St Kitts

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This advice covers both island of St Kitts and Nevis, although it assumes you are arriving on flights to St Kitts (Basseterre).

Why get a hire car in St Kitts or Nevis?

  • Explore at your leisure — with so much stunning scenery, a car is ideal for visiting both islands.
  • Poor public transport — buses congregate around the seafront in Basseterre, but they tend to leave when they are full, and there is no set timetable or interval.
    Also, there is no bus service out to Frigate Bay where the main Marriott resort is, nor are there any buses serving the peninsula. It is assumed that all villa users will have their own transport, but this is often not the case.
  • Sea Bridge — you can take the Sea Bridge ferry across to neighbouring Nevis and explore the island at your own leisure. Alternatively, you can park in Basseterre and use the passenger ferry – a hire car gives you the flexibility to use either option, whereas there is no public transport serving the Sea Bridge on the St Kitts site.
    Whether you get a hire car or not, an excursion to Nevis is highly recommended – see options for visiting Nevis without a car below.
  • Plantation Inns — both St Kitts and Nevis have a number of plantation inns which tend to be situated away from the bus routes. Wherever you are staying, these plantations are always good to visit for a meal or a very genteel afternoon tea.

Why not? St Kitts and Nevis without a car:

  • Car hire cost — in our survey of car hire prices around the world for cities featured on Carornocar.com, the cost of renting a car in St Kitts is amongst the highest in the world.
  • Taxis are widely available, and are usually reasonably priced, with fixed rates to and from major locations such as the ports and airports. Always agree the price in advance, and confirm whether the quote is in local (EC) dollars or US$.
    You can charter a taxi with driver for the day, although this will be considerably more expensive than getting a hire car or just making individual taxi trips.
  • Limited road space — a car might be fine for a day tour around the island, and an additional day on Nevis, but after that you might well find that you don’t need to go that far anyway, or that you’re doing other activities which don’t need a car.
  • Local driving licence — in order to drive a car in St Kitts or in Nevis, you need to pay for local driving licence, which costs US $20. Considering that a hire car in St Kitts is expensive enough as it is, this is just an unwelcome extra cost.
  • Sugar train — step outside Robert Bradshaw airport and it almost looks like there is a station right on-site. In fact, Basseterre has the curious distinction of being the only city with a station next to the airport, but no train service to the city centre.
    This is because the sugar train is very much setup as a scenic attraction, rather than a functional line, and if you can get a booking, this really is a great ride to take, and the only one of its kind in the Caribbean (outside Cuba).
    I would like to say that the St Kitts sugar train alone is a reason not to bother with a hire car, but unfortunately despite having made several trips to the island, I’ve never yet managed to go on it.
    Running patterns are determined more by the arrival of cruise ships than by any kind of regular schedule, and then the service tends to sell out quickly to block bookings from the cruise companies, so check ahead to see if you can get on board.
  • Buses — despite local buses not running to a European style schedule, they are still a great way of getting around either island.
    All the major settlements are served, and circular trips can be done from either Basseterre in St Kitts or Charlestown in Nevis.
    Buses usually have their names in emblazoned on the front, and they can stop anywhere on the route. Payment is usually around $3 EC per trip, made at the end of the journey.
  • Town ferry — whereas the Sea Bridge is mainly a vehicle ferry, a slower but far more scenic ferry operates between Basseterre and Charlestown, catering for pedestrian traffic. This makes it easy to travel both between and around the islands by a combination of bus and ferry.
  • Cycling – despite its compact size, Nevis has established itself as a leading destination in the Caribbean for cycling, and it even hosts an annual triathlon which attracts top competitors from around the world.
    Bikes can be hired from Ouallie Beach in Nevis. You can also hire a bike and explore both islands, using either the Sea Bridge or the town ferry.
  • Walkability — the islands are generally pleasant to walk around, and there are several reasonable hotels within the town of Basseterre. Any of the sea level hotels in Nevis are easy to get to by bus.
    Real cheapskates (we know, not usually an expression you associate with travel around the Caribbean, but there are a few of us) can even walk from Robert Bradshaw airport into Basseterre.

Conclusion: – To get the best out of both islands, a hire car is extremely useful to have. In any other destination we would say that the hire car costs are exorbitant, but nothing in the Caribbean comes cheap, so if you’re spent a fortune getting here and you want to keep things simple, a hire car is a good idea.

Verdict — yes.

Note: Very few car hire companies actually have representation at Robert Bradshaw airport in Basseterre, and there is no on-site car hire facility at Vance Amory airport in Nevis. Avis have an office in Basseterre, which is only five minutes’ drive from the airport, so it should be fairly straightforward to arrange a pickup.

St Martin

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Tiny St Martin is one of the smallest divided islands in the world, although there are no border controls between the larger Dutch side (Sint Maarten) and the smaller French side (Saint-Martin). Technically, the usage of the Anglicised name St Martin would imply a reference to the island of the whole, and English is widely spoken throughout the island anyway.

Given the compact size of St Martin, and given that many people visiting the island are just passing through on their way to a cruise ship or between connecting flights, is there any reason to hire a car there?

Why hire a car in St Martin?

