Car rental for foreigners

One hundred and thirty-four cars are available for car rental for foreigners in Paris, from €29 to €1,300 per day. We deliver the car to you anywhere in Paris and agree every booking with a manager before it is confirmed. Weekly rates start at €174 and monthly rates at €609.

What car rental for foreigners in Paris includes and how booking works

We run this as a self-drive service: you agree the booking with a manager, and we deliver the car to you. Nothing is picked from a shelf online — the terms come first, the keys come after.

How the service works with a manager

We arrange it as a self-drive service: you agree the booking with a manager, and we deliver the car to you. The manager confirms the class, the dates and the hand-over point in one conversation, then the car is brought to the address you give. Our fleet on this page holds 134 cars across 13 classes, from €29 to €1,300 per day, with weekly rates from €174 and monthly from €609. Delivery point, timing and the rental agreement are fixed when booking — not chosen from a list on the site. In our practice the hand-over slot matters more than the model: a car brought to Gare du Nord at 07:00 saves a morning that a depot pickup at 10:00 costs you.

Where we hand the car over

• Airports: Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris-Orly Airport, Paris-Beauvais Airport and Paris-Le Bourget Airport are all named hand-over points.
• Rail stations: Gare du Nord, Gare de Lyon and Gare Montparnasse cover arrivals by train from anywhere in Europe.
• City districts and venues: La Défense, Porte de Versailles, Paris Nord Villepinte, Champs-Élysées, Montmartre and Le Marais.
• Meeting point: the exact spot is agreed when booking.

What is fixed in the rental agreement

The deposit, the insurance excess, any delivery fee and any discount are set out in the rental agreement. The agreement also carries the fuel policy, the mileage terms and the condition of the car at hand-over, so the figures you read there are the figures that apply — not an estimate. Read those lines before you confirm — they are the only place these figures appear. If a number in the agreement does not match what you were told when booking, raise it with the manager before the car moves.

What the manager settles before your trip

• Booking: dates, class and the delivery address are agreed in one exchange with the manager.
• Documents: the conditions for your nationality are set out in the rental agreement.
• Extras: any extra is agreed when booking, not on the day.
• Contact: the manager's number and the meeting instructions are confirmed once the booking is fixed.

A booking made two or three days ahead gives the manager room to match a specific model to your dates — the same request on the morning of travel usually means taking whatever class is free.

Documents a foreigner needs for car rental in Paris

Paperwork is the part of car rental for foreigners in Paris that people ask about first, so here is exactly what we accept and what we refuse.

Which driving licences are accepted

EU/EEA licences are valid in France with no exchange and no time limit while they stay valid. Visitors from outside the EU/EEA may drive on their national licence; if that licence is not in Latin script, an official translation or an International Driving Permit must be shown together with it. An IDP does not replace your licence — it is only a translation and is presented alongside the national card. Drivers from outside the EU/EEA who live in France may drive for 1 year from the date of entry shown in their visa, and after moving permanently the licence has to be exchanged. For rental, the licence must have been issued more than 1 year ago.

Licence age, IDP validity and digital licences

• Licence held for over 1 year: a licence issued less than 1 year ago is not accepted for rental, even if it is otherwise valid.
• IDP no older than 3 years: an International Driving Permit presented at booking must be within that window.
• National licence together with the IDP: the permit alone is not enough — both documents are shown.
• No digital licences: a licence on a phone screen is not accepted; bring the physical card.
• Economy cars from €29 per day: the smallest class in our Paris fleet, with models such as the Citroen Ami, Renault Twingo and Kia Picanto.
• Automatic or manual: the Renault Twingo and Kia Picanto come with a manual gearbox, while the Citroen Ami is automatic.

Age, deposit and the young-driver condition

There is no single national rule on age in France — it is each renter's own condition, so ask before you pay rather than assuming a number. The same applies to the deposit, the insurance excess, any delivery fee and any discount: those figures live in the rental agreement, not on this page. Read those lines before you confirm, because the agreement is the only place they appear. In our practice, most paperwork problems at hand-over come from a licence held for less than a year or a permit shown without the national card beside it.

What the trip length changes in the paperwork

Weekly pricing is the daily rate multiplied by 6; monthly is the daily rate multiplied by 21. The document set does not change with the length of the booking — a week and a month ask for the same items, so it is worth sorting the licence and permit before you book rather than after.

