Car hire at Grenoble train station

Grenoble's station is where many skiers and hikers switch from the TGV or a regional train to a car for the last leg into the mountains. Thirteen rental companies are listed here, and they are close together, which makes comparing easy and returns straightforward.

Where the desks are

Avis, Budget, Hertz, Dollar, Thrifty, Alamo, Enterprise and National give Place de la Gare as their address, right outside the station. Europcar, Keddy, SIXT, Flizzr and Rent A Car are on Rue Émile Gueymard, the street running alongside the station area, a couple of minutes' walk away. In ski season, Saturday mornings are the busiest time of the week, because that is when most chalet and apartment weeks change over.

Winter rules in the mountains

Under the French Loi Montagne, cars in mountain areas of departments such as Isère must either have winter tyres or carry snow chains or snow socks from 1 November to 31 March. Many hire cars in Grenoble are fitted with winter tyres in that period, but do not assume it: ask at the desk and request chains if the car does not have them. The roads to the resorts include long series of hairpins, notably the famous 21 bends up to Alpe d'Huez.

Driving around Grenoble

• The Grenoble metropolitan area has a low emission zone (ZFE). Rental cars should carry a Crit'Air sticker; check it is on the windscreen.
• The A480 bypass runs along the west side of the city, and the A41 heads north-east towards Chambéry and Annecy, with the A48 to Lyon.
• The city centre has many tram lines and pedestrian streets, so it is easier to leave the car at your hotel and use the Bastille cable car and trams.

Popular destinations include Chamrousse, the closest major ski area to the city, and the Romanche valley road towards Alpe d'Huez and Les Deux Alpes. In summer the same roads serve hikers and cyclists heading for the Vercors and Chartreuse massifs on either side of the city.