JBO76 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Hi, I have a question about parking and driving around MElbourne and its suburbs. I'm trying to work out how close we will need to live to a train station (we are looking around bayside or suburbs just inland) and would like your experiences re parking. In particular, do you think it's possible to park at a station car park easily in the day? Is it easy to park by the beaches? How about near the parks or shopping streets? We currently live in London and its not possible to park anywhere unless you are visiting a friend and they give you a parking permit. Yeah there are parking meters around, but they are very expensive and only last 2 hours. Thanks Vanessa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Toomers Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Hi, I dont have any answers but I would be interested to see what others say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibella Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Parking is nothing like London don't worry. My husband drives to the station every day and parking is free and plentiful although this probably depends on where you live. Parking at beaches are also fine, just check out the signs - if it says 2P you can park for free for two hours, 4P means 4 hours. If it says 2P - pay at meter or something similar you need to pay for parking. For instance yesterday we went to Mordialloc and drove into the parking lot at the beach and saw that it was $3 an hour parking (which is a lot) so instead we drove just up the road and parked for free in the road across the beach. Even Melbourne city itself isn't too bad - traffic much better than London and if look around you'll find cheap parking. The other day we drove into a parking garage and then saw they charged something like $4 an hour so we drove out and a block away found another parking garage which charged $4 for the whole day. Also in the suburbs at shopping centres parking is normally free, lots of open and undercover parkings and the parking bays are much bigger than in the UK which is great!! I also particularly like the bigger parkings for parents with prams (which I am).:smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoandJon Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Wow, where did you find $4 all day parking in the city??? Although I'm at the 'paris end' so maybe they up the prices there. If you're coming into the city definitely avoid driving if you can - and there's usually FREE car parking at most of the train stations, especially once you get further out. The closer in ones do still have parking, but they'll fill up pretty quickly so you'll need to be a relative early bird. (check out http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au for info) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theonetruechris Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Habour town shopping centre by the ice rink does $5 a day but you have to get into town from there. Great on the weekend though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petals Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 A lot of the inner city residential areas do have parking permits for residents so you need to be on the look out for those when looking for free parking. Frankston station car park is usually filled by 7 am in the morning according to my friend who uses the train to work. Most train station car parks fill up very early as more people are using public transport these days. If you can find a rental and live walking distance to a station then the problem disappears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlight7 Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Mostly you will find streets that are free to park near stations when the station car parks are full but the closer you get to the CBD the more difficult it gets. Certain Councils are known to be 'difficult' as regards parking- Richmond is one and also Booroondara. Glen Waverley is another- stay an extra 5 mins and you are 'booked'. Nothing like London, though- far easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inthedeep Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 I wish Port Phillip council were a bit more 'difficult' .. our street fills up with people parking for free, then jumping on the tram for a few stops to the city - there are never any ticket inspectors on and i have to say i hardly see people getting on the tyram swiping a met card or myki .. Annoys the hell out of me and my partner as he finishes work early most days and has to park down the other end of the street usually. Anyhow .. i do think it's relatively easy to park at the beaches, in the city (especially after 6pm) and near shopping strips .. as for parking at the metro stops - have to agree with what has been said previous. The car parks tend to fill up very early with the commuters. Not a problem if you start work early too i guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBC Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Kingston Council give residents permits to park at the beach for free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBO76 Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Thanks for all the comments, I appreciate you taking the time. Glad to hear parking near the beaches shouldn't be a problem. As regards to station car parks.. It's as I thought. Someone told me that you could park anytime at a station car park, but I couldn't believe that! I would only ever be going into town mid morning, with young kids (not daily, twice a week or so), so I think we are going to need to be within walking distance of a train station. Or at least know that I can park a 5-10 min walk away. Finding a rental that ticks all the boxes... That's going to be a tough one!!!!!! Vanessa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBC Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Some places we saw were shocking - the landlord would have had to pay me to live in them! If you see a few like that don't worry, keep looking. The first 3 or so almost had me in tears and then by the afternoon we suddenly had 3 possibilities to choose from. We were quite limited as we have 2 dogs but have found a great house with so much room we are going to have to buy more furniture to fill it! It's a 5 minute walk to the station and beach and the landlord is fab. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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