
Nancy, Don, Jane & Ron
from Canada
In Honfleur, Normandy
Myrna & Duncan
from Canada
In Eze gardens on the Riviera
Jan & Ray
From Australia
In Mont Saint Michel
Nancy & Paul
from Canada
On the French Riviera
Yvette & David
from the US
on the French Riviera, near Nice

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