I would like to rent a car in Nice, we did this 6 years ago but the difference was we were a couple and now I am taking a family of 4. What is the cost of gas? and how do I fill up? Last time we did not have a european credit card and there was no attendant at the gas station. Is this a good way to see the area, I want to drive to the Rivera and back, perhaps show the kids castle in Monte Carlo. Is it doable? and can I get a car rental at the port?

Welcome to Cruise Chat, Joanne Easlick. Your question has a lot of subquestions. I will attempt to answer a couple of your questions and I am sure someone else will supplement my answer. First of all, yes you can rent a car right at the airport in Nice. I know Avis has a rental lot there. Just go to their website and use the airport code NCE to view reservation information. Your car trip is "doable" allowing that you have enough time to complete the trip. I used my master card in France and I didn't have any problem. The computer does all the necessary conversions. Your receipt might look a little funny but it is ok. The most recent price of fuel that I could find for France was updated yesterday and it showed $5.54 per gallon in Paris. Nice will not be significantly different.

Hi Joanne. Are you at the port in Nice or the airport? We are renting through Hertz and are picking up by the McDonalds (along the Promenade- just past the carousel- Hertz.com will show you additional locations and there probably is one closer to the port). We needed an automatic so had to stick with a larger location. We have some funny gas station stories. Generally, you pay inside and along the Riviera, everyone should take credit cards. We used American Express or Visa throughout our trip. We are a family of four as well- spent 5 weeks last summer in Europe with our kids (4 and 5 at the time). We all had a blast. It was such a blessing for our family. We are spending the summer in Europe this year (and going back to Nice and renting a car). Gas is expensive but the luxury of having a car when traveling with children is priceless (sounds like the Visa commercial but true). Have a great time!!

Regarding the current price of gas in Europe its running about 1.47 Euros per liter. This equates to a little more than $8.00 per gallon. I just filled my tiny rental car today (we are currently in Italy) and it cost more than $65 for about 3/4 of a tank in my tiny Fiat. We were in France last week and the price was similar. The prices seem to be going up daily just like back in the states. The main reason for such high prices here are the taxes which represent more than 70% or European gas prices.

Hank