best way to get around

going to paris 20th march till 24th march, was wondering about hiring a economy car been quoted £63 for the duration of our stay which i think cheap.hoping to do dlp for at least 1 day the rest at our leisure is anybody ever drove in paris? is places of interest well signposted? also easy enough driving in dark as we might be picking car up cdg airport 10.20 at night.Or is it just as easy using public transport to get around?

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Public transport in Paris is just fantastic- it%26#39;s cheaper, faster, and always a great way to watch the Parisians in their natural environment ;)

How long are you planning on staying in Paris all up? You may be better off hiring your car if you%26#39;re going to spend a couple of days outside of Paris, but if you%26#39;re going to be in Paris itself, that%26#39;s another story.

You will spend much more money by hiring a car than by taking public transport, then you have to worry about driving in Paris (having lived here for 6 years, I personally think France is second only to Italy in terms of insane driving situations) and the extremely high cost of parking. You can%26#39;t just park on the majority of streets and then you have to worry about parking tickets and parking metres (when they work) and all that sort of stuff. Bottom line? Don%26#39;t drive in Paris ;)

When I moved here from Australia 6 years ago, I couldn%26#39;t get my head around the idea that you simply don%26#39;t just drive everywhere here like I did back home. You just don%26#39;t NEED to. Sure, you%26#39;re at the mercy of the public transport system, but you get used to it quickly and you really get to experience the city more when you%26#39;re walking around everywhere and can jump into a bus or a metro wherever you are rather than calculating every excursion so that you%26#39;ll be able to get back to your car.

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I completely agree with the previous poster. Metro and RER couldn%26#39;t be easier to use. Loved it. I would never ever insert myself on a road with those crazy people! One of my favorite things to do is stand on top the Arc and watch the crazy traffic! The first time I saw the spectical I laughed until my sides hurt! The thing is, they know what they are doing and have the feel for the driving; coming in as an outsider seems like a recipe for disaster for you and the rest of the locals! I%26#39;m sure they would prefer a novice to stick to the metro!

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Hi Oswaldtwistle,

Katiagl is right, public transportation is great in Paris, and parking is difficult. Walking and hopping on the métro or a bus is the way to go in Paris.

Slowpoke

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I agree that you will be much better off without a car. Not only is public transportation excellent, Paris is also a terrific city for walking. When I am there, I find that I walk almost everywhere, only using public transportation for very long hops. Having a car in Paris will just produce a lot of aggro and will insulate you from the street life, which is one of Paris%26#39;s great assets.

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It will take you twice as long to get anywhere driving as opposed to taking public transport. Then it will take you twice as long as that again to find parking.

After that you will probably have to take public transport to get from the carpark to where you want to go.......

You will also have to pay as much to park for 30 minutes as the public transport tickets will cost.

This all assumes that you can find your way by road to where you%26#39;re going. Signposting isn%26#39;t great.

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The Metro is wonderful, efficient, on time, and extremely easy to navigate. Get a metro map before you go and take some time to study it. It%26#39;s easy...and it is fun!

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thanks all will scrap idea hiring car you have made my mind up will stick to public transport

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