Parking in Edinburgh: Where to Park & What It Costs (2026)
Where to park in Edinburgh and what it actually costs: exact on-street tariffs by zone, the five main multi-storeys, the four Park & Ride sites (only one of them charges), and what Edinburgh's Low Emission Zone fines you if you get it wrong.
Parking in Edinburgh where to put the car, and what it actually costs
If you can avoid it, don't drive into the centre of Edinburgh at all. The city is one of the most walkable capitals in Europe, and getting around Edinburgh on foot, by bus or by tram will get you to almost everything on a things to do in Edinburgh list faster, and a lot cheaper, than a car will. But if you're arriving with one anyway, whether that's a road trip, a rental picked up for a day trip out of the city, or you just prefer driving, you need to know what parking actually costs here, not just that it exists. That's what this guide covers: exact on-street tariffs by zone, the main multi-storeys and what a day in each one involves, the four Park & Ride sites and which one isn't free, and Edinburgh's Low Emission Zone, which fines a non-compliant car whether it belongs to a local or a visitor.
This guide is only about parking once you're in Edinburgh, or deciding whether to bring a car at all. If you're weighing a rental against the tram or a taxi for the trip in from the airport itself, Edinburgh Airport to the city centre breaks that specific leg down on cost and time. And if you haven't picked a place to stay yet, which neighbourhood you choose in where to stay in Edinburgh has a real effect on how much of this guide you'll actually need: Old Town and New Town hotels rarely have their own car park, while a hotel further out, in Leith or the West End, is more likely to.
Every tariff, boundary and penalty figure here was checked directly against the City of Edinburgh Council's own parking and Low Emission Zone pages, the Scottish Government's fines page on mygov.scot, and each multi-storey operator's own site, in the last week of August 2026. On-street tariffs are reviewed roughly once a year, so if you're reading this well into 2027, sense-check the headline rates against edinburgh.gov.uk before you travel.
How I'd think about parking here, in one paragraph
Work out your route before you drive in, not after. Central on-street bays are the most expensive parking in the city and are charged into the evening and on Sunday afternoons; the multi-storeys cost more but guarantee you a space; the free Park & Ride sites are the best value if your hotel is anywhere near a tram or bus stop; and the Low Emission Zone will fine a non-compliant car regardless of which of those you pick, so check your vehicle before you set off, not once you're already inside the boundary.
Quick reference, what each option actually costs:
On-street, central zones: £9.00 down to £6.80 an hour depending on the exact street; charged Monday to Saturday 8:30am to 6:30pm and Sunday 12:30pm to 6:30pm.
On-street, peripheral and extended zones: £6.00 down to £4.20 an hour; charged Monday to Friday only, free all weekend.
Multi-storey car parks: from £4.20 for the first hour at St James Quarter, the only one that publishes its rate online; the others don't list a price and need checking on arrival.
Park & Ride: free at Ingliston, Sheriffhall and Hermiston, plus a £2.40 bus or tram fare each way; 50p for 24 hours at Newcraighall, plus the train fare in.
Get it wrong in the Low Emission Zone: £60, reduced to £30 if you pay within 14 days, doubling with each further offence inside 90 days.
Controlled parking zones, and what each tier actually costs
Edinburgh's on-street parking runs on three tiers of controlled zone, and the difference between them is significant. Central zones (numbered 1, 1A, 2, 3 and 4) cover the Old Town, New Town and West End: George Street, St Andrew Square, Charlotte Square, Queen Street and Market Street are the most expensive at £9.00 an hour, secondary central streets run £8.00 an hour, and the West End sits at £6.80 an hour. These zones are controlled Monday to Saturday, 8:30am to 6:30pm, and Sunday, 12:30pm to 6:30pm, which catches a lot of visitors out; Edinburgh is one of the few UK cities that still charges for Sunday afternoon parking in the centre.
Peripheral zones (5, 5A, 6, 7 and 8), covering areas like the wider New Town and Bruntsfield, run £6.00 down to £4.60 an hour, and extended zones (prefixed N or S) drop to £4.20 an hour; South Queensferry, right at the edge of the council area, is the cheapest in the whole city at £1.50 an hour. Both peripheral and extended zones are only controlled Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5:30pm, so if your hotel is a short walk outside the true centre, weekend and evening parking near it is very likely free. Always check the street's time plate directly, since it also states any separate maximum-stay limit.
You pay by RingGo, the council's official pay-by-phone service; register once at myringgo.co.uk or by calling 0131 516 4000, then pay per session through the app (there's no extra charge on top of the on-street tariff itself). One thing worth knowing directly from the council: Edinburgh's ticket machines and RingGo do not use QR codes, so a QR code sticker on a machine or a bay is a scam, not a legitimate way to pay.
The main multi-storeys, and what each one actually offers
If you want a guaranteed space rather than a hunt for an on-street bay, Edinburgh has five multi-storeys worth knowing by name. Only one of them, St James Quarter, publishes its rate online; the rest use dynamic on-site or app pricing, which is genuinely inconvenient to plan around, but worth knowing in advance so it doesn't come as a surprise.
St James Quarter (St James Crescent, EH1 3AD): 1,600 spaces over three levels, 70 disabled bays, right in the New Town and attached to the shopping centre. £4.20 for the first hour, rising to £28.20 for 8 to 24 hours; a flat £5 overnight rate covers any entry after 5:30pm with exit before 8:30am. 45 PodPoint EV chargers on site, £0.75/kWh in the day and £0.45/kWh in the evening, though you'll need your own cable.
