Amsterdam to Marseille,
the Rhône in two stages.
Twelve hours and twenty minutes of driving separate the Amstel from the Vieux-Port. That is a two-day journey in anybody’s book, and we would rather say so now than halfway down the Autoroute du Soleil.
Twelve hours of road, and the honest reasons to take them.
This is one of the longest journeys we quote out of Amsterdam. 1230 kilometres, 12h20 at the wheel before a single stop, and the last hour through a city whose traffic has a character of its own. Nobody books it to beat a flight to Marignane, and we will not pretend otherwise on this page.
What the car does instead is carry things and people that an aircraft handles badly. A yacht crew joining a boat with kit bags. A family moving south for the summer with everything the house needs. A collection, an instrument, a film case, a dog. One chauffeur, one boot, one price agreed before the first kilometre, and no handover at any point between your hallway in Amsterdam and the address in Provence.
Brussels and Luxembourg, the A31 past Metz and Nancy, Dijon and Beaune, then the A7 down the Rhône through Valence, Orange and Avignon.
Driving alone, before rest breaks. Over two days that is a long first stage and a lighter second one that ends by mid-afternoon.
One way, whole car, everything in. The two-day arrangement builds on this figure and is confirmed before departure.
Journeys of this length are never sold as a click-and-go booking. Message dispatch with your dates, your addresses at both ends and how many people are travelling, and you will get one written itinerary with one price on it.
Two days, and where the night sits.
The break belongs roughly two-thirds of the way down, which keeps the second morning short and the arrival civilised.
Out of Amsterdam in the morning, south by Antwerp and Brussels, across to Luxembourg and down through Metz and Nancy. Seven hours or so, broken where you like.
Beaune, Dijon or the edge of Lyon. Burgundy is a pleasant place to stop and puts the Rhône valley within easy reach of breakfast.
The A7 south past Valence, Montélimar and Orange, with Provence arriving through the window somewhere around Avignon. Four to five hours, finished by the afternoon.
Down to the address itself — a hotel above the Vieux-Port, a house in the Sept-Huitième, a berth at the marina or a gate at the cruise terminal in the northern docks.
Every figure covers the entire car for the one-way journey. Over twelve hours of seat time, choose on space before anything else.
For a family of five heading south for a season, the Van Class is the only sensible answer. For two people who intend to sleep through Burgundy, ask about the Maybach across Europe; it travels by arrangement and never on a first-come basis.
Crew and owners heading for the Vieux-Port or the marinas along the coast arrive with holdalls, foul-weather kit and equipment that airlines treat as a problem. The car takes all of it to the quay and stops there.
Houses in the Luberon and around Aix-en-Provence need more than a cabin bag to open up for the summer. One drive down with everything on board is cheaper and calmer than a flight plus excess baggage plus a hire car.
Marseille is a working port with cruise berths north of the old harbour. Arriving by road means no connection to miss, no luggage belt, and a chauffeur who takes the cases to the terminal desk.
Some guests drive south precisely for the journey: a night in Beaune, a detour through the Ardèche, an hour in Avignon. Written into the quote in advance, none of it costs extra time on the meter, because there is no meter.
The natural halfway point, and a booking in its own right.
Two hours further east along the A8, for the Côte d’Azur itself.
The long-distance desk: borders, tolls, overnight stops and one quote.
The full list of intercity routes we price from Amsterdam.
Only in theory. 12h20 of driving plus mandatory rest would mean leaving before dawn and arriving late at night, and no passenger enjoys the last three hours of that. We plan it as two days with one night on the way, and quote both stages together.
Through Belgium and Luxembourg, then the A31 to Dijon and the A6 to the Rhône, picking up the A7 south of Lyon. It avoids the Paris ring entirely. The Paris and A6 line is the alternative when conditions favour it, at no change in price.
Not separately. The overnight for the chauffeur is already inside the quoted figure, along with fuel, tolls and taxes. Your own room is yours to choose and yours to settle — we are happy to hold the car nearby whichever hotel you pick.
Better than it does in the air. Business and First Class carry three passengers with three bags; Van Class carries seven and seven with headroom to spare. Sports equipment, instruments and oversized items should be mentioned at booking so the right car is sent.
Yes. Aix-en-Provence is half an hour north and Cassis sits at the eastern edge of the Calanques National Park. Extra days are arranged as hourly hire from wherever you are staying, beginning and ending in the same city, at €65, €80 or €100 an hour by class.