  • Variable public transport — if you’re just trying to get between places on the major roads, then you should be able to flag down a bus quite easily, and one should pass every few minutes, but there are no formal bus stops, therefore there aren’t any published timetables or on-street indicators.
    Instead, you just hope the bus will turn up sooner or later, and take what comes. If you want to transfer from one bus to another, you will pay again.
    In some cases, bus routes end abruptly, and you will have to walk to continue onwards — for example there is no bus between Cupecoy Bay and Mullet Beach.
  • No French airport connection — to travel between the main Princess Juliana airport (SXM) and Phillipsburg, which is capital of the Dutch side, you should have no problem going by bus, although they run along the adjacent Airport Road, and don’t actually call at the terminal.
    However, there is no direct bus to Marigot, the capital of the French side. Instead, you will have the change in Cole Bay. Plenty of taxis are also available, and they can operate islandwide.
  • Freedom and flexibility – a hire car will let you explore the island in your own time, at your own pace.
  • Getting away from it — given its compact size, St Martin is one of the most overdeveloped islands in the Caribbean, and a lot of the time, this development has not been sympathetic to the local environment, especially on the Dutch side. The buses tend to run between the developed areas, so to find a more secluded beach, a hire car can be extremely useful.
  • No-go for cyclists – you might have thought that an island with a shared Dutch and French heritage would be able to combine the very best of Dutch cycling infrastructure and French passion for cycle touring, but alas, this is sadly not the case. In fact, just as with anywhere else in the Caribbean, there is no designated cycling infrastructure whatsoever on St Martin, and when this is combined with the generally unsympathetic attitude of local drivers, St Martin is actually a very unpleasant place in which to ride a bike.
  • Walk at your peril — many of the roads have no pavements (sidewalks), especially if you are trying to walk between, rather than within, the built-up areas.
  • French chic — the French side of the island is generally more sympathetically developed than the Dutch side, but it is easier to get there, and then to get around, if you have a hire car.
  • No train – Unsurprisingly, there is no form of train, tram, or any other kind of fixed rail link on St Martin.

Why not? Visiting St Martin without a car:

  • Maho Beach — if there is one unique and enduring image of St Martin which sets it apart from any other Caribbean island, it is that of arriving heavy jets landing over the world famous Maho beach, situated at the western end of the runway at Princess Juliana airport. Many aviation buffs come to St Martin just to get so up close and personal with these huge metal beasts, and videos of landings are a perennial Youtube favourite. Maho Beach is a short (but not particularly pleasant) walk from the airport terminal.
  • Accessing remote beaches — a hire car might take you closer to some beaches than a bus will, but ultimately to reach some of the more inaccessible beaches, such as Back Bay or Geneve Bay to the east of Phillipsburg, you will still need to walk the last few miles.
  • Traffic — travelling around St Martin can mean sitting in a virtually endless queue of traffic, so you might prefer to let someone else do the driving.
  • Walking in St Martin — St Martin has some excellent walking trails, affording stunning views of the island itself and of some of the nearby islands. Make sure you arm yourself with a good map, plenty of water, repellant and long clothes to minimise the risk of getting stung by some of the vicious wasps which inhabit these areas.
  • Excursions by air — St Martin is an ideal base for some of the most hair -aising flights in the world.
    The most famous is the short hop over to nearby Saba, which has the shortest runway in the world for a commercial airport. The approach into Saba runs under some very dramatic cliffs, and if you get the chance to sit at the front, you will see the airport appear like a tiny postage stamp above the sea.
    Another famous approach is into St Barts, where pilots have to navigate their way past a steep hill before diving down to the runway. These islands, together with Anguilla, can be visited on a day trip from St Martin, as there are multiple flights.
    Of course, there are numerous other delightful islands which can be reached by excursion from St Martin, although you will usually have to stay at least one night, as most of these flights only operate once each day.
  • Excursions by sea – there are three ports on the island offering departures to nearby islands — Oyster Pond and Pelican Key, which both offer boat trips to Saba and St Barts; and Marigot, which offers boat trips to St Barts and Anguilla.
  • Easy transfers — you should have no problem transferring by bus between Juliana Airport and Phillipsburg, from where cruise ships depart.

Conclusion — given that St Martin is so heavily developed, it is hardly surprising that you can get around between the main communities on the island by bus, but it really isn’t a particularly easy system to get used to, especially if you’re only here for a day or two. As most of the development is on the Dutch side, and as the island is a generally unpleasant place to get around on foot or by bike, a hire car becomes the best option by default.

Verdict — yes

Notes:

  • The official currency on French St Martin is the euro, whereas Dutch St Martin uses the Netherlands Antillian Guilder, which is set to transfer to the Caribbean Guilder dollar in 2013.
  • In reality, the US dollar is widely used on both sides of the island, but especially on the Dutch side. Avoid paying in euros in Dutch St Martin, as you will usually be given a very poor exchange rate of 1 to 1 against the US dollar.
  • French St Martin is treated as French territory, with a status similar to that of Corsica. However, if you fly into Princess Juliana airport from Paris or any other French territory, you will still have to go through brief immigration and customs checks, as the Dutch side of St Martin is administered separately, and neither part of the island is within the Schengen zone.

Toulouse

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Toulouse is best known as a gateway to the Pyrenees and also as the hub for Europe’s aerospace industry. Anyone flying in for a ski holiday should easily be able to take a coach transfer, but what about visiting elsewhere, or hitting the Pyrenees outside the ski season?

Why hire a car in Toulouse?

  • Limitations of public transport — Toulouse only has a relatively small metro system, and a few major railway lines heading out of the city. Although you can take the TGV to Toulouse from Paris or from Perpignan, services are relatively slow compared to the fast dedicated lines which are available elsewhere. Once outside the edge of the city, the landscape becomes rural very quickly, and it is much easier to get around with a car.
  • Scenic drives – there is plenty of good scenery heading out in just about any direction from Toulouse, especially to the southwest, in the foothills of the Pyrenees. Take the local road out to Rieumes for the start of a great scenic drive.
  • Pyrenees — Toulouse is naturally a great start for a road trip through the Pyrenees Mountains.
  • Languedoc — Toulouse isn’t just about the Pyrenees. Head due east to Castres for the start of the Languedoc Natural Park for some superb lakes and mountain scenery. This area also makes for excellent cycling and walking. Although it is much easier to access this region in a hire car, you can take also the train to Castres or Mazamet.
  • Andorra — together with Barcelona, Toulouse has traditionally been one of the main gateways to the mountainous principality of Andorra, which doesn’t have any airport of its own. Whilst coach transfers are available to the major ski resorts, a hire car is a much better idea for having the flexibility to drive during the summer months. However, as there is only one major road running through Andorra, and because of its duty-free status, prepare for long tailbacks.