Car rental for foreigners in Paris, classes, seats and fuel

Our fleet on this page is 134 cars spread across 13 classes, with seats from 2 to 9 and a choice of Diesel, Electric, Gasoline and Hybrid. Below is what each class costs and what it is actually good for on city streets and on longer drives out of town.

Classes and what each one suits

Seats, fuel and transmission

• 2 seats: Citroen Ami (Electric, Automatic, €29) and Volkswagen Caddy Cargo (Diesel, Manual, €47) — the Ami for short hops, the Caddy for cargo.
• 4 seats: Renault Twingo (Gasoline, Manual, €35) and Fiat 500 Hybrid (Hybrid, Manual, €49) — small, easy to park in tight courtyards.
• 5 seats: the bulk of the fleet — from Kia Picanto at €39 and Toyota Aygo X at €39 up to Dacia Duster (All-wheel, €79) and Toyota Yaris Cross (Hybrid, Automatic, €85).
• 7 to 9 seats: minivans from €119 and passenger vans from €155, for a group arriving together with luggage.
• Electric: 18 cars from €55, including Renault Zoe (52 kWh, 136 hp) and Renault 5 E-Tech (52 kWh, 150 hp).
• Automatic or manual: automatic is mostly the Electric, Crossover and Hybrid lines; several Comfort and Economy models are manual only.

Which car to pick for which trip

For two people staying inside the city, a Renault Twingo or Citroen Ami keeps the fuel bill and the parking footprint small. A family of four with luggage is better off in a Crossover such as Peugeot 2008 or Nissan Juke, where the boot swallows a stroller. If the plan is Versailles, Giverny or the Normandy coast, take the Dacia Duster with All-wheel drive for the wet country roads, or a Comfort hatchback like the Peugeot 308 for the motorway run. Groups of seven or more book a minivan or a passenger van early — there are 5 of each. In our experience, the model you see on the site is the class you get, and the exact car is confirmed with the manager when the booking is agreed.

Prices on this page run from €29 to €1,300 per day, weekly from €174 and monthly from €609.

Prices for car rental in Paris by class and by length of trip

Our rates run from €29 to €1,300 per day across 134 cars, and the class you pick sets the floor: Economy starts at €29, Sports at €450. Longer bookings change the maths — a week costs the daily rate times six, a month costs the daily rate times twenty-one.

Daily rates by class

Weekly and monthly rates

• Economy at €29 a day: €174 for a week, €609 for a month — the cheapest way to keep a car for a full stay.
• Electric from €55 a day: €330 a week, €1,155 a month, with models such as Renault Zoe and Fiat 500e.
• Crossover from €75 a day: €450 a week, €1,575 a month, including Jeep Avenger and Peugeot 2008.
• SUV & 4x4 from €79 a day: €474 a week, €1,659 a month, with all-wheel drive on Dacia Duster.
• Minivans from €119 a day: €714 a week, €2,499 a month, seating up to seven.
• Sports from €450 a day: €2,700 a week, €9,450 a month — the top of our range.

What moves the price up or down

Two things decide what you actually pay: how long you keep the car and which class you take. A Citroen Ami at €29 a day and a Renault Twingo at €35 both sit in Economy, yet the gap over a month is €126. Automatic gearboxes and hybrids generally cost more than a manual of the same size — a Renault Clio manual is €69 a day, while the Clio E-Tech Hybrid with an automatic is €75. Delivery, the deposit, the insurance excess and any discount are set out in the rental agreement, not on the site, so they are agreed when booking.

In our experience, guests who plan four or more days around the city do better on a weekly booking than on separate daily ones — the multiplier does the work for you. If your trip mixes a few city days with a longer run to the Loire Valley châteaux or Deauville, tell the manager the whole span when you book: one continuous hire almost always lands lower than two short ones, and the class you need for the motorway stretch is rarely the one you want for parking near Le Marais.

Driving in Paris with car rental for foreigners, ZFE and parking

Driving here means three things to sort out before you leave the delivery point: the low-emission zone, the ring road speed limit, and parking tariffs that climb fast. None of them is complicated once you know the numbers.

