Keeping Luggage Safe in Car at Sightseeing Stops?

The usually warning is "leave nothing visible" in your car, put it all out of sight in the trunk. Also don't leave passports, credit cards, etc - always take them with you.

Most of the rental cars have retractable vinyl covers that won't let any luggage in the trunk be seen. Keeping luggage out of sight is about all you can do--and pack light. Many smaller cars do best with 22" rolling bags max.

This is a good rule of thumb, but it can be loosened depending on where you are parked. You should never leave anything that looks particularly of value in your car (cameras for example) but thieves are less likely to break into your car to grab your luggage - depending on where you park. The parking lot at the Pont du Gard has an entry and exit gate and you pay to get out. It is also large, open, and flat (good sight lines) with many people milling around - not the ideal place for thieves to operate. I would feel perfectly comfortable leaving my luggage there for the 2 or 3 hours you will be away from your car.

Where else are you considering this to be a potential issue?

-Matt

get a rental car with a real "trunk" and not a station wagon or hatchback with only the retractable piece of cloth to "hide" your luggage. that piece of cloth also only hides luggage that fits flat into the luggage area. If you've got big luggage that doesn't fit nicely or too much luggage then the cover won't close to completely hide it.

It is always risky to have your luggage in your car at stops. If you do this you need to be prepared to have it stolen; it is unlikely to happen but it happens. I know one person who had everything taken at a parking lot near a beach in Italy; I knew someone who had the entire car stolen; I know someone who had everything including money and passports taken from a locked locker at the Budapest baths. Where there are thieves who target cars, lockers, whatever you lose your stuff. You have no way of knowing if the particular tourist area you park in is the hunting ground of some local group of thieves. If there is a lot of sparkling glass fragments on the ground that is a clue and don't park there.

It isn't that you are at hugely greater risk for this in Europe but it is much more difficult to cope with when it happens on the road. This goes triple for ID and valuables.

It is best to plan your travel so that you unload your stuff at the hotel, put your valuables in the hotel safe, and do your day tripping from the base.

Sometimes though we have our stuff in transit. so these are the rules:

1. Never open the trunk at a stop. If you know you will stop for a hike or lunch or whatever, open and arrange your stuff well before you arrive at the destination. Put everything in the trunk that you won't be taking with you and retrieve valuables like computers, meds, money, ID. So when you stop you just get out of the car not giving any onlooker information that you have a trunk full of goodies.

2. Trunks are usually not real trunks but only flimsy canvas or vinyl covers -- if your luggage is poking up, it will show and so if that is the case know you run an even greater risk.

3. Leave nothing in the car as anything acts as bait -- could there be something valuable under that sweater in the back seat? Those coins in the ashtray -- well, I could use 50 cents and who cares about your window? Some people suggest leaving a local newspaper -- maybe that makes you seem local or maybe it suggests there might be something good it is hiding.

4. carry your valuables with you into the restaurant or on the stroll to the look out or wherever. Computers, cameras, passports, prescription meds -- things that you cannot easily replace -- should never be left in the car.

5. If possible park where the car is visible from a restaurant window when stopping on the road.

I will second what janettravels44 posted. I live in Hawaii most of the year and am constantly warning visitors about the dangers there of leaving anything in their rental cars as they are a prime target for our bad folks. I especially like to warn folks not to open their car trunks at beach parking lots as there are often bad folks sitting around just watching for someone to put their valuables in the trunk before heading off to the beach. If you must leave anything in the trunk of your car, put it there long before you arrive at your next stop. I always say that you should never leave anything in a car that you can't afford to loose. Happy travels.

The theft problem is another reason to add to the list of why its a good idea to stay in one place for a few nites rather than moving every day or two. It minimizes the number of times you need to travel with valuables in the trunk.

I'd echo the earlier advice about not opening the trunk at all when parking in case someone is watching. And about not leaving any valuables visible in the car. Something I read about was to carry a tissue and wipe the mark on the window where the GPS suction cup attaches to the window. You don't want someone to break into your car thinking you might have a GPS sitting under the seat. Lastly, don't leave anything in your luggage in the car that you can't afford to lose.

