Parking options in Paris

[kstraveler]

We are heading to France in March and are planning to rent a car. We are flying in from the US, so we are trying to find little areas to save some money. I'd rather not pay for a zone 1-5 Metro pass if we really only want to see things in central Paris. I've heard that there are parking areas at Stade de France/St. Denis and La Courneuve 8 Mai 1945.

Are these the best options if we are staying near Disneyland? I've checked on Google maps and street-level pictures, but can't seem to find these parking areas. I have found some signs for them on the street-level view, but just wondering if they are difficult to find or if there are better options. Thanks in advance to anyone who might know this!

 

[A Small World]

Do you mean you would be staying close to DLP then driving to outskirts of Paris, parking then continuing your journey by metro exploring Paris then returning back to near DLP?

If this is the case it would probably be just as easy/cheap to get a Mobilis pass and go in by train (RER then metro). It costs about 15Euros per adult for the return journey and unlimited use of the metro throughout that day.
If you drove you would be paying for petrol, possible parking costs and then still having to buy metro tickets into Paris and for journeys around Paris throughout the day.

I wasn't certain of where the places were that you mentioned so have just checked on the metro map as was sure Stade de France/St Denis were on the other side of Paris to DLP and was right - they are north of Paris whereas DLP is East. This would mean you having to drive around Paris perhaps on the Peripherique which is to be avoided if at all possible.

Is there a reason you are hiring a car whilst at DLP as you could save a lot of money there?. Where are you staying as you may not need one for that time as most hotels have shuttles or are walkable?

 

[kstraveler]

It's actually cheaper for us to rent a car for a week since we are also going to Germany and Luxembourg. That saves us on transfers from the airport to and from. Our problem comes in that we have 2 adults and three children in the group. So everything gets multiplied by 5, so it's €75 extra per day for the RER over the cost of just the Zones 1-3 Metro pass. So, two days in Paris city would run us €150 extra, but the cost of the car is only €175 for the whole week + gas (petrol).

From what I've figured, I wouldn't need Peripherique, just A104 & A1.

I don't mind the driving in large, crowded cities--I've done that on several trips, but I just didn't know if someone was familiar with how accessible the parking areas are to the metro stops within at least Zone 3. The reason for Stade de France was if we went there first from CDG.

 

[A Small World]

That makes more sense now as to why you are hiring a car.

Sorry I can't help with the info about parking - the best person to help would probably be Carrie Cat as she's local but I think she might be on holiday at the moment

 

[kstraveler]

I figured it might be a long shot to find someone who was familiar with that aspect of it. I'm sure we'll have far more Disney-related questions as it gets closer.

 

[disneyat40]

We parked last August nearby to - I think - Nation. It is on the side of Paris when you are coming in from DLP. The parking for the 4/5 hours we were there cost us around €30 which might seem a lot but was still cheaper than a train for 4 of us in and out of Paris. We bought carnets then from the metro stop which are packets of 10 metro tickets. So we bought one adult pack and one child pack and used them between us.

Only 2 negative aspects to this were (1) we forgot we had a roof box on the car and dinged it driving into the underground parking, but we were able to remove it and put it in the boot. Very lucky. and (2) having to return to the car in the evening instead of just getting the metro and train from the nearest stop.

Overall though it was very maneageable and easy.

We hadn't looked up parking before hand. We just drove into city and looked for the P on blue background which means parking. The carpark itself was fine, supervised by security etc.

 

[kstraveler]

Thanks disneyat40! I might just head far enough into the city to be within zone 3 and go from there!