Why not? Toulouse without a car:

  • Metro — as with most other major French cities, Toulouse has a small two line metro system covering the busiest parts of the city, run by Tisseo. This is supplemented by an RER regional rail network and one tram line which runs near to the airport. A shuttle bus service is also available to the airport from the station and city centre.
  • Carcassonne — the superb walled city of Carcassonne is an easy day trip by train from Toulouse. You should reserve seats in advance for any of the TGV services, which take around 40 minutes, as do the regional trains. The local stopping services take just over an hour, but watch for a large gap in service (all trains) between mid-morning and late afternoon. See our Carcassonne car hire advice page for more details.
  • Ski transfers — plenty of transfers are available to the major Pyrenees ski resorts during the winter.
  • Andorra and the Pyrenees by train. Although services are by no means frequent or fast, there are a couple of superb train routes heading west of Toulouse towards the Pyrenees.
    You can head to L’Hospitalet pres-l-Andorre (approx 2 1/2 hours) for the solitary bus connections into Andorra, whereas train buffs might appreciate travelling to Latour-de-Carol (approx. 3 hours, every 2 hours), a station with three scenic railway routes heading out in different directions, each with its own gauge.
    Little Yellow Train – one of Europe’s great rail routes is the Little Yellow train on the Cerdagne line which continues from Latour down to Villefranche-de-Conflent. This 40km narrow guage route takes nearly four hours, but is one of the most treasured in France. From here you can continue back to Toulouse (aprox. 4 hours) via Perpignan and Narbonne.
    To continue onward to Barcelona, use “La Tor de Querol-Enveig” to search Renfe Cercanias trains – there are around 6 each day, usually taking just under 3 hours.

Conclusion — there are more than enough options for visiting Toulouse without a car, either through staying within the city itself, or through using some of the great scenic railway lines which venture into the Pyrenees.

Verdict — no

Perpignan

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Perpignan benefitted quite early from the low-cost flights revolution, although it has since seen several routes scaled back. Depending on whether your local airport offers flights to Perpignan, this advice could be considered in conjunction with our Carcassonne or Toulouse car hire guides, or alternatively with our suggestions about whether or not to hire a car from Barcelona in neighbouring Spain.

The natural assumption would be that as Perpignan is relatively small and out of the way, a hire car would be the most obvious option, but is it as straightforward as that?

Why hire a car in Perpignan?

  • Carcassonne — the walled city of Carcassonne makes a great day excursion from Perpignan, and it is extremely easy to reach using the A9 and then A61 autoroutes.
    You can also get there by train, but you will have to change in Narbonne for a connection, taking around 1 1/2 hours, and you will also have to reserve seats on any services operated by the TGV. See our Carcassonne car hire advice page for more details.
  • Gorges Galmus — head directly west to St-Paul-de-Fenouille and then through the delightful Gorges Galmus, from where you can drive in a loop around the Rialsesse forest. However, you can also get to St Paul by train and then walk up the gorge from there.
  • Canigou — drive west as far as Prades, and then head down to Vernet-les-Bains and the impressive Massif and Pic du Canigou. There are also a number of high-quality walking trails in this area, and these can be accessed by train from Prades.
  • Slow trains — although TGV services call into Perpignan, the fast line from Paris slows down to conventional pace just before Nimes. Trains from here aren’t going to be as fast as they might be elsewhere in France. For exploring the local area though, this really isn’t a problem. Note that there is a fast link to the edge of Figueres (45 mins)  in Spain, but you have to change to continue to Barcelona (2h30), or take a slightly slower direct train (2h 50).

Why not? Perpignan without a car:

  • Beaches — you can easily take a bus out of Perpignan to Canet-Plage and other surrounding villages to enjoy the Mediterranean coastline, or some of the lakes which sit just behind. However, a hire car will naturally let you explore a bit further.
  • Vermilion coast — as you approach the Spanish border at Cerbere / Portbou, the railway line takes a superb scenic route along the Vermilion Coast. You can also drive the route, and then loop back through the Alberes via le Perthus.
  • Yellow train — you can take the train to Villefrance-de-Conflent, from where you can board the spectacular “Yellow Train” to Latour-de-Carol. From here you can continue on to Toulouse.
  • Catalan connections — from Perpignan, you can head south into neighbouring Spain, and through to the Dali hometown of Figueres, and then onto Girona and the Catalan capital Barcelona.
  • Dali painting and decorating – the station in Perpignan has been uniquely featured in a Dali painting (currently hanging in Cologne) and has also been partly decorated by him.
  • Pedestrian friendly centre — although most people flying into Perpignan are more interested in the surrounding country, the city of Perpignan in itself is relatively compact and walkable, centred around the pedestrianised Le Castillet. The city also has a six sided citadel, featuring the Palais Des Rois De Majorque.

Conclusion — Perpignan has previously had railway routes heading out in various different directions, but now it only has three. What it lacks in quantity it more than makes up for in quality, but this is still more of an option for rail buffs than it is a workable system for everyone else. So a hire car is still the best idea for visiting the area around Perpignan.

Verdict — yes

Belfast

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The Northern Ireland peace process has brought about a significant rise in the number of tourists visiting Belfast. As with most European cities, the main attractions in Belfast itself are easy to walk to, so what about places to visit beyond the city?

Why hire a car in Belfast?

  • Limited railway lines — look at any major city in England or central Scotland, and you will usually see a network of rail lines fanning out, including local and long-distance services. There are only four railway lines heading out of Belfast, two of which only provide suburban connections to Larne and Bangor respectively. A regional service operates as far as Derry (Londonderry), whereas the Enterprise service continues down to Dublin Needless to say, you can head out of Belfast in any direction you want in a hire car. This network, branded as Translink, is not just short on routes, frequencies outside the Belfast area are also extremely poor. For example, trains to Derry depart roughly every two hours, considerably less often than might be expected on an equivalent inter-city service elsewhere in the UK.
  • Giant’s Causeway — this is surely the most impressive natural feature on the Emerald Isle, and is only a short drive from Belfast.
    However, scheduled (from Belfast, Coleraine or Portrush) or guided bus trips are available, so there is no need to get a hire car just to visit Giant’s Causeway.
  • Inland — the railway routes in Northern Ireland generally stay close to the coast, so to go anywhere inland, especially to visit the various points of interest around Lough Neah, you will need a rental car, or you will have to rely on slow bus services.
  • Blue Stack mountains — head across into Co Donegal for some superb scenery on Ireland’s northwest coast.
  • Poor public transport — although Northern Ireland has seen a lot of investment in recent years, little of this has gone on to noticeable public transport infrastructure, although the Translink fleet itself has been upgraded. No new lines have been built, and unlike many comparable cities in central or northern England, there is no form of tram in Belfast. The city remains car dependent, and it has relatively few good routes to explore by bike.

