London Car Parking

Most people choose to travel to and around London by one of its many forms of public transport - rail, underground and buses, but if you choose to drive, you may want to consider finding car parks first! With the introduction of the Congestion Charge a few years back, you may want to think twice before driving into London, but you could rent a car while you are there. There are also park and ride services available if you wish to travel on those instead of driving around in London, it can be very congested and tediously slow sometimes!

London car parking is well sign posted by a big white "P" on a blue background. Generally, these car parks are nearby to Railway stations and such like, and they are quite expensive to leave your car there. There are also car parks dotted around London and airports under the name NCP - National Car Parks. Generally, these are multi-storey car parks and can also be fairly expensive to park in.

In Central London, most of the streets have marked out parking bays where you can park, as long as you pay using one of the parking meters. Most of these, however, only allow you to park for a maximum of two or three hours, and this is showed on the meter. They are normally free after a certain time and this is normally after 6.30pm.

If you are a disabled driver, you are entitled to special privileges. You do need the blue badge, but with it comes things like exemption from the congestion charge and reduced parking fees.

You will notice that London has roads such as Red Routes which carries restrictions for parking. You need to make sure you look up details about such roads, as parking in them when you shouldn.t can lead to heavy fines or even clamping! Having the clamp removed costs about £45 and there is a fine that you need to pay as well that is between £40 and £80. There is a discount on this if it is paid in full within two weeks.

However you decide to travel in and around London, make sure you keep enough change in your pocket to be able to pay the parking fees for either the car parks or the parking meters. And don.t park anywhere unless it specifically says that you can, getting clamped would not be a good way to end your trip to the capital!