What is the fastest train back to Paris. I%26#39;m staying in Sarlat. I will be renting a car at the Bergerac Airport during my stay, and hope to return the car hopefully with no drop off fee to wherever train station/location is most convenient.
I%26#39;ve heard that there are several car agency locations that don%26#39;t charge drop off fees at Brive and at Bordeaux.
How long is the train journey? Any suggestions for quickest route? I%26#39;ve looked in to flying (expensive).
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Brives to Paris by direct (I mean no changes, but with stops!) train is not as bad as I thought, about 4 hours on TEOZ, which is a not-so-fast-but-nice train type.
For these there is a rather standard, flat rate.
Bordeaux Paris you have lots of high-speed TGV trains, about 3 hours and a few minutes.
Some bargains for TGVs out of rush hours/periods.
Brive trains arrive in Paris at AUsterlitz tiny station, while the Bordeaux ones arrtive in big Gare Montparnasse, but that%26#39;s a minor point.
Maybe you can check fares for your expected day and hour at www.voyages-sncf.com/dynamic/_SvHomePage… (long address but in English) and then decide.
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It would be highly unusual to avoid a one-way drop fee on a car hire in Europe. Some agencies allow you to return to different offices in a single city, but it%26#39;s a different story if you want to return to a different city.
If you find one, great, but you are far more likely to be charged a drop fee.
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This may come down to whether a drop charge is so substantial that it%26#39;s worth the extra trouble and gas to get back to Bergerac (you need to return the car full) not to mention the time (probably at least 90 minutes to two hours to get to Bordeaux from Sarlat, and at least an hour to get to Bergerac, even on the highspeed tollway). And if you take the car back to Bergerac airport to avoid the drop charge, you still have to get to a train, and find your way to Paris from there.
It would be a fast trip to Paris from Brive (but if you drive to Bordeaux you will more than cancel out the greater TGV speed), and Austerlitz station is not far from Notre Dame area (to give you a frame of reference). It would not surprise me if there is no (or a reduced) drop charge at Brive, just because it%26#39;s a major center for car rentals in the area and they need to get the cars there somehow (so might not want to discourage people from leaving them there, by charging high fees). I would suggest trying some of the major chains that you can call in the US (e.g., Avis has a rental office just outside the Brive station, about 1/2 block down the street -- funny story: the first time we rented a car from Avis there, we had no idea where it was and put everything in a cab and asked to be taken there!)
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I agree with Didierz, Livesfortravel, Brive-Paris is a much nicer option,for my money.Nice train, scenery,in an older,more relaxed sort of way.Quicker in the long run.Reasonable rates,more comfortable seats-at least for me!-and leaves you bang in the centre-just cross the bridge at Austerlitz and you%26#39;re 5 minutes from Gare de Lyon station.I have done this route many times,and quire enjoy it.
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