Car parking in Europe
Just found out while chatting to someone who has toured Europe for years that in a lot of places in France you will see a P for parking sign with a blue background and white border stating parking for so many hours. You will need a parking disc (similar
to our Disable time cards) . You place this in your windscreen at the time you park and the warden can see when you arrived. Apparently you can get these in the UK from the Post Office or buy them in France from a newsagent.
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Just found out while chatting to someone who has toured Europe for years that in a lot of places in France you will see a P for parking sign with a blue background and white border stating parking for so many hours. You will need a parking disc (similar to our Disable time cards) . You place this in your windscreen at the time you park and the warden can see when you arrived. Apparently you can get these in the UK from the Post Office or buy them in France from a newsagent.
We have lots of disc parking in this area, so we've long been using these blue disks (which have a dial on which you set your time of arrival - and the blue bays are time limited), and we have also been using them in France and Spain for years. The one thing I would say is make absolutely sure that you don't mix up a disc parking zone with disabled bays. In some car parks they can be difficult to distinguish. Also make absolutely sure you've read the time limits - they may be strictly enforced.
When discussing holidays in France, these small details are things that you forget, or perhaps take for granted, so it's good to raise the awareness here!
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Hi do I get this over the counter in post office, is there a charge? Weve been touring in france for years and never used one, maybe weve been lucky. Noticed in lots of car parks blue bays, I presumed these were for loccals and not tourist, maybe you could
enlighten me?0 -
No charge for ours, and we picked it up from a local shop in a Disc Zone.
This is what our local council says about them:
We run free disc parking areas in Harrogate, Knaresborough, Ripon and Boroughbridge.
Clock discs are available from all council offices, tourist information centres and many businesses. When parking, the discs should be set to the time you arrive and prominently displayed. Time limits vary, so check the signs.
I imagine most other council areas are the same.
As I say, we've been using our 'clock disc' for years without problems. Our discs are slightly different to those in France, but seem to be accepted.
Of course, if anyone has experienced anything different, do let us know!
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We got ours from a tourist office in a little town in France. When I asked the cafe owner to confirm how long we could park his reply was 'all year'. Apparently, to his disgust, they had paid out 'a fortune' to have the bays painted but not appointed anyone
to monitor them so effectively they were free parking for as long as you wanted.0 -
We got ours from a tourist office in a little town in France. When I asked the cafe owner to confirm how long we could park his reply was 'all year'. Apparently, to his disgust, they had paid out 'a fortune' to have the bays painted but not appointed anyone
to monitor them so effectively they were free parking for as long as you wanted.That's so typical of French 'rules and regulations'!
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The time disks are very common in Italy as well. Last time I asked a local whether it was OK to park he said "this is Italy - park where you like!". Not entirely true of course.
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In Spain they turn the hazards on which renders the car invisible.
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We need the use of a blue badge and have found things very differant in Europe. In the UK there are 30/40 blue badge bays and they are always full, in Europe you will find that there are only one or two and there is always one free!! This has meant that
we can get the benifit for what they were intended for and get close to places we visit, like parking in Helden Platz in the center of Vienna, or Piazzale Roma in Venice. The problem here is that if you can't get a time disc you just ask for a blue badge and
the time disc comes with it!!! (sorry, only a bitter joke)0 -
When in Brest a couple of years ago, we parked in a municipal car park, having paid the necessary fee. When we got back to the car, there was a ticket that I could not translate. When we got home a few weeks later I emailed the tourist office asking what
this ticket was about. Aparently I had parked too close to the disabled toilet without having a disabled driver's badge. Mon Dieu! Who would know? They apologised saying that the attendant should have realised that we were not Breasts.0
