Cherbourg car rental

[seaworthy1]

Will be in Cherbourg May 11 for six hours, 1pm to 7 pm. Would like to rent a car and drive to Utah Beach, visit the beach and museum then return to port via St Mare Eglese(sp?) Can this be done in say, 4 hours? We have done the Overlord tour out of Le Havre, and it was a wonderful, moving experience. My DW father landed on Utah beach with the 79th Inf on D-Day plus 9. Is this doable in so short a time? Or should we wait for another time?

[Hlitner]

We were in Cherbourg in the spring of 2011 and rented a car from Hertz (61 Euros) for the day. But, we had a long port day...not your short 6 hours. You will need about 15 -20 min to walk from ship to a rental car dealer (there were several in town near the port) and probably another 15-20 min to do the normal paperwork. You also will need to err on the side of caution and be back in Cherbourg before 6. So realistically this leaves you with about 4 hours to use a rental which would be enough time to get to Utah Beach (a little less then an hour each way). Not sure you would have enough time to do much else. We were there on the D-Day weekend and also drove over to St Malo where they were having a weekend long celebration (we met quite a few American paratroopers in town for a mass jump). You might be able to duplicate this trip (Utah Beach plus St Malo) if you move your day along.

 

Hank

[cruisinsince75]

We too are renting a car from Hertz in Cherbourg. Does anyone know if there is a shuttle into town? It appears to be about a 15 minute walk, but I am a rather slow walker. Or do you think that Hertz will have cars waiting at the pier?

 

We will be in port for the 70th anniversary of D-Day and realize that traffic will be a little heavier than normal. Also understand that Sword Beach will be the Official Ceremonies with Pres Obama and other dignitaries, so trying to avoid that area at all costs that day as well as he American Cemetary

 

Our ship (Azamara Journey) will dock at 6:00am and doesn't leave until midnight, but they are having the special Azamazing Evening that night, so we will need to be back around 6pm.

 

We are in hopes to see Ste Mere Eglise, possibly St Lo, and Utah Beach all in the same day. Does that sound doable?

[Hlitner]

When we were there on the Prinsendam there was no shuttle. It might be possible to get a taxi...but most taxis do not like to take that kind of short haul. And by the way, we were there for the D-Day weekend which was very interesting. We drove to St Mere Eglise where there was a huge celebration (including a parachute drop re-enactment) and we met quite a few military guys from the US who were there for the weekend.

 

Hank

[cruisinsince75]

When we were there on the Prinsendam there was no shuttle. It might be possible to get a taxi...but most taxis do not like to take that kind of short haul. And by the way, we were there for the D-Day weekend which was very interesting. We drove to St Mere Eglise where there was a huge celebration (including a parachute drop re-enactment) and we met quite a few military guys from the US who were there for the weekend.

 

Hank

 

Thanks Hank! Guess I will be walking a bunch anyways this trip, so might as well get used to it.

 

How bad was the traffic getting into Ste. Mere Eglise and were you able to find parking near the events?

[Hlitner]

Thanks Hank! Guess I will be walking a bunch anyways this trip, so might as well get used to it.

 

How bad was the traffic getting into Ste. Mere Eglise and were you able to find parking near the events?

 

We really had no problems with the traffic and parking was OK although it took us a few minutes to find a spot. Since we were there on a huge celebration day it was strange. There are quite a few WWII re-enactors in Europe and they spend a lot of money to look like genuine WWII soldiers. So we were driving down a 2 lane country road and pass a WWII Jeep with two soldiers dressed like GIs. We later ran into them at Utah Beach and found out that they were both Germans who had spent a lot of money restoring the jeep and getting authentic WWII US uniforms.

 

Hank

[cruisinsince75]

We really had no problems with the traffic and parking was OK although it took us a few minutes to find a spot. Since we were there on a huge celebration day it was strange. There are quite a few WWII re-enactors in Europe and they spend a lot of money to look like genuine WWII soldiers. So we were driving down a 2 lane country road and pass a WWII Jeep with two soldiers dressed like GIs. We later ran into them at Utah Beach and found out that they were both Germans who had spent a lot of money restoring the jeep and getting authentic WWII US uniforms.

 

Hank

 

Good to know. Wow! That must have been quite an experience. We are so looking forward to being there on the 70th.

 

I Googled the distance from the pier to the Hertz agency. Says only 850 meters and I walked it using street view. Looks pretty simple.

[Hlitner]

Good to know. Wow! That must have been quite an experience. We are so looking forward to being there on the 70th.

 

I Googled the distance from the pier to the Hertz agency. Says only 850 meters and I walked it using street view. Looks pretty simple.

 

Its very simple since there is essentially a single road leading into town. Most of the rental car agencies are clustered within a couple of blocks not far from the port. I would also add that the walk is over a nearly flat surface.

 

Hank

[cruisinsince75]

Its very simple since there is essentially a single road leading into town. Most of the rental car agencies are clustered within a couple of blocks not far from the port. I would also add that the walk is over a nearly flat surface.

 

Hank

Great! Thanks Hank!

[cruisinsince75]

Following up on our Hertz rental. The website says it is a 24/7 location. I will be following up with Hertz on this, but thought someone might know the answer to this. Is there a spot right at the pier that has cars that utilize this service or is it something that you can only do in town. The website says it is drive away 24/7 service, but nothing shows on the location map.

[onthebalcony]

We just returned from an Azamara cruise docking in Cannes. I used info@provencerivieratours.com for a tour to Antibes and Saint Paul de Vence with Philippe. He was very knowledgeable and our group of 8 had a very good 5 hr tour with him.

[Hlitner]

Following up on our Hertz rental. The website says it is a 24/7 location. I will be following up with Hertz on this, but thought someone might know the answer to this. Is there a spot right at the pier that has cars that utilize this service or is it something that you can only do in town. The website says it is drive away 24/7 service, but nothing shows on the location map.

 

We did not notice any rental cars at the port. But, as I mentioned in my other post, it is a reasonable walk from the pier into town where the agency is located.

 

Hank