Karen

My husband and I plan to rent a car in Brussels and drive to Paris and tool around for a few days. We'll be staying in the heart of Paris and either walking or taking the metro to our destinations. This is our first trip to Europe and based on what I've read about the lack of available parking in Paris, my question is - where can one park a car safely for a few days? Any other helpful hints about driving in Europe would be greatly appreciated.

Florence

Check whether your hotel in Paris has private parking facilities. This way your car will be under the hotel's responsibility while you visit the city. <BR> <BR>You'll find a lot more informations by doing a search with "driving in France".

s.fowler

For Paris you can check this site: http://www.infoparking.com/ <BR> <BR>It's in French -- I've gotten the best results by clicking on public parking and then selecting by metro station. That produces indoor garages which are open 24 hours a day. We'll find out how safe they are this trip as our friends who are driving from Macedonia will need to park their car for the 3 days we are in Paris.

StCirq

Just wondering why you are driving to Paris...if you're going back to Belgium (and if you're not, you'll pay a premium to leave the car in another country), it might be wise simply to take the Thalys from Brussels to Paris, thereby obviating the need to park the car (and the expense of paying for the rental of it while you're not using it).

Kris

Karen, not knowing the rest of your plans, I'll offer a suggestion. Since you are not planning to drive in Paris you might think about dropping the car once you get there. We rented in Brussels and dropped in Paris at the Gare du Nord, after driving through Normandy. We did not have to pay a drop off fee, although lots of companies charge them (we could have also dropped in Rouen or Caen with no extra charge). We rented from Alamo via their website which turned out to be through National in Europe. Be sure to ask before renting if there is a dropoff charge.

Fred

Why not take the train from Brussels to Paris? No hassles with traffic (terrible) and parking. If you're leaving from Paris to the States, just hop a taxi to the airport. If you're driving somewhere else, pick up the car in Paris and go (but make the reservation from here - much cheaper). E-mail me for more information.