I am renting the car for inter-city travels (and day trips) but do not intend to drive in the cities we are visiting (Brussels and Amsterdam being the major cities). I have heard, that if not done wisely, it may end up costing more (than rental itself) to park in the cities.
Any recommendations for safe and cost effective parking in these cities (in Belgium we have a hotel close to Grand Place and in Amsterdam, within the Canal district).
Thanks!!
Mehul, first I am going to publicly defend you against all the criticisms that are about to come your way for renting a car in Brussels...
Having spent A LOT of time in Belgium (particularly in areas ignored by tourists), I would not fault the decision to use a car for day trips from Brussels. The rail system, of course, is better than the US, but not nearly as extensive as Germany, France or Britain, and in many regions, the bus schedules are only published in French and Dutch.
Having said that... I know of two parking garages near the Grote Markt (sorry, Flemish my wife won't let me use the French terms!). One sits to the north, between Wolvengracht and Schildnaapsstraat. The other sits to the south, up the hill from the Grote Markt, near the intersection of Cellebroerstraat and Keizerslaan, several blocks from the Brussel-Centraal station. Neither of these, however, is cheap, and the parking spaces are tightly packed together.
This was a defensive move with relative cost savings (car rental vs. train fares for three people - London-Brussels-Amsterdam-London). Considering your advised, coupled with the car rental costs (added by needing he Europ Package) - as per my separate topic in the forum, prompt me to revise the wisdom of this decision altogether.
May be I will look at the Eurail for the travels and use the public transport for the day trips - Antwerp, Ghent, Brugge, The Hague, etc. Besides the intended economy, I usually enjoy the flexibility, freedom, and ambience as well as more intimate view of the surroundings afforded by the car travel (years of car traveling within US has spoiled me).
Thanks for the insight, anyway.
-Mehul
"day trips - Antwerp, Ghent, Brugge"
If those are your day trips, forget the car (I assumed you meant some of the areas closer to Brussels). A car can give you flexibility and freedom in the countryside, but if you're sticking to cities (particularly those cities!), it's not worth the trouble. You'll spend more time looking at your map trying to navigate the medieval street plan than enjoying the scenery. And to be honest, unlike Germany, the scenery from many of the freeways in Belgium isn't too impressive. You'll see more from the window of a train.
Having taken the trains to Brussels, Brugge, Oostende, and Antwerp, I have found them to be efficient, clean and nice. I do not know if they have the specials that the Deutsche Bahn has, but Thalys seems to always have something going on for cheap train fares. I know they are French, but they seem to have trains running in Belgium. I know I havent been much help, but I do think it is nice to ride a train and look out the window and walk down for coffee, etc.
I've parked in A'dam at the Olympic stadium. It's not bad and connects easily with public transportation. The parking is underground and seemed to be secure as you have to use your parking ticket to enter the building. The closer in the parking, the more difficult and expensive it will be.
I also used the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam for parking - free when you buy the I AMsterdam card (33 Euros with free tram transportation, free canal tour, free entrance to some museums).
In Brussels we ended up using the parking lot adjacent to the IBIS hotel (near the Grand Place) we were staying in, costing @ 15 Euros/24 hrs - which is reasonable (relatively speaking) considering the prime location.
All said, it was a great trip, but driving was a hassel and I'd agree with the prevaling wisdom expressed here about considering it ONLY if car rental provides significant savings over the rail tickets.
Mehul, I'm one of those who'd say avoid car rental except for really out of the way day-trips. When living/working in The Hague for 3 years, with a company car at my disposal and good knowledge of the traffic/large cities in NL/Belgium, would still use public transit for 90% of my business trips to Amsterdam and Brussels. Even on my days-off, personal sightseeing trips to places such as Keukenhoff, Delft, Haarlem, Rotterdam, Arnhem, Brussels, Antwerp, Bruges, etc., etc., would usually take the train/bus/tram and leave the car at home. If you stay away from the 'go-fast' trains and use inter-city trains instead, together with good planning using bus/tram strippenkarts in NL for example, you can cover a lot of ground at decent cost.
Glad the car worked, Mehul. I'll start checking dates, etc., in future. Geoff
Agreed. Thanks for the help and insights.
-Mehul
In terms of cost-effective, it depends on how many are traveling together.
If it's one or two people, public transport and trains are likely to be the better deal.
When you travel as a family, a car is probably the better deal - especially if you are there long enough to lease rather than rent.
