From Teresa Plowright,
Your Guide to Family Vacations.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!

Traveling with a family around Europe? If you're staying 17 days or more, your best choice for Europe may be car rental, and specifically, the unique and economical Kangoo, above.

I'm in love with the Kangoo, as I'll detail in the next pages. But first, some background about getting one.

The Kangoo, you see, is not really available as a car rental. Far better than a car rental are the "buy-lease" deals offered by two French car manufacturers, Peugeot and Renault, whose program is called Renault Eurodrive.

Advantages over car rental include:

• comprehensive zero-deductible insurance coverage
• brand-new vehicle
• low daily rates
• unlimited mileage
• travel in over 26 countries
• more liberal minimum/maximum driver's age
• pickup in one city/country, dropoff in another one

The logic behind these car "leases" is brilliant: in France, the purchase tax on any used car is much less than on a new vehicle. Renault (and Peugeot) "lease" new cars to tourists, and can then sell these "used" cars in Europe at competitive prices.

Note that only non-Europeans can do these "buy-leases"! You need to book through Renault Eurodrive.

And now, a tour of the Kangoo's virtues for family travelers...

^{*all photos (c) Teresa Plowright} As is common in the travel industry, the writer was provided with complimentary accommodation for the purpose of review. While it has not influenced this review, About.com believes in full disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest. For more information, see our ethics policy.