Parking outside Paris and training into City

First of all, congrats to your son. I hope he finds a university to his liking. Our grandson just finished a year studying in Paris.

Now, have you sat down and worked out the specifics of driving? That's 1526 km (948 miles) through 4 countries. Have you checked on the price and availability of a rental car? Driving a rental car in Europe from one country to another is a little more complicated than driving from Virginia to North Carolina. Since it's not a round trip, given the distance, I'm thinking the add on fee will be substantial.

Does the 2 weeks include arrival and departure days? If so you are leaving the realm of hectic and approaching the realm of impossible. It would be a great drive, but 2 weeks is pretty unrealistic.

As far as Paris parking goes, long term parking at CDG may be your best bet. There's plenty of public transportation into the city that's available.

There are parking garages in the outer arrondissements -- I think the last time we did this we parked near Place d'Italie. The per day charges are a bit lower than similar garages in the city center. I'd probably get a garage near the hotel; driving in Paris is not more challenging than any big city and it is easier to be close to the hotel. You can reserve a place on line and check comparative costs on line. when we did this we used Vinci -- don't know if that is still the name of the company that manages multiple garages.

Regarding Janet's response, how comfortable are you with driving in big cities? I have driven in Paris and rate it about like driving in Boston and maybe just a little worse than driving in downtown Atlanta. I actually drove through the Place de la Concorde on a Sunday afternoon and lived to tell about it!

If you are a confident driver used to driving in a big city, parking closer in might be a viable alternative.

Hi,
Do you plan to take the car every day for touring Paris area universities?
If so, why stay near the Eiffel Tower? You'd be better off in a less central area such as Porte Maillot.
If not, why have a car at all in Paris? Paris to Toulouse is a long drive anyway, so you'll want to fly or take train on that leg, and rent a new car there. But then, renting a car in the NL and dropping off in Paris is very costly...
Don't hesitate to give more details about your arrival/exit points, the places you plan to visit, etc. for more circumstance-relevant help.

My congratulations as well! I’ve had a car quite a bit in Paris, and always stay in the 7th arrondissement.

Totally understand your desire not to drive in town, but if you do have the car, then the parking security is foremost. I use the Indigo Invalides underground car park, which is a few blocks from your hotel. And if I’m not using the car everyday, I do visit it just to be sure. A break-in, even if nothing is stolen, will set your schedule back. Another plus with this car park is the Total gas station inside.

That being said, if you still want to park on the fringes, please share a little more of your itinerary, so we can suggest the most convenient fringe parking from where you’re arriving into Paris. If Paris is a midpoint, then where you will be departing to.

Balso makes an excellent point. I'd not have a car in Paris as it is almost certainly the case that you will be able to use public transport to any school you want to visit. Then train to the most distant city you are planning to visit (or fly budget airline if that makes more sense) and use public transport there. Do you really need a car to do these visits? And if you want a car for these other spots, get to one of those cities and pick up the car when you leave. You don't want to drop a car across borders as the fees are several hundred Euro. so look at the schedule and only book cars where you really need them; you will burn up time and a lot of money on tolls, gas, parking etc that may have little pay off.

Barbara, Thanks for the tip on Indigo Invalides.

All, I should have been clearer in my original request. We are only visiting (passing through) Paris (from Brussels to Toulouse, then to Barcelona) so our son can see a few of the key sites before we arrive in Toulouse.

We are not visiting schools in Paris so are perfectly comfortable taking the metro within the city, but we have 6 schools to visit across The Netherlands and Belgium which is why the need for a car.

We are arriving in Amsterdam this Sunday AM, and planned originally to return the car in Brussels before training to Paris, then to Toulouse, then to Barcelona.

We are aware of the expensive one-way drop off charges, and we've driven extensively in Germany, Austria, Southeastern France, and Belgium....just never in The Netherlands or Paris central.

Thank you all again very much for your input. Your collective travel experience is very helpful in these types of situations!

Usually I park my car for free outside of Paris and take the train to the city centre, but that’s only during the day and had actually no concerns about safety. If this wil be the case during the night is hard to say, a payed parking like for instance at CDG is to my opinion better.
The parking I used last year was north of Paris in Fosses and a ten minute walk from Survilliers-Fosses RER-D railway station. At the eastside of Paris there is a huge free carpark some ten minutes walking from Val d’Europe RER-A railway station nearby Disneyland Paris I used several times some years back. Train + metro ride itself will take in both cases about an hour.