The ZFE and the Crit'Air sticker

The ZFE de la Métropole du Grand Paris (Zone à Faibles Émissions) covers everything inside the A86 motorway — the A86 itself is excluded — and takes in the boulevard périphérique, the Bois de Boulogne and the Bois de Vincennes. Crit'Air 5, Crit'Air 4, Crit'Air 3 and unclassified vehicles are barred from that perimeter; the sticker goes on the windscreen. Crit'Air 3 came under the restriction from 1 January 2025. Without a valid vignette Crit'Air, entry into the ZFE is formally prohibited, so check the class of the car you are booking before you plan a route through the centre. Our fleet on this page is petrol, diesel, hybrid and electric across 134 cars, and the class that matters for the zone is printed on the sticker, not on the key tag.

Speed limits, including the périphérique

• Boulevard périphérique: 50 km/h since 1 October 2024 by decision of the municipal authority, phased from the inner ring between porte des Lilas and porte d'Orléans, with the whole ring covered by 10 October.
• Built-up areas: 50 km/h under Code de la route, art. R413-3, raised to 70 km/h on some stretches.
• Ordinary roads outside towns: 80 km/h, or 90 km/h on two-lane sections where the department has decided so.
• Dual carriageways: 110 km/h; motorways: 130 km/h, both under Code de la route, art. R413-2.
• Rain: 110 km/h on motorways, 100 km/h on dual carriageways, 80 km/h elsewhere; below 50 m visibility, 50 km/h on every road.
• Probationary licence (under 3 years): 110 km/h on motorways, 100 km/h on dual carriageways, 80 km/h elsewhere.

The left lane of the périphérique between the Seine embankment at Issy and porte de Bercy, in both directions, is reserved Monday to Friday 7:00–10:30 and 16:00–20:00 for cars carrying two or more people, and enforcement began on 2 May 2025.

Parking tariffs and the fuel rule

On-street parking in zone 1 — arrondissements 1 to 11 — is priced progressively rather than by the hour: 1 hour €6, 2 hours €12, 3 hours €24, 4 hours €39, 5 hours €57, 6 hours €75, with a maximum of 6 consecutive hours in one place. The visiteur tariff has applied since 1 August 2021 and is split into 15-minute blocks. An unpaid spot becomes a forfait post-stationnement rather than a driving fine — €75 or €50 for a light vehicle in the city. Pay at the horodateur or through an app, and photograph the receipt. One practical note from our own hand-overs: the fuel policy is plein-plein, so you collect the car full and return it full, and the deposit and any delivery fee sit in the rental agreement, agreed with a manager when you book.

Insurance and protection in car rental for foreigners in Paris

Every rental in France carries third-party liability by law, and the level of protection you choose decides how much of a damage bill stays with you. In our booking process the protection tier is agreed with a manager together with the rest of the booking, so the terms are set out in the rental agreement.

What is included as standard

• responsabilité civile: compulsory third-party cover, included automatically in every agreement; it pays for injury and property damage caused to others up to the statutory limits of France, but it does not cover injuries to the driver.
• CDW / collision damage protection: included in the base package on the French market; it caps your liability at the excess (franchise) and covers repair plus the days the car is off the road.
• TW / theft protection: also part of the base package here; it covers theft, attempted theft and vandalism in a car park, again within the excess.
• franchise (excess): a fixed sum you pay yourself after damage or theft; it is non-waivable and set by the protection level you pick.
• rachat de franchise: a paid option — Medium brings the excess down, Premium removes it or reduces it substantially.

What the base protection leaves out

Base cover is not blanket cover. Tyres damaged through abnormal use, glass outside a collision, the sunroof and panoramic roof, the underbody, misfuelling and the engine damage that follows, lost or stolen keys, and damage from negligence or intent all sit outside it. The exact excess figure is not published as a national number — it is agreed when booking, which is why we read those lines with you before you confirm. Some Visa Premier and Gold Mastercard products cover the CDW and TW excess when the payment is made with that card and the holder is the main driver named in the agreement; that is an industry practice rather than an official bank document, so check your own card terms.

How to keep the excess down

Decide before you book, not at hand-over: the protection tier is agreed with a manager together with the rest of the booking, and it is the line that changes the excess most. The class you pick matters too — the fleet here runs from a Citroen Ami at €29 a day and a Renault Twingo at €35 up through crossovers and SUVs such as the Dacia Duster at €79, so the excess for your booking is set out in the rental agreement for the car you choose. And if you plan Alpine driving between 1 November and 31 March, remember that winter tyres or chains are required in roughly 34 mountain departments — the capital and Île-de-France are not among them, but a car taken here and driven to the Alps falls under that rule.

