Driving to Paris... Parking?
 

We're thinking of driving to Paris in February to watch the France v Wales 6 Nations game. My parents won't fly and we only have the weekend as myself and my partner work weekdays. Eurostar is expensive so we're looking into driving over and using the ferry. Just wondering whether anyone knows of anywhere maybe on the outskirts of Paris where I could leave the car overnight and get a train in? I'm staying in the Montparnasse area so don't really want to be driving into Paris itself. Many thanks :)

Orly Airport or CDG airport though not cheap.

I'd look for Park 'n Ride lots at suburban train stations. You could easily park you car in many suburbs for free but check out the environs - a middle-class or up one. - not the notorious northern suburbs.

The cost of the ferry, the fuel, and parking are less expensive than the train? By how much?

Trains if you book early cost all of from a low of 39 pounds - how can you drive, park, pay the steep autoroute tolls cheaper than that? Plus worry about wherever you stash your car?

<i>Driving to Paris... Parking?
Posted by: rhianapritchard on Apr 18, 14 at 6:41am
Just wondering whether anyone knows of anywhere maybe on the outskirts of Paris where I could leave the car overnight and get a train in? I'm staying in the Montparnasse area so don't really want to be driving into Paris itself. Many thanks</i>

There is a covered parking structure at Gare Montparnasse. Getting there should not be too difficult. Parisians are pretty good drivers. You just need to know the way because once you make a wrong turn you will probably get lost.

and it probably cost more than the cheapest Eurostar train ride for two-three days.

I know back in the day, student friends of mine used to park near Cité Universitaire in the south of Paris which is fairly handy to Montparnasse.

But also give neoparking a shot. Here is the English link: http://en.neoparking.com/paris/

They offer good reductions-I have paid as low as 10euros a day in Paris in a secure parking near Montparnasse-especially in the summer when they want business and it will be much cheaper than the train tickets in and more secure and much less hassle.

I often travel by train into Paris from a train station outside of Paris and there is ample free parking opposite the station and you can leave you car there as long as you like - and this one is safe. then take the train into Paris - no parking fee, no real worry, etc.

Hi PQ,

You wouldn't care to name the station, would you? :)

((I))

HI R,

I suggest that you recheck the prices for the Eurostar.

((I))

Parking is free from 7pm to 9am as well as on Sundays and holidays (also on about half of the streets on Saturdays).

For a place with 24-hour rates, you might want to park at Porte d'Orléans if you are staying in Montparnasse.

http://www.saemes.fr/fr/parking/parking-porte-orleans

If that is too expensive, you might want to check the official commuter site for parking in the suburbs: http://www.stif.org/les-transports-a...lais-4674.html

I take it none of the US-based Yanks butting in on this have ever tried booking a train to Paris over a Six Nations weekend. Never mind booking four reasonably related seats.

Paris is no tougher to park in than London. Just cheaper, and easier for outsiders to navigate.

We parked in an underground lot just next to the Louvre and across the rriver from our hotel. My husband should have told them "one week" in that it would have been cheaper than the 5 days we were there. Oh well.

Bedar - what did you pay if I can ask?

Thanks.

And I agree with flanner - for years I drove a van around the streets of London - going from Crystal Palace to Heathrow airport daily for many weeks all told - taking the South Circular Road - a sinuous traffic-clogged road that took hours to get anywehre - I had to leave a 5 am to avoid significant traffic but coming back it was snail-like - Parisian boulevards, thanks to Hausmann, are broad throughfares - really easy to drive in - I had the van many times there too.

Though at rush hours it is busy often it is not , especially on weekends and especially on Sunday and of course in August when parking on Parisian streets at least used to be free.

157€ for 5 days. Could have paid 127€ had he said one week.

I've driven to Paris from the UK and it was easy. No big deal. Ferry from Dover-Calais was very cheap, and it was less than 3 hours from Calais until we were in our hotel.

I was staying in the lower part of the 5th, near Place Monge, so I drove around the Peripherique, turning off at Porte d'Italie. I parked in an underground garage the other side of Place d'Italie.

There's a website which lists car parks and garages in Paris, I found it by googling. As I recall I paid around 20-25 euros per day though this was a few years ago now.

neoparking is a parking aggregator and shows most of the paid options around Paris. And the 25Euro rate is about right however, especially in summer, you can get coupon deals. Right now they show 9 euros for overnight near Montparnasse and you will avoid all the hassle of schlepping in by train.

Ah heck with carbon footprints - eschew the train and drive and let Paris' smog get even worse!

Get rid of all those massive TRUCKS on the roads and the atmosphere will be much better. Send that stuff by rail ! The smog extended from AMS to Paris in March.

Thanks for all the help guys and gals. Getting the Eurostar on 6 Nations weekend is ridiculously expensive your talking in the hundreds... Each!) and my little car does near enough 400 miles on a £50 tank of diesel. Will take a look at neoparking now :)