So you have decided to rent a car in France to experience the freedom of going where you want at your own pace.  Here are Bumblebee Manor's top 10 tips for driving in France to avoid the pitfalls and create your magical holiday memories. Bon Route !

Choose The Right Car

1.     Get the smallest car that meets your needs.  Roads and parking spots are very narrow in France.  That free upgrade is not a blessing, they are trying to get rid of the big cars that no one wants.  

2.     Make sure you can drive a stick shift before you get here.  Automatic cars are very rare and even if you order one you are unlikely to be given one!

3.     Take photos of the car before you leave the rental company, including the wheel rims.  The French are VERY pedantic about damage so make sure you don't have to pay for something someone else did.


Know Your Road Rules

We can't cover everything here but we wanted to warn you about a couple of nasty traps for tourists:

4.     Don't trust your GPS to tell you the speed limit.  The open road limit changed to 80 km/h a couple of years ago and many GPS apps have not caught up yet and will tell you the road limit is 90 km/h.  

5.     Some signs double as speed limit signs.  Not knowing this could be very expensive!

       - 50km/h maximum speed.  It also marks the start of a village.
 - Return to the speed you were going before you entered the village, usually 80km/h

              



6.    Give way to the RIGHT, which makes absolutely no sense!  So there are a number of signs that are put everywhere to negate this rule.

 - Because of this unusual rule, roundabouts will usually have a sign saying you do NOT have the right of way.  Otherwise they just don't work!
- All of the main roads are full of these signs that override the give way rule.  So cars coming from small roads on your right have to give way.
- Beware the same sign with a line through it!  This means you do NOT have the right of way.   Cars coming from the right onto the main road will just pull in front of you. 

                  

             

              



7.     Automated speed traps are everywhere, but at least they warn you with this sign.  If you see this sign there IS a speed trap ahead.

            French authorities removing speed camera warning signs


Drive Like a Local

8.      The locals use WAZE to navigate.  We recommend you do the same.
9.      Tailgating is normal, even at high speed.  When this happens, just breathe and try not to look in your rear view mirror for a bit.
10.    Always drive in the right most lane.  Move left to overtake then move straight back over again.  If a slow car is coming up ahead but there is someone about to overtake you just turn on your indicator and the overtaking car will usually slow down and let you move over.
        
If all this seems a bit overwhelming, why not let us do the driving with an all-inclusive experience at Bumblebee Manor?  We would love to host you and show you our wonderful piece of France.