This is always a risk, some countries more than others. I think France is one of the higher risk countries. Be aware that a reasonable sized car for Europe (i.e. smaller cars) often have really small trunks. On our 2013 England trip, we had a hard time fitting our two 25" bags in the trunk so that they were not obvious. Hatchbacks are popular with the rental companies in Europe and that provides more latitude for a bag that's a little big, at the expense of it showing a little. This alone makes me want to go with a 22" bag, but the total volume is actually only a little more than 1/2 as much. My wife would never be able to pack that light, but if I do we might still be able fit in car trunks for a compact. One more reason to avoid rental cars, as much as we have enjoyed the freedom that provides on past trips. For the highly recommended Pont du Gard, a rental car is a good idea.

Luggage fitting shouldn't be a problem... We managed 3 weeks last year out of Rick's carry-on bags, no problem. And with iPhones, we won't use GPS. I'm rethinking routes a bit through Provence and Languedoc... Planning a 3-week right to left sweep from Nice to Barcelona. I have a friend's house in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, so we'll stay put there and also in Barcelona. The middle part is a bigger question mark.

to the extent you can go to your on the road lodgings and stow your gear before local sight seeing do it. You won't avoid all opportunities for theft, but you can reduce them. We used to take 3 week trips every summer anchoring at each end in an apartment with a week on the road and that is what we tried to do; we would get lunch or shop for groceries with the luggage still aboard but then check into the hotel and leave stuff before doing the local sightseeing. We also tried to usually spend two nights in a place to have one full day to visit sites in the area. We had a messenger bag each for our computers, cameras and valuables so we could make stops along the way with no risk to our core valuables and hoped for the best on the clothes and books. We were burgled once in an apartment in London but never had a car broken into. (and the burglary occurred because the landlord when cleaning did not throw the deadbolt, only the ordinary lock -- other apartments in the building were robbed at the same time)

While we rarely do leave luggage, I have always made sure it is COMPLETLY out of sight. So if it won't all fit in the trunk or under the hatchback cover you are in trouble (Ours does so we have never had an issue)

I also take off the "Europecar" or "Hertz" bumber stickers. I know the theifs can still spot the rentals from things like the bar codes and plates, but I don't feel the need to make it visible from a mile away LOL!

This is all really good advice and I would just add a few points. First, you can't reduce the theft risk to zero, so keep your money, passports, credit cards and other essentials with you. This also includes things like expensive cameras or computers.

Second, pick your parking lots and spaces carefully. Avoid isolated lots. Park in the middle of a line of other cars. A lone car is a target. Finally, arrange the things you leave behind to make it harder for a thief to grab them quickly. If you've got a bicycle cable lock consider cabling your suitcase handles together. Park your hatchback with the rear of the car up against a wall to make it more difficult to access. Use your imagination on this, but anything you do that slows a thief down makes it more likely he'll move on to an easier target.

Good for you for asking...wish I had. We stopped to sightsee on our way to our hotel. Luggage was in our trunk and nothing visible in the car. We returned to our car an hour later and my husband suspected something when he noticed our glove compartment was open. He opened the trunk to find all our luggage gone(they picked the locks). To make long story short, a day & a half was wasted from our trip while reporting to police and shopping for luggage, clothes, necessaries. Thank goodness, we did have our passports, charge cards, & money on us. Later in the trip, police did locate my luggage in a ditch with all clothes in it; but husbands was gone for good. ADVISE...go straight to hotel and then sightsee....have NOTHING anywhere in car, ever!

We just went in October. What we did is we used hard sided luggage (not necessary but that is what we had) and made sure to lock them all. Then we also ran a cable lock (thick one) through the 3 handles of our luggage and then through part of the back seats from the trunk. We left nothing else in the car visible and still used the cloth cover thing. This way, they were deterred but if they did break in it would have been really hard to take our luggage as well. Thankfully on our 16 days through Alsace, Normandie and the Loire, we had no problems of any kind.

We stopped at Pont du Gard last year with luggage in the car and had no problem. The car was a larger Fiat with no "real trunk" and it was still OK. We left nothing in the seats. Don't panic; just use common sense.