Why not? Belfast without a car:

  • Coastal trains — what Northern Ireland lacks in quantity is more than made up for in quality. The train hugs the coast in many areas, offering some excellent scenic views, especially between Coleraine and Derry, along Lough Foyle, and south of Newry most of the way to Dublin.
    My personal favourite is the train journey into Belfast from Larne Harbour.
  • Celtic cousins — instead of just visiting Northern Ireland, why not combine a trip to Belfast with a visit to Glasgow, or even tack on Edinburgh and Dublin at each end? This is an easy rail trip, with plenty of flights available from throughout Europe at either end if you extend to the Scottish and Irish capitals. The train south of Ayr towards Stranraer is particularly scenic, and you also get to include a short ferry crossing on the Irish Sea, although this now needs a bus link from Cairnryan harbour to Stranraer station.
  • Ramble by bus – you can take “Rambler” buses along designated scenic routes, giving you access to the Mourne Mountains to the south of Belfast, or the Sperrins to the west. A Rambler bus service also operates along the coastline near Giant’s Causeway. Other buses run directly in to scenic areas, such as the Davagh Forest country park.
  • Boat trips – from Ballycastle, you can take a boat to Rathlin Island, with its nature reserve. Further west and into the Republic of Ireland, you could take a boat from Burtonport to Arranmore Island. The outings themselves are car-free, however, although you can reach both ports by bus, it is still easier to get to these places in a hire car.

Conclusion — despite some useful bus connections to supplement the handful of railway routes which are on offer, public transport options in and around Belfast are still relatively limited, and the best attractions in the region are landscapes rather than cities.

This makes our verdict lean heavily towards recommending getting a hire car.

Verdict — yes (strong)

Note — it is easy to pick up a hire car at either Belfast International or Belfast George Best city airport. If you don’t plan on getting a hire car, you’re better off flying into Belfast city airport, which is much closer to central Belfast. You can even take a short shuttle bus journey to nearby Sydenham station to start onward rail journeys within Northern Ireland, although for just getting to the city centre, it is quicker to take a taxi or shuttle bus. Belfast City airport has a wider network of domestic flights from the rest of the UK, whereas Belfast International has more flights from mainland Europe.

Belfast and Northern Ireland  Local transport links:

Oxford

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Everyone knows that the city of dreaming spires is also one of the U.K.’s least accessible cities to motorists in private cars, whilst also being second only to Cambridge when it comes to the volume of cyclists. Yet Oxford is also home to Inspector Morse and his legendary red Jaguar, and even if the city itself is not very car friendly, there is plenty of great driving country beyond its boundaries.

 As there are only limited flights to Oxford airport, most people visiting the city will either arrive by train or coach, and be considering picking up a car from the city centre, or they will travel up from one of the London’s airports.

Why rent a car in Oxford?

  • Cotswolds — arguably home to the finest villages in England, the Cotswolds is one of the most visited scenic areas in the UK, and is easily accessed by car to the west of Oxford. Try and avoid summer weekends, when many villages become too overcrowded and parking is impossible. The smaller villages are just as delightful as their more famous larger cousins! As with anywhere, a car is going to give you far more flexibility to explore the Cotswolds at your own pace. Although local bus services do exist (see below), they need careful planning, and they aren’t much use for providing connections to the many houses, gardens, and other attractions within the Cotswolds area.
  • Blenheim Palace — the world-famous Blenheim Palace sits on the edge of the Cotswolds near the village of Woodstock, to the north-west of Oxford.
  • Morse Country – a hire car is ideal for visiting the many haunts frequented by Morse in his various murder investigations in and around Oxford.
  • Bicester Village — shopaholics will want to head for Bicester Village, just beyond junction 9 of the M40. This massive outlet shopping park is adjacent to Bicester Town railway station, which is served by trains from Oxford. However, if you are travelling out from London, you will arrive at Bicester North Station, from where a shuttle bus is available to get to Bicester Village. If you are laid down with heavy shopping, it always tends to be much easier to load up the boot of a car.
  • Milton Keynes — for a complete contrast to the dreaming spires of Oxford, visit the spotlessly efficient new town of Milton Keynes, home to a virtually infinite number of roundabouts and the longest shopping centre in the UK.
  • Chiltern Hills — the scenic beauty around Oxford is by no means restricted to venturing west. Drive for just 20 minutes to the south-east of Oxford, and you will hit the Chiltern Hills, home to many stunningly beautiful villages, which don’t have quite the same tourist hordes at the Cotswolds.
  • Stratford-upon-Avon and Shakespeare country — although the town of Stratford upon Avon itself has a railway station, it is much more cumbersome to get there by train than it should be, as the more direct route has long since closed.
    Instead, you’ll need to change in Banbury or Royal Leamington Spa, only to loop back on yourself to end up in Stratford. With a hire car, you can explore many of the wonderful Warwickshire lanes on your way.
    Even Warwick Castle, with its limited parking is still a quick sprint up the M40, rather than an indirect train journey, although if you like walking, you can go along the banks of either the River Avon or the Grand Union Canal to reach Warwick directly from Leamington station.
  • Vale of the White Horse — head south from Oxford on the A34, and just beyond Abingdon you will find the start of the Vale of White Horse, which contains numerous examples of these huge equine carvings. This trail will take you south of Swindon and up to the start of Salisbury Plain.
  • Downton Abbey — just south of Newbury is Highclere Castle, made famous by the multiple award-winning period drama Downton Abbey.
  • Stonehenge — just to the north of Salisbury, on the southern edge of the Salisbury Plain is the World Heritage site of Stonehenge.
  • Poor airport access – unless you are flying into Heathrow or Birmingham (see below), Oxford is not that well connected to London’s vast array of airports. It may well be easier to drive here, and then to use the hire car for the rest of your trip.