Trips from Paris by rental car for foreigners, day routes

Holding the keys yourself opens up a ring of day trips no train timetable can match. Our out-of-town routes run from Disneyland Paris and Versailles to Giverny, Reims and Champagne, the Normandy coast at Deauville, the Loire Valley châteaux and Mont-Saint-Michel. Each one is a straightforward drive out of the city, and the car stays with you for the whole loop — no platform change, no last bus back.

Day routes you can drive and return the same evening

• Disneyland Paris: roughly 40 minutes east on the A4; leave before 08:00 to clear the périphérique and park before the gates open.
• Versailles: the A13 west, about 45 minutes; the château car parks fill by mid-morning on weekends, so arrive early or use the town side.
• Giverny: around 1 hour 15 minutes via the A13 and A14; Monet's gardens are at their busiest between 11:00 and 14:00.
• Reims and Champagne: about 1 hour 45 minutes on the A4; the champagne houses sit inside the city, so you park once and walk between them.
• Deauville and the Normandy coast: roughly 2 hours 30 minutes via the A13; the péage is paid on the way out, and the seafront parking uses the same horodateur app as the city.

Two of these are worth a full day rather than an afternoon: Giverny if you want the gardens without crowds, Reims if you plan to taste. Remember that the A14 and parts of the A13 run in péage en flux libre — no barrier, and payment is due within 72 hours.

Longer drives worth two or three days

The Loire Valley châteaux and Mont-Saint-Michel both sit beyond comfortable same-day range, so they suit a two- or three-day booking. Both are reached on tolled motorways, and both involve long stretches at steady speed — the kind of driving where a Comfort or Crossover class earns its price over an Economy hatchback. If your trip runs into the Alps between 1 November and 31 March, winter tyres or chains on two driven wheels are compulsory in roughly 34 mountain departments; Île-de-France is not covered, but the rule applies the moment you head for the passes. On longer bookings the arithmetic favours you: weekly is charged at daily x 6 and monthly at daily x 21, so a three-day run out to the Loire costs less per day than the same car hired three separate times. Book the class that matches the distance, not just the seats.

Practical conclusion for car rental for foreigners in Paris

Self-drive hire for foreigners comes down to a short list of decisions: which class you need, how long you are keeping the vehicle, and where you want it handed over. Everything else — the deposit, the excess, delivery and any discount — is written into the agreement, so read those lines before you confirm. Get the paperwork right and the rest is straightforward.

• Licence: an EU/EEA licence works as it is; a non-EU/EEA licence needs an official translation or an IDP shown together with the national card, and the physical card — not a phone screen — is what counts.
• Age of the licence: issued more than 1 year ago, with an IDP no older than 3 years.
• Classes and seats: Economy hatchbacks seat 4 or 5, Crossovers and SUVs seat 5, Minivans seat 7 and passenger vans seat 8 or 9, with Diesel, Electric, Gasoline and Hybrid engines and both automatic and manual gearboxes across the fleet.
• Booking: agreed with a manager, not clicked through on the site — delivery point, timing and hand-over all come from that conversation.
• Budget: from €29 a day for Economy up to €1,300 a day at the top of the range, weekly from €174 and monthly from €609.

Two things catch visitors out once they are behind the wheel. The first is the ZFE de la Métropole du Grand Paris: the zone sits inside the A86, takes in the boulevard périphérique and both woods, and turns away Crit'Air 5, 4, 3 and unclassified vehicles, so the sticker belongs on the windscreen before you drive in. The second is parking. Street parking in zones 1 to 11 is priced progressively, not by the hour — €6 for the first hour, €24 by the third, €75 at six — and six hours in one spot is the ceiling. Paid underground parking costs more but removes the guesswork, and on the périphérique the left lane between Issy and Porte de Bercy is reserved for cars with two or more people on weekdays from 7:00 to 10:30 and 16:00 to 20:00.

For a first visit, Economy or Crossover covers most trips: 15 Economy cars from €29 and 13 Crossovers from €75, and both classes include automatics. Larger groups should look at the 5 Minivans from €119 or the 5 passenger vans from €155, and the 18 Electric cars from €55 make sense if you are staying inside the city and charging overnight. Book the class, not the exact model — the agreement names what you are driving, and a manager confirms the rest when you reserve.