Getting Around Denver: By car

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Renting

With Denver's considerable sprawl, car rentals are the most convenient form of transportation for visitors. Local companies tend to offer better prices, but national chains might be more convenient as far as return policies and hours.

Rental companies include:

• Alamo Rent A Car, (toll free: +1 800 462-5266), www.alamo.com.
• Avis Rent A Car, (toll free: +1 800 331-1212), www.avis.com.
• Budget Rent A Car, (toll free: +1 800 527-0700), www.budget.com.
• Dollar Rent A Car, (toll free: +1 800 800-3665), www.dollar.com.
• E-Z Rent A Car, (toll free: +1 800 277-5171), www.e-zrentacar.com.
• Enterprise Rent A Car, (toll free: +1 800 261-7331), www.enterprise.com.
• Hertz Car Rental, (toll free: +1 800 654-3131), www.hertz.com.
• Thrifty, (toll free: +1 800 847-4389), www.thrifty.com.

Parking

Meters are free on Sunday, and run until 10PM on weekdays. In the downtown area near Coors Field, The Pepsi Center, and LoDo, there is pretty much no free parking on weekdays. In some areas a few blocks from the city center there are a few non-metered spots within reasonable walking distance of downtown. However, just because you don't see a meter doesn't mean that parking is free. Denver is increasingly using "European-style" meters, where you purchase a paper ticket from a machine somewhere on the block and place it on your dashboard.

Areas outside of the downtown core (20th St, Speer, Wynkoop St, Colfax and Broadway) usually have meters that end at 6PM and are free on weekends, so parking is much easier during those times. The area just northwest of downtown, across the train tracks from Union Station, has free 2-hour parking spots.