Coach Rental Across France

Coaches for conferences, trade fairs and staff days

Moving a few hundred delegates comes down to three questions. Where can the coach stop? How long can it stay? How many hours can the driver work that day?

Ask each venue where coaches set down

Before the quote is final, ask every venue where coaches set down and how many can load at once. That decides whether three hundred people leave in one wave or three.

Central Paris is strict. Without a permit, a coach uses one of 56 on-street coach places for the time it takes delegates to board or alight, engine switched off. A longer wait needs a coach parking space and a PASS Autocar. Paris Nord Villepinte, between central Paris and Charles de Gaulle airport, and Eurexpo Lyon at Chassieu, on the road to Saint Exupéry, sit outside the centres. Ask each for its coach area.

Full-size coach interior with reclining seats and aisle
Full-size coach interior with reclining seats and aisle

Hotel loops and the first morning

Size the plan on the biggest movement, which is usually the first morning. List each hotel by address, with the number of delegates staying there. One coach calling at five hotels spends most of its time at the kerb. Two coaches on shorter loops are often quicker.

Check the low-emission zone on every leg. Inside the A86, coaches with a Crit'Air 3, 4 or 5 sticker, or none, may not run between 08:00 and 20:00, weekends included. Lyon bars the same coaches at all hours. These rules are in force but may change, so check the coach's sticker before the event.

Rules organisers should know

  • EU drivers' hours (Regulation (EC) No 561/2006): at most 9 hours of driving a day, extendable to 10 hours twice a week
  • Daily rest is at least 11 hours, which may be reduced to 9 hours up to three times between weekly rests; weekly rest is 45 hours, reducible to 24 hours every second week
  • The International Paris Air Show is at Paris-Le Bourget on 14-20 June 2027; the weekdays are for trade visitors

Gala dinners and the driver's day

EU rules cap a coach driver at 9 hours of driving a day, raised to 10 hours on two days a week. After 4.5 hours behind the wheel comes a 45-minute break, which may be split into 15 and 30 minutes. Daily rest is at least 11 hours.

So an airport run at 07:00 and a gala dinner ending after midnight will not fit one driver. Send the first pickup and last drop-off for each day, and the operator plans a second driver for the evening. Over several days, the weekly cap of 56 hours also counts.

Organisers ask

Can the coach wait outside the venue all day?

Not in central Paris. It sets down, leaves for a coach park and returns at an agreed time. In other cities the rule depends on the street, so ask the venue.

When is the next Paris Air Show?

It is held at Paris-Le Bourget, 14-20 June 2027. The weekdays are for trade visitors. Book the coaches early and send the times of the first and last runs.

What do you need for a quote?

The dates, the programme with times, every address, the headcount for each movement, and anyone who needs step-free access.

Cities

Vehicles with a driver