Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
• Use TIs often to help plan your trip; they have regional bus schedules and are
happy to assist you.
• Remember that service is sparse or even nonexistent on Sunday. Wednesday bus
schedules often are different during the school year, because school is out this day (and
regional buses generally operate school service).
• Confirm a bus stop's location before you leave (rural stops are often not signed)
and be at bus stops at least five minutes early.
• On schedules
(horaires), en semaine
means Monday through Saturday,
dimanche
is Sunday, and
jours fériés
are holidays.
Année
means the bus runs all year on the days
listed,
vac
means it runs only during summer vacations, and
scol (scolaire)
means it runs
only when school is in session.
Ligne
means route (or bus line) and
réseau
means network
(usually all routes).
Worthwhile day tours generally are available in regions where bus and train service is
sparse.FortheD-Daybeaches,châteauxoftheLoireValley,DordogneValleyvillagesand
caves, Provence's villages and vineyards, the Route du Vin (Wine Road) in Alsace, Brit-
tany sights (including Mont St-Michel), and wine-tasting in Burgundy, I list reliable com-
panies that provide this helpful service at fair rates for most regions in this topic. Some
of these minivan excursions simply offer transportation between the sights; others add a
running commentary and information on regional history.
If you're renting a car in France, bring your driver's license. It's recommended, but not
required, that youalso have anInternational Permit (soldat yourlocal AAAoffice for$15
plus the cost of two passport-type photos; see
www.aaa.com
)
; however, I've frequently
rented cars in France and traveled problem-free with just my US license.
Rentalcompaniesrequireyoutobeatleast21yearsoldandtohaveheldyourlicense
for one year. Drivers under the age of 25 may incur a young-driver surcharge, and some
rental companies do not rent to anyone 75 or older. If you're considered too young or old,
look into leasing (covered later), which has less-stringent age restrictions.
Research car rentals before you go. It's generally cheaper to arrange car rentals from
the US. Call several companies and look online to compare rates, or arrange a rental
through your hometown travel agent.
MostofthemajorUSrentalagencies (includingAvis,Budget,Enterprise, Hertz,and
Thrifty) have offices throughout Europe. Also consider the two major Europe-based agen-
cies, Europcar and Sixt, and the French agency, ADA (
www.ada.fr
). It can be cheaper