Why not? — Oxford without a car:

  • City of Oxford — needless to say, as already mentioned above, there is no point in hiring a car just to drive up to the city of Oxford, as, much to the disgust of Oxfordshire motormouth Jeremy Clarkson, the city is largely designed to keep the private car out, and parking is notoriously expensive.
    Many people visiting the city use the park and ride facilities instead, and Oxford has no less than five of these, covering all the main access roads.
    There is little point in getting a hire car just to end up taking a bus into the city centre –you might as well arrive by train or coach, as the rail and bus stations are much more central.
  • Cycling city — needless to say, Oxford is one of the best places in the UK in which to ride a bike. If you can brave it past the ring of tarmac that surrounds the city, then a good bike will give you almost as much flexibility as a hire car will, and during those hot summer weekends, it can access those parts of the Cotswolds that cars sometimes cannot reach.
  • Blenheim Palace by bus — Blenheim Palace is one of those attractions where you will either want to spend several hours inside marvelling at the historic grandeur of the building itself, or you will want to go walking around the Capability Brown – designed landscape. In either case, you would just have to pay through the nose again for parking, so why bother? Plenty of local bus services are available to and from the village of Woodstock, which is adjacent to the palace entrance.
  • Cotswolds by train and bus — you can head deep into the Cotswolds by train, heading out of Oxford towards Evesham and Worcester. Alternatively, take the train down to Didcot, from where connections are available through the South West Cotswolds to Stroud and then Gloucester. Plenty of bus routes are available to reach other towns and villages in the Cotswolds. Although a hire car will give you more flexibility, during the busy summer months, Cotswolds villages like Burton on the Water, Broadway, Snowshill or Stow on the Wold can be absolutely overrun by cars trying to park, so you might find it isn’t worth the hassle.
  • Swindon — Swindon might not be everybody’s idea of a must see town, but if you have an interest in industrial history, this was the site of the Great Western Railway’s main engineering centre, and it was also a pioneering example of Victorian paternalistic town planning. Naturally, Swindon is best visited by train, but you would need to change at Didcot to get here.
  • Airport Access – the Oxford tube offers a very regular coach service to and from Heathrow Airport. Coaches are also available direct to Luton Airport. Another option is to look for flights to Birmingham, and to take the train direct to Oxford from there (hourly, approx. 1 hour journey). However, other London airports are not so easy to get to from Oxford.

Conclusion — of course, there is no need to get a hire car just to visit Oxford itself, but that was obvious from the start. To explore outside the city, a hire car really is the best option to get the most of this region, as so many places which are worth visiting are well outside the reach of scheduled bus and train services.

Verdict – yes

Nice

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When you hire a car in Nice, the chances are that you’ll be wanting to explore so much more than just the city of Nice itself and its immediate environs, but can you still get around this beautiful part of the world without one?

 Why hire a car in Nice?

  • Superb Scenery — as soon as you hit the roads outside Nice airport, you are in stunningly scenic terrain, whether you head east or west along the Cote d’Azur (Azur blue Coast), north into Provence or even north-east into neighbouring Italy. The cliff-hugging villages in the area immediately behind Nice is are a personal favourite.
  • Gorges De Verdon — of all the many wonderful scenic areas you can explore from Nice, the absolute must visit is the truly spectacular Gorges De Verdon, which is France’s answer to the Grand Canyon. You really cannot get there by public transport.
  • Limited public transport — if you just want to visit the major resorts along the Cote d’Azur, then you should have no problem getting around by train, but your options are much more limited if you want to head inland. We think that no visit to Nice is complete without going inland, and although there is one superb railway line running to Digne-les-Bains, away from this route your mobility is seriously restricted if you don’t have a hire car.
  • Great driving roads — this part of the world doesn’t just offer stunning scenery; the roads themselves are great works of civil engineering, especially the main motorway which runs along the coast, and offers drivers and alternating mix of viaducts and tunnels.
  • Monaco — there are lots of great and glamorous ways of getting to Monaco, but if you really want to feel like Britain’s suavest secret agent, you will at least want to pick up a BMW 302i convertible at Nice airport. Monaco is easy to drive to and around, with its own famous network of winding roads and tunnels, although be prepared to pay heavily for the privilege of parking your car.
  • No airport rail link — this might not look like a big deal, but we believe in starting as you mean to go on. Despite Nice airport being the busiest in France outside Paris, and despite the main Marseille to Nice / Monaco / Genoa railway line running right outside the airport perimeter, there is no direct train from either of the Nice airport terminals. As a general rule, if it is easy to get from the airport to the city centre by train, it is usually easier still to travel around the area by train, but in Nice, this is clearly not the case.
    Those who do want to use the train from near Nice Airport should travel light,and allow around 15 minutes to walk to Nice St Augustin suburban train station for onward connections towards Nice or St Laurant Du Var for onward connections towards Marseilles. Once at Nice Ville station, you still have to change again to a different station (Nice CP) to use the line to Digne. Naturally, for train buffs, none of this presents much of a problem, but for anyone who is thinking about whether or not to get a hire car in Nice, this swings the pendulum a little bit more towards doing so.

