I will be in Geneva for a conference and before I return to U.S., I plan to visit Chamonix for 3 days (June 27-30, 2008), including daytrips to Annecy and Courmayeur/Aosta with a Chamonix hotel as my base. I am also contemplating renting a car, but I am little concerned about driving in foreign countries. I have following questions: (1) Do I need an international driving permit to rent a car? Since I will be driving in France and Italy, will I need additional permits? (2) From which side, Swiss or French, should I rent a car at Geneva airport? I prefer a side easier to return my vehicle. (3) What are your driving experiences in these areas? I frequently rent cars for U.S. travel, but do not have any experience in Europe.
You don't, however, need one for France. I just had a bit of a argument with Avis because they told me I WOULD need one to pick up my car, and so I sent them a quote from the French embassy website where it clearly states Americans don't need an IDP. They apologized, said that the agent was wrong to tell me I did need one, and said they would make sure their agents knew.
You won't need any additional permits for driving but the car does need permit to drive on the AutoBahn in Switzerland. See Pauline's notes on Slow Travel. As a general rule, I usually get an IDL if I am driving in a country where English in not the native language. It is the law in Italy so you will need one if you are going to be traveling into Italy. I'm not certain about Switzerland.
I would compare the costs of picking up the car on the different sides to see if there is any difference. One reader noted the main advantage of picking up the car on the French side is if you are going to be doing a one way and dropping your car off somewhere in France. It is typically expensive to pick up a car in one country and drop it in a second country. Previously, some readers have found it less expensive to pick up and return the car in Switzerland.
If you are driving on the Autoroutes in France or Italy, there will be a toll. Driving on smaller roads are fine keeping in mind they may be a bit windy up in the mountains. I haven't driven in the French Alps around Chamonix so I don't know what they are like. I have driven more farther south in the French Alps and the roads were not bad other then some of the smaller roads going up from the Riviera into the Alps. Some of those are only for strong mountain drivers not afraid of heights.
I'm going to link this to the Rest of Europe forum in case there are any readers with a bit more experience renting in Geneva. Switzerland is covered by that forum.
We go to Chamonix every year so I know the roads there very well. The main road through the valley is quite large and easy to follow, but as soon as you leave the main valley the roads are quite twisty. Nothing that you can't master: just go slow round corners and bends and keep to your side of the road!
To go from Chamonix to Italy or viceversa you can take the Tunnel of the Mont Blank, which cost quite a lot of money. I can't tell you exactly because we have a 20 pass-ticket that lasts two years, but I know for fact that the one way or round trip is very expensive. I will be there at the end of July so I could always post the latest info if you need to know before hand.
In general, people say that it is cheaper to rent a car in France than in Italy, so you could pick one up somewhere near Geneva so it would be easy to drop it off on your way back.
Do you have a hotel in Chamonix already booked or not yet? Would you like to be in the main town or in one of the other villages too? You could always try Les Huches or Argentiere too.
Thank you all for the advice on the trip, which I just completed. I rented a car from the Swiss side of the Geneva airport. Driving is a breeze, as the roads are in excellent condition and French drivers are not that aggressive. The scenery is spectacular and driving in the valleys around Mont Blanc was the highlight of my trip. Chamonix is a lively town, while Annecy is picturesque and has a feeling of fesitivity around the lake area. Courmayeur is pretty too with a splash of Italy, but is not as touristy as Chamonix. The city of Aosta is somewhat underwhelming. When crossing the border (Mont-blanc tunnel) into Italy, I realized that I left my passport in the hotel. Luckily, I was not stopped anywhere, so I did not need to show my passport and/or my International Driving Permit.
