Where to rent a Motorhome for trip to France ??

v10

Considering going on Holiday in France this year .. and was thinking of renting a campervan/motorhome

Am I better off driving to France and renting there or renting one here before I go ?

Also can anyone recommend the best (i.e. cheapest) places to rent in Irleaad or France ?

Cheers ...

peasant

I can't really recommend any rental companies, as I have no experience with renting ....but ....

Have you had a look at the ferry prices for both cars and motorhomes?
Depending on the amount of people travelling, flying to France and renting there might just be the cheapest option.

stapeler

I'd suggest trying to rent over there or in England. We've got prices this year of €1250 from Irish ferries and similiar for Celtic link (near booked out). Take car and all your stuff with you to England and take a Dover-Calais etc. sailing. Sailings from Dover are available from £49 return for a motorhome. Check out www.Hirebuddies.co.uk or WWW.rdh.co.uk I Dont know anything about them so cannot recommend them but worth a look.

SouthernBelle

I've seen MHs from www.motorhome.ie on campsites here in Ireland. I've looked up the cost of renting one though... ouch! :eek:

vivien24

I guess it woul be cheaper for you to rent the van directly in france because when you rent it in england and leave the country you have to pay extra charges for the insurance, pay the ferry and pay the additional gas.
If you arrive in paris, some companies can deliver you the van directly.
I know one called van-it but never actually travelled with them.
u can check their website, www.van-it.com
enjoy ur trip

takapuna

The other solution for you, will be to cross the chanel, by Eurostar for example and then rent a campervan in northern France for example
there is www.origincampervans.com in Lille.

SeamusG97

You could try www.aviscaraway.com They are a branch of Avis and have outlets throughout France. Starting at €1500 for a week plus extras it isn't cheap but if you were heading south it might make sense if you take the cost of getting there in your own MH into account.

Mountainsandh

Hi V10, we did that last year. Flew into Lyon (where I'm from, am French), and rented from Lyon to travel to Italy and then back up to Lyon along South Italian and French coasts.
The rental was pretty expensive, but less expensive than Irish rentals I'd say (I think it was between 1100 and 1300 euros for 10 days).
This is the crowd we rented from :
http://www.trois-soleils.com/
This is Hertz campervan service. I had read some good and some bad reviews for different pick up spots, but as regards the Lyon pick up point, they were very friendly and helpful anyway.
We did have to provide credit card details, and a 3000 euro guarantee was actually debited for a good while (some time before departure + duration of the trip), which I found a bit steep ! I think this may even have been debited as early as 21 days before trip, that was cheeky of them imo, but that's the policy over there.
But in the end, we had broken a cupboard handle inside the van and weren't even charged for that, so were happy enough with the service.

The van was nearly new, in as new condition inside, it was a Chausson I think, and we had no mechanical problems thank goodness. I went for the Hertz crowd for that reason as I had this notion maybe a smaller outfit may not have as recent vans as Hertz would, but I may be wrong.

Correspondance was all in French, and the contracts are sometimes hard to understand, so if you need help, don't hesitate to PM me.

Oh, and another thing : with French rentals you can choose to have the cutlery etc... included, but I would actually advise to just call into Carrefour or some discount store there and purchase some, this would actually probably end up cheaper than renting the lot for the time you rent (unless it's only a week maybe). Same for bedding, if you're not bringing yours. Babou are a good discount store to buy everyday things for cheap.
Some rentals also offer picnic table and chairs, don't think Hertz did though.
Going over in June too, with our own camper this time, can't wait

newbiecamper

We rented through these lot last year
http://www.worldwide-motorhome-hire.com//products/motorhome-rental/index.html

I think they act as an agency to lots of local rental companies in Europe. Our rental was in Italy with pickup and dropoff at the airport but I know they cover France also.

Carter59

You can try www.origin-campervans.com .
They are located in Northern France. They rent recent VW vans with very competitive rates.
We hired one for 4 weeks in September and loved it.
The staff was very helpful too... They speak fluently english. (The manager used to leave in NZ)

killalanerr

better late than never

amy1559

You can also check this one : www.blacksheep-van.com, a rental company in Lyon.
Their campervans are really good because they are new.

As you said : better late than never