Why not? Nice without a car:

  • Cote D’Azur — there are plenty of trains trundling along the Cote d’Azur, with a mixture of long-distance (usually TGV, but using conventional lines) trains stopping at the major towns and slower regional services which stop everywhere. Not only are services extremely frequent, but the train also hugs some sections of the coast which are much harder to get to in a car. Heading west from Nice you can easily visit Antibes, genteel Cannes (when the film festival has moved on), plush St Tropez (bus connection from Frejus) and Toulon. Heading east from Nice you can visit Monaco and the Italian border town of Ventimiglia.
  • Monaco — if you want to save your car hire money for a flutter in the famous Casino De Monte Carlo, then you can do a lot worse than arriving in Monaco by train, in what is surely one of the world’s nicest underground stations. Train geeks can revel in the novelty factor that Monaco is the only territory in the world with just one (underground) station!
  • Walk It — Nice is one of those few cities where the airport is right on the edge of town, or, quite literally, at the end of the main street.The walk into town from the airport heads past a few of the usual airport commercial units before the Promenade Des Anglais proper starts. To reach the city centre will take around an hour, as the 4 mile / 6 km walk is flat all the way. The city itself is a delight to walk around, with a number of pedestrianised areas, whilst many streets have wide pavements. Beyond the sea front, Nice gets quite hilly, but this landscape can also provide easy access to walking areas just beyond the city. Alternatively, you can use local buses to access nearby villages and go hiking from there.
  • Bike it — this part of the world really does have some of Europe’s finest cycling territory, and this is where Lance Armstrong trained before winning his epic seven Tours De France in a row! To get the best out of these roads you will need a racing bike – Cycle Cote D’Azur in Nice will fix you up with one of these or take you on one of their tours, or you could bring your own. For more relaxed cycling in Nice itself, a public bike hire scheme is available, operating under the appropriate “Velo Blue” name, and having hire stations operating in the centre, and also along the Promenade D’Anglais. There is even a bike hire location right outside the airport, but you will need to find a location that takes card payments first – bizarely, not all terminals do this!
  • Monaco by Helicopter — these days, there might be plenty of budget flights to Nice, but the short run from Nice airport to Monaco heliport is also one of the busiest helicopter routes in the world. You might think this is all expensively glamorous, but as with any service, book well ahead, and you can travel from €110 for a one way flight.  Naturally, you will enjoy some stunningly spectacular views as you will fly over the city of Nice and the wonderful Cap Ferrat before landing in Monaco’s dramatic harbour. Seven minutes of pure indulgence! You can hire a car anywhere, but few places offer such wide availability of scheduled helicopter flights. From Monaco, you can easily continue your travels using any of the various means listed above and below.
  • Ferries — Nice is a major ferry port, and an ideal starting point to continue onwards towards Corsica, or even Sardinia below it. This sort of onward journey is much better to do without a hire car, as you then have the flexibility to continue as you please, whereas you would usually have to return a hire car to the same territory from which you picked it up, i.e. mainland France, and not Corsica or Italy.
  • Local boats — another option if you just want to stay local to Nice is to take one of the various boat services which operate around the Cote d’Azur.
  • Marseille — in the rush to hit the beautiful beaches of the Cote d’Azur, many people overlook Marseille, France’s gritty but still fascinating third city. You can easily visit Marseille in a day trip from anywhere on the Cote d’Azur, and going by train is ideal to explore everything the city itself has to offer. Allow around two hours to travel between Nice and Marseille.
    Marseille is of particular interest to architecture pundits, being the home of the groundbreaking Unite D’Habitation development by Le Corbusier — a building which shows that in the right environment and with proper upkeep, brutal concrete structures can still be remarkably appealing! See our Marseille car hire advice page for more suggestions.
  • Digne — if you can work around changing between the different stations in Nice and the relatively infrequent scheduling, then the single track excursion to Digne is highly recommended. This will give you a good introduction to the stunning scenery that this area has to offer, and you may also be able to continue onwards by exploring various hiking trails, or on a bike. However, heading this way may also have you wishing you had picked up a hire car in Nice instead, so you have been warned!
  • Cost — if you are holidaying in Nice for the first time and are more used to hiring cars in places like Malaga, Alicante and Faro, then you will find that hiring a car in Nice will be quite a bit more expensive, so you may want to weigh up the costs against the costs of using other forms of transport. Relative to elsewhere in France, car hire in Nice is generally good value.
  • Slow and fast — there is more than enough mixture of slow-paced beach life all along the Cote d’Azur for which you really won’t need a hire car, or high adrenaline activities further inland, where you can usually expect transport to be provided.
  • Cinque Terre (near Pisa, Italy) — this might initially look like a bit of a long shot from Nice, but if you are planning on travelling around a bit, then we would highly recommend continuing along the coast railway through Genoa and then on as far as Pisa. This will take you through the fantastic Cinque Terre National Park, which features five spectacular clifftop villages, which are virtually inaccessible by road. This is somewhere that is ideal to explore by train, although any journey to these villages might mean travelling to La Spezia first, and then doubling back. The most northerly village is Monterosso, with Riomaggiore being the furthest south. Allow around 6 hours to reach any of these villages, although I would suggest a few hours in historic Geno as well.
  • Fly out of Pisa – You can easily combine an outward flight to Nice with return flight home from Pisa, or vice versa. This would allow you to see some of the best coastal landscapes and cities that France and Italy have to offer.

Conclusion: Can you get by without a hire car in Nice? Of course you can – and I did so quite happily on my first visit, but not when I went back with a friend and we wanted to visit more of the interior. However, the opportunities to explore this area by road are too good to be ignored, whereas public transport just isn’t that good, unless you only want ahead along the coast. I think that the scenic areas around Nice are already well enough documented, but the interior is much less celebrated. That is where you really should go to get the best out of this part of the world, and in these areas a car is almost essential. An even better option is to take advantage of the wonderful cycling opportunities Nice presents, but if that isn’t for you, then a hire car is an acceptable second best!

Verdict – yes

Pisa

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The compact city of Pisa might well be world famous for its dodgy engineering, but any visitor to the region is obviously going to want to see a lot more than this, and there is certainly plenty to see within Pisa itself and nearby, without having to travel particularly far. When it comes to transport, Pisa Galileo Galilei airport is actually the main airport serving not just Pisa, but also Florence, the Tuscany region and many other cities between Milan and Rome.

We’re basing this advice on the assumption that you are arriving on a flight into Pisa airport, and that you are considering hiring a car for your stay. In contrast, our Florence car hire guide assumes you are arriving there by train (as there are few flights to Florence Airport) and not considering getting a hire car, so these two guides are very much interchangeable.

Why rent a car in Pisa?

