Whether to bus it, drive in, or get the train is a decision many of us ponder over when heading to city centres isn't it.
But with the unpredictability of our railways and bus timetables, especially around Christmas time, it can often feel like we have little alternative but to drive.
That's the conclusion I came to when heading into Manchester with my daughter over the festive season.
We were going to watch a show at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall where the Manchester Central NCP is just across the other side of Lower Mosley Street.
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Given the nightmare stories I'd been hearing about buses not running to schedule, and the fact we would be heading home quite late, it seemed the safest option.
What I wasn't banking on was a £17 fee for the luxury though, that's the tariff for a 3 to 4 hour stay.
Had I been more organised, I could have got it cheaper by paying in advance, but as I rarely use NCP car parks, or others for that matter, I wasn't aware that was a thing. And if someone is heading into town for a random trip, they don't always know how long they're going to need, do they?
Sadly, by the time we returned to the car, the cheaper rate was no longer available. And I'd missed the opportunity to pay a £7.95 evening rate to park between 6pm and midnight as this needed to be sorted in advance too - and isn't particularly well advertised.
In fact the opportunity to pay via the app had disappeared too, due to 'autopay maintenance', which is affecting a number of its car parks.
We could have paid at the machine, but there was a lady struggling with that and calling for help, so I was left with the option of paying via the website once I got home. There's a hefty fee for anyone who forgets to do that.
When did parking become so difficult and so expensive? It's almost as if nobody wants us to park in the city centre at all. Maybe that's the grand plan.
Having a look at some of the prices you'll pay at other NCPs in the city centre is also an eye-opener. At Sackville Street, for example, you'll pay a whopping £32.75 for anything over five hours.
At NCP Spinningfields, which is popular for those heading to the Opera House and Everyman Cinema on Quay Street, if you tip over six hours during your stay you're faced with a staggering £34.95 - the price for anything between six and 24 hours at the multi-storey.
A spokesperson for NCP said: "All our prices are clearly displayed on entry and throughout the car park, as well as on our app so customers can see the cost to park before parking with us.
"Our pricing structure on each site reflects the location of the car park and the proximity to the city centre, in the same way as it does for NCP and the rent and business rates that it is being charged.
"All our car parks have discounted parking rates from the roll up costs, you just need to download the app before visiting our sites to access these, and all these discounted rates can still be accessed whether the autopay function is enabled or not.
"Should a customer enter the site and then decide they do not want to park, there is a small grace period which allows them to exit the site without being charged."
The spokesperson said the £7.95 evening rate is only available when paying via the NCP app and applies when parking between the hours of 6pm and 11.59pm on the same day. She said the NCP app also offers preferential parking rates as a recognition to customers who regularly park with the company, but these 'rates are not available when using the pre-book service, paying via the onsite machine, or the pay-online later feature'.
Manchester City Council says the NCP car parks are privately run and nothing to do with the local authority.
