[EuroPython] Parking the car

[Giovanni Bajo]

Il giorno 09/mar/2012, alle ore 00:57, Thomas Waldmann ha scritto:

> Hi,
> 
> I just wanted to book my EP ticket and noticed that you have made a good
> arrangement with the conference hotel, thanks for that!

Thanks! Rooms are limited though, so I suggest people that are sure to come one way or another to book as soon as possible. We will do our best to secure more rooms into this deal, but after this first batch prices might have to go up a little.

Blogpost about this is going out asap.

> But in the end, I did not, because the parking expenses (if any) are
> unclear. I am from southern germany and might collect some fellow python
> people from germany and drive by car to Florence.
> 
> As on the EP site there was no statement about parking costs (and I

I'm not sure what you mean by "statement". We offer a few suggestions here:
https://ep2012.europython.eu/where

in the section "If you come by car". 

> already knew from last year that this is an issue in florence), I
> googled a bit and finally found that the grand hotel mediterraneo
> usually takes 22 EUR PER DAY(!) just for a parking place in their
> garage, which kind of spoils the whole deal for me.

We used to have a convention for that, which downs that to €15/day. Since nobody used it last year, I'm not even sure we've refreshed it this year. I'll have to double check this.

One thing we can surely do is to demand and obtain 2-3 free parking slots at Mediterraneo, and then offer them on our website. This can't scale obviously, but it's better than nothing. I'll make sure to put this on the table on our next negotiation meeting, which is next Monday :)

> Did you talk with them about parking costs? If not, could you do that?
> 
> Paying almost the same for a car sleeping place than for my personal
> sleeping place feels a bit weird. ;)


In Florence, most of the parking slots are either reserved for residents of each zone, or subjected to a hourly fee. Nonetheless, if you are OK with leaving your car unattended (there's no specific reason why you shouldn't, but some people might be sensitive to this), there are many places where you can park it for free, and then get a taxi or a bus to the hotel. For instance, you could park in a nearby shopping mall free parking (which are usually meant for shoppers, but not enforced as such). The taxi is going to cost  you ~10/15 euro one way with luggages. The bus is €1,20 one way. Obviously the best solution also depends on whether you plan on using the car during your staying in Florence or not.

I'll try to come up with 2-3 different suggestions on "how to park free or very cheaply"  and put them on that website page. It's never been a priority for the reasons explained above, but it's surely due.

BTW: it might sound disingenuous, but we can't be aware that you need more information until you speak up. So, please everybody, speak up if you need help with travel arrangements, or whatnot. We're here to help you.
-- 
Giovanni Bajo

EuroPython 2012
https://ep2012.europython.eu

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