  • Tuscany — the famous rolling hills and vineyards of Tuscany are a natural opportunity for a driving tour, and Pisa is the main gateway for this. However, this kind of road trip is fairly obvious. If you were planning on doing this, there isn’t really much we could add!
  • Flexibility — as with anywhere, a hire car will let you see the places you want to visit at your own space.
  • North and East — don’t forget that there is a lot more to Pisa than just heading south into Tuscany. However, some of these places are much better to reach by train, as explained below.

Why not? – Visiting Pisa without a car:

  • Cinque Terre – the stunningly scenic Cinque Terre National Park area is often overlooked in the rush to get to the big guns in Pisa and Florence, but this really is a completely unique place to visit. I will have to confess that despite running travel websites now for over 10 years, I only found out about the Cinque Terre within the last 3-4 years, and I kicked myself for leaving it off my last Italian trip, which finished in Pisa. Maybe the Cinque Terre are not as famous as they should be because they have only recently been declared a national park, but either way, this collection of five villages which are all built into steep coastal terrain should be as much of a must see as anywhere else in this region.
    There are many famous villages in the world which are no-go areas for the private car due to their compact historic streets or inaccessible terrain, but there are very few which are so accessible by main-line train. In the case of the Cinque Terre, they are all linked as part of the train route between La Spezia and Genoa, making this one of the great rail journeys of Europe.
    You can also travel between the villages via a network of (chargeable) hiking trails or by boat. As villages go, it doesn’t get any less car dependent than this!
    For these reasons alone, I suggest you should include at least two days into your Pisa trip without a car – although by the time you have added a day in Pisa itself, a couple of days in Florence and a tour around Tuscany by bus or coach, and a day just relaxing, a week is easily up.
  • Pisa city — Pisa is home to a number of renaissance landmarks, particularly around the leaning tower itself, and even if the leaning Tower takes all the glory, you can easily include a day on foot within Pisa.
  • Coast and beaches — don’t forget that around Pisa are a number of beach resort areas, and this is where you will find most of the night-time activity. Plenty of buses supplement local train services around this region.
  • Florence — the natural tendency for people arriving on flights to Pisa is to head to Florence and to spend a few days there. Of course, we must advise you in the strongest possible terms to visit the Cinque Terre aswell, but it is easy to spend several days soaking up the art and architecture of Florence without seeing anywhere near all of it. Regular trains to Florence run from Pisa airport, also calling at Pisa Centrale station. See our Florence car hire guide for more on this.
  • Compact connections — when I visited Pisa in 2009, the first train I planned to catch from Florence was cancelled, so I was running a little short on time. I asked a taxi driver how much he would charge to take me to the airport, and he said €50. This was one of the most blatant taxi rip-offs I had ever heard, as I knew the airport was only about a mile from the Central Station, which in turn was only another mile from the Leaning Tower. As it happened, a bus turned up a few minutes later and the journey only took 10 minutes. You can also start your rail journey around north-west Italy at Pisa airport, which is only 2-3 minutes by train from Centrale station. From here, the airport train continues to Florence, whereas other connections are available to Genoa via La Spezia and the Cinque Terre, and to Bologna.

Conclusion: If your main intention is to drive around Tuscany and other scenic regions and you only want to make very brief visits into the city centres, then we would advise getting a hire car as you may well have originally planned to do, but for any other itinerary, it is clear that a hire car is not necessary.

Verdict — no

Marseille

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“Fifth gear in Provence?”

Marseille is one of those places that is a perfectly interesting destination in its own right, whilst also being a gateway to a number of popular rural areas, the most prominent being of course the region of Provence.

To advise on whether or not to get a hire car in Marseille we would naturally ask whether or not potential car hirers were visiting just the city and surrounding areas, or heading into deeper Provence. Unsurprisingly, the city areas and nearby coastal stretches lean more towards not needing a hire car, whereas one would naturally associate getting around the rolling hills of Provence with having the flexibility of a hire car.

 Why hire a car in Marseille?

  • Provence — fairly obviously, this beautiful but rural region needs a hire car to do it justice.
  • Coastal regions — you do not have to travel far from Marseille, whether east or west, to find superb coastlines and great beaches. Again, these areas are always easier to explore with a hire car.
  • Public transport limitations — as you will read below, you certainly can travel between the major cities in this region by train, but the system is not very well integrated. For example, there is no railway station at Marseille airport, despite it being one of the busiest in France outside Paris. Instead, you will have to take a shuttle bus and then a slow local train.
    Marseille might be the southern end of France’s trunk TGV route, but this is only really useful if you want to head back towards Paris.
    Even for relatively local journeys such as to Avignon or Aix, the TGV only stops infrequently and it will not take you into the city centres. There are even fewer options for heading inwards to Provence, as the main railway line that serves this region (the Digne line) leaves from Nice, not Marseille.
  • Pont Du Gard — I will admit that I visited the world-famous Roman aqueduct at Pont Du Gard in the summer of 2008, and I did so without a car. I had flown in to Marseille that morning, and was continuing through to Perpignan where I was meeting family. The first stretch of my journey involved a short coach ride and then a brief hop on the TGV between Aix-en-Provence and Avignon. From there, I had to catch a bus into town and then another bus out to Pont Du Gard — so far so good — a little bit of a complicated journey, but it all ran to plan. Having spent a couple of hours at Pont Du Gard, there was no sign of the bus to take me onwards to Nimes. After waiting around half an hour, I called the helpline, and was told it would be along shortly. Eventually, the bus turned up, but it would have been difficult to have known where you stood if you don’t speak workable French. The onward train from Nimes was also heavily delayed. This is all a great deal of hassle to go through, even if the bridge itself is well worth the effort!

