Parking a rental car in Paris
 

Hello! How hard is it to find parking for a rental car in Paris? Our hotel is located in the 5th District, Left Bank. Also, I need driving directions from Paris to Bayeux. Any good websites for driving routes or other suggestions on how not to get lost?!?

Like almost all city centers street parking in not a reasonable option in Paris - esepcially the 5th. I would contact your hotel and ask them to reco the best nearby/reasonable garage and just leave the car there while in Paris.

If you are going to be doing any amount of driving you will need a high quality map - Michelin for choice - of the areas you will be in. The mappy web sites are fine for details of driving in and out of towns but not really good for long distances - they don;t give a broad enough perspective.

Never drove in Paris - would not if I did not have to either.

But - for directions www.mappy.com is great.

You might want to skip the car in paris, and just pick it up on your way out. Driving in paris is probably the worst way to get around, the metro is excelent, and walking

I doubt if you will find street parking, and would not have a car while in Paris unless you must. There are several large garages around there, which will cost you about 18-22 euro per day for public parking. It depends where your hotel is as for which is best, the 5th is a large area.

There is a large garage at the corner of bd St-Germain and rue Pontoise (near Maubert metro), for example, and on rue Soufflot near bd St Michel. There's also one right on bd St Michel near rue St Severin.

Also keep in mind that while mappy.com and viamichelin.com are helpful for general route information, trying to follow their detailed route instructions (like you do with mapquest in the states) is problematic in France. Street names are typically posted on the sides of buildings, if at all, and can easily be missed. Your best bet is to follow the signage that indicates the direction for your destination city, or for a city en route to your destination. We used that method in Normandy, and only had a few inevitable miscues.

You will hate yourself for trying to drive or park in Paris if you haven't done it before. Many of the "streets" in the 5th are wide enough for two horses abreast, and boulevards are not for those who are trying to find their way.

Do Paris on foot and by metro and bus. Then take a train (2 hours) to Caen and rent your car there. Bayeux is an easy half hour up the road.

For good maps and directions in France go to www.viamichelin.com. Also you'll want to buy Michelin yellow map #54, plus #55 if you are starting out from Paris.

..agree with others..to have a car in paris is a real loadstone..driving can be dicey, streets have a habit of being one way in the direction opposite to the way you wish to go, and parking on the street is an artform (the bump and nudge school)..try to pick up a rental on your way out of paris and on the periphery.

Hi Camille,

My first thought was, "Parking in Paris?", my second was, "Poor innocent".

Hopscotch has good advice.

I went to Paris in 2002. DO NOT GET A CAR. The parking in Paris is horrible. The metro or walking is best. I was watching cars back in and out of parking on the street and they dont care about peoples cars they bump and hit them all the time to get out and in. Almost all the cars in Paris have dents and dings in them. I DO NOT suggest getting a car... bad idea, good luck though.

Try parking outside of Paris, and take the train into paris. Would probably be cheaper and certainly less stressful

My advice is don't even try.
If you must, ask your hotel for advice.

You can find parking garages all over the city. Basically if you wouldn't have any problems driving in any other major city (New York) then you won't have a problem driving in Paris. As others have said it's best to pick the car up on your way out. Its not worth the expense to pick up the car and sit it in a parking garage. Use the metro until your ready to leave the city. As for getting lost isn't that half the fun?