France Transport

Whether you go with your own car, rent a car, or go by boat or plane, on this page you will find all practical information about transport in France.

Transport in France – car hire

Rental locations

• Cars can be hired at major international rental companies at airports and stations and in cities, but also at many smaller national or local rental companies. The general name for car rental is location de voiture / véhicule courte durée (LCD).

Rental car booking

• The rates can vary greatly per season and per provider. Booking in advance can be cheaper.
• It is possible to rent an ‘all-inclusive’ car in France via Sunny Cars. You can check the availability of rental cars in the search engine and book your car hire of choice:

More information on car rentals can be found here.

Requirements

Drivers license

• In order to rent a car in France, the driver must have a valid driver’s license.
• Often the driver must be in possession of the driving license for at least 1 or 2 years.

Age

• The driver must often be at least 21 years old.
• Sometimes the age limit is lower or higher depending on the rental company or the type of vehicle.
• Drivers under 25 years of age often have to pay a young driver’s allowance.

Deposit

• A car can only be rented with a credit card (with pin code) in the name of the main driver. Cash is rarely accepted as a deposit.

Particularities

Winter equipment

• Check in the winter whether the rental car is equipped with the right winter equipment. Winter tires are recommended in winter conditions and snow chains can be made mandatory with a sign.

Environmental sticker

• In Paris and a growing number of other cities, environmental zones have been set up that can only be accessed with an environmental sticker. Cars that are rented in France usually have such an environmental sticker, but rental cars registered in another country usually do not. Inform at the rental station in time. See also environmental zones in France.

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Transport in France – ferry services

Ferry services to Corsica (from France and Italy)

The ferry services to Corsica depart from several harbours in France and Italy, including the Island of Sardinia. The most important ferry services on the French mainland are located in Marseille, Nice and Toulon. From Italy ferries to Corsica depart from Genoa, Livorno, Savona, Piombino and Sardinia.

Transport in France – prices

• The prices depend, among other things, on the occupation, the time of booking and the travel period.

Information and tickets

• Blu-Navy: blunavytraghetti.com.
• Corsica & Sardinia Ferries: corsicaferries.com.
• Corsica Linea: corsicalinea.com.
• La Meridionale: lameridionale.com.
• Moby: mobylines.com.

Particularities

• Gas bottles in campers are no longer allowed on ferries to and from Corsica. This measure was taken in 2016 to prevent terrorist acts. Consult the website of the shipping company for the conditions.
• Note: If you want to phone or use the internet on a ferry, keep an eye on your costs. Usually you get an SMS when you can not be connected to a local EU network and information about the (high!) rates for a maritime satellite connection. On land (or close to the coast) the rates from your EU bundle apply.

Transport in France – plane

International airports

• Ajaccio.
• Bastia (Corsica).
• Bordeaux.
• Calvi (Corsica).
• Clermond-Ferrand.
• Figari (Corsica).
• Geneve.
• La Rochelle.
• Le Havre.
• Lille.
• Lyon.
• Marseille.
• Montpellier.
• Mulhouse / Bâle.
• Nice.
• Paris.
• Strasbourg.
• Toulouse.

National airline

• Air France

Particularities

• In case of cancellation, transfer, delay or baggage problems you can appeal to the European Regulation 261/2004. when a number of conditions are met.

Here you will find more information about France.