Why not? – Marseille and Provence without a car:

  • City of Marseille — Marseille is often overlooked by tourists who are heading towards Provence and other areas inland, which conform to the more traditional picture postcard definition of scenic. Instead, Marseille offers a truly lively city with a huge range of different cuisines, as well as some spectacular modern architecture. All of this can easily be done using the excellent public transport that the city has to offer, including a small metro system. By far and away the most important modern building in the city is Le Corbusier’s “Unite D’habitation” — love it or hate it, this is what skyscraping accommodation blocks and streets in the sky were supposed to be like. Another modern classic is the “Big Blue” county hall building, designed by the British architect Will Alsop.
  • Calanques – this superb area of cliff trails is one of the few national parks in the world you can quite literally walk to from within the city limits. Note that this area is closed during the hottest summer months (July and August) due to the fire risk.
  • Multiple city tour — basing yourself in Marseille, you can easily visit the former papal headquarters of Avignon and the Roman city of Nimes by train.
  • Coastline — the railway line between Marseille and Ventimiglia in Italy has some absolutely superb coastal stretches, whilst also taking in world-famous resorts like St Tropez and Cannes before passing through Nice and then Monaco. See our Nice page for more about this.
  • Bike it — there is no doubt that, as mentioned above, the area around Marseille offers some superb opportunities for touring by car, but this is also top-notch cycling territory, and many world-famous cyclists and triathletes train in this area. As many of the roads around here are steep and unforgiving, you will need to either hire a decent road bike or bring your own.
  • Train from London — if you want to head somewhere on the Mediterranean but also would rather get there by train, then Marseille is naturally your first port of call. You can do this journey with a simple change in Lille, or you can travel via Paris and take in a few city sights on the way. Allow around six hours to reach Marseille from London, or just over three hours for the fastest TGV trains from Paris to Marseille. If you are already arriving by train, then you will be near the city centre and you may well want to continue onwards by train.
    However, if you do want to get a hire car, be prepared to pay significantly more in Marseille city centre. In fact, based on price alone, you may well find it cheaper to alight at Avignon or Aix-en-Provence station instead. Note that Eurostar do also offer weekly trains to Avignon during the summer — these arrive in the city centre, not the cathedral like TGV station.
  • Boat trips and ferries – several options are available for taking boat trips from Marseille, including for excellent views of the Calanques. Marseille is also a gateway port for destinations further afield, including Corsica.
  • Cost — car hire in France is relatively expensive when compared with other European countries, especially if you’re used to hiring cars in Spain, and hiring a car in Marseille is no cheaper than anywhere else – in fact, expect to pay around 30% more than for comparable car hire at Nice airport.

Conclusion: We started with the expectation that if you are flying into Marseille and then carrying on in to Provence, then there isn’t really much argument to say you could get by in this region without a hire car.

However, that should be reasonably obvious anyway, so it isn’t really worth basing our verdict on that kind of trip.

If on the other hand you want to fly into Marseille and actually base yourself in the city, then there should be more than enough places that you can easily get to without needing a hire car, including some great scenery which is close to the city itself.

For these reasons, our verdict for Marseille itself is a firm no.

Overall verdict – no

Note — despite launching with a big fanfare, the budget “mp2″ terminal at Marseille airport has only managed to sustain a limited number of low-cost routes from outside France, so you might also want to consider flights to Avignon or even to nearby Nimes or Montpellier. Alternatively, a much wider choice of flights to Nice is available from most UK regional airports. Nice also offers relatively easy access to the interior, as well as the Cote D’Azur region. See our Nice car hire advice page for more details.

Bergen

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It is a while since I actually visited Bergen, but oddly enough, the scenery hasn’t changed much, and nor has the infrastructure.

Back then, you could take your own car on the DFDS ferry between Newcastle and Bergen. This is no longer an option (DFDS canned the route in 2008), so assuming you arrive on flights to Bergen instead, what’s the best way to get around?

So, the obvious suggestion would be that a rental car is the best way to explore this very scenic, but sparsely populated part of the world. But the costs are astronomical – Bergen tops the list of cities I’ve looked at, with car hire prices starting at over £300 per week.

For this reason, I think it is worth thinking again:

Why get a hire car in Bergen?

  • Explore: For all the obvious reasons – this is a land of stunning scenery, and the only way to do it justice is in a hire car.
  • Hardanger Fjord – not only this this perhaps the most famous of Norway’s fjords, but it might have been one to reach by rail, had the Granvin line been kept open. Note: Google maps shows Granvin station as being open, when this is not the case.
  • Expensive trains too! – car hire in Bergen (or in Norway generally) might be expensive, but the trains are too. The price of car hire in Norway is more of a reflection of the generally high cost of living, rather than of motoring costs.

Reasons not to hire a car in Bergen:

  • Cost - whether due to the high costs in Norway or not, car hire in Bergen is still ridiculously expensive, and more so than any other city we have looked at for Car Or No Car. For this reason alone, it is very difficult to advise hiring a car here!
  • Stunning rail trips: The Bergen to Oslo railway is rare amongst inter-city lines in that it is rated as scenic for virtually its entire length.
  • Flåm Railway – this route is one of the most famous scenic routes in Europe, if not one of the great railway journeys of the world. The line branches off the Bergen to Oslo railway line, itself also incredibly scenic, but is much closer to Bergen than it is to Oslo.
  • Boats: Whether you take advantage of organised trips, or use the ferries (combined with buses), the fjords are at their most impressive when reflected in all their glory from the water. Taking your car onto the ferries is an additional expense on top of already exorbitant Bergen car hire prices!
  • Walk it: The other ‘classic’ view of the fjords is from the top, but the best spots are rarely accessible directly by car, so you will have to plan to do some walking. Whereas many other scenic parts of the world can be visited by a ‘road trip’, the car in this part of the world is only going to take you to and from the start of a walk.
  • Outdoor Activities – there are many excellent opportunities for guided outdoor activities, and these may well come with transport provided, in which case a hire car won’t be needed.

Conclusion – you would naturally expect that a hire car in Bergen will give you the most flexibility, but there clearly are other options. As car hire in Norway is more expensive than anywhere else I have seen, I have to suggest thinking twice before booking.

Verdict – no (based on cost)

What about car hire in Haugesund or Stavanger?

  • Bergen is more of a gateway to the fjords, although it may be tempting to look at Ryanair’s flights to Haugesund. However, Haugesund is nowhere near a station, so it is harder to get around without a car, and there are no scenic rail routes to enjoy. If it is a case of enjoying the area around Bergen without a car, or flying into Haugesund and renting, one, then those ‘cheap’ flights could end up being very expensive indeed!