Q-Park OMNI, signed both as "OMNI" and by its street, Greenside (Greenside Row, EH1 3AN, underneath the Omni Centre and the Playhouse): 1,000 spaces, 20 EV points, open 24 hours, a 6-minute walk to Waverley station. No rate published online; check the Q-Park app or the barrier board.
NCP Castle Terrace (EH1 2EN, on the west side of the Castle esplanade, a couple of minutes from the Grassmarket): 750 spaces, the closest multi-storey to the Castle itself. Also no online rate. One honest thing worth flagging: NCP, the operator, went into administration in March 2026; its car parks, this one included, kept operating normally throughout, so it's not something to plan a trip around, but it explains why you might spot an unusual notice at the barrier.
Apcoa New Street (EH1 1BB, tucked under Waverley station on its east side): 488 spaces, the closest option to the station and the top of the Royal Mile.
Q-Park Capital Square (West Approach Road, EH3 8BP): a smaller 166-space option a few minutes from Castle Terrace, with 7 EV points, worth knowing as a backup if Castle Terrace is full.
Four of the five sit inside Edinburgh's Low Emission Zone boundary, so the car itself still needs to comply even if you're only parking, not driving through; Q-Park Capital Square, off West Approach Road, sits just outside it on the council's own map (by about 16 metres), which makes it the one to use in an older car, though the zone starts right beside it, so check your route on the council's map first.
Park free at the edge of town, then bus, tram or train in
If your hotel is anywhere near a tram stop or a Lothian bus route, Park & Ride is the best-value option on this whole page: you leave the car for free at the edge of the city and pay only the £2.40 single bus or tram fare each way (contactless capping it at £5.70 for the day if you're in and out more than twice; see getting around Edinburgh for how the caps work). There are four sites, and one of them isn't actually free, which is worth knowing before you pick it on the assumption that they all are.
Ingliston (2 Eastfield Road, Newbridge, EH28 8LS): free, 1,085 spaces, open 04:00 to 02:00 daily. Sits directly on the tram line, so it's one ride with no transfer into the New Town; EV charging on site.
Sheriffhall (Old Dalkeith Road, Dalkeith, EH22 1FD): free, open 24 hours, on Lothian Bus routes X33, 33, 46 and 48.
Hermiston (Riccarton Mains Road, Currie, EH14 4AT): free, open 24 hours, on Lothian Bus routes 25, N25, 32, 34, 35, N35, X40 and 70.
Newcraighall (Newcraighall Road, EH21 8RX): the exception, 50p for 24 hours, 565 spaces. ScotRail trains run roughly every 30 minutes and take just 11 minutes into Waverley, also calling Haymarket and Edinburgh Park; Lothian Bus route 30 serves the same site.
For a straightforward city-centre stay, I'd default to Ingliston if you're arriving from the west or the airport road, since it puts you on the tram with nothing to transfer to. Newcraighall is worth the 50p if you're coming from the east and want the fastest single leg in, at 11 minutes to Waverley.
Edinburgh's LEZ: what it actually costs to get wrong
Edinburgh has run a camera-enforced Low Emission Zone since 1 June 2024, and it catches visitors and locals on exactly the same terms; a hire car is not exempt just because you didn't know. The boundary circles the city centre, roughly from Tollcross in the south, along Palmerston Place in the west, up Queen Street in the New Town to Picardy Place, round Abbeyhill and onto Holyrood Road, along the Pleasance in the east, and back along the Meadows to Tollcross. The boundary road itself sits outside the zone, so a non-compliant vehicle can still drive around the edge of the city, just not through the middle of it.
ANPR cameras enforce it around the clock, 365 days a year, no manual checks and no warning first. The penalty is £60, reduced to £30 if you pay within 14 days, and it doubles with each further offence in the same zone inside a 90-day window, capped at £480 for a car (£960 for a bus, coach or HGV). Miss another offence-free 90 days and the counter resets to £60. You'll only ever get one penalty per zone per day, however many times you cross the boundary.
Almost every modern petrol or diesel car built from around 2015 onward meets the standard, and any electric vehicle automatically does; if you're driving an older or diesel-heavy vehicle, check it against the Scottish vehicle registration checker before you set off, not after you've already crossed the line. Motorcycles and mopeds are always exempt, historic vehicles over 30 years old are automatically exempt, and Blue Badge holders can apply for a short-visit exemption up to seven days ahead, including for a single-day trip. There's no general tourist grace period beyond that, so don't assume being a visitor buys you any leeway.
What to expect from your hotel
Space is genuinely scarce in the historic centre, so don't assume your hotel has its own car park just because it's a hotel. Most Old Town and New Town properties, especially anything in a converted townhouse or tenement, have no parking of their own and will point you to the nearest multi-storey, sometimes with a discounted rate arranged with that car park, sometimes not. Larger chain hotels and anything genuinely out of the centre, in Leith, the West End or near the airport road, are more likely to have their own car park or a paid valet arrangement. If where you park matters to your trip, check the hotel's own parking policy directly when you book rather than assuming, and factor the nearest multi-storey's uncertainty on price into your plan either way.
Charging an electric vehicle while you're here
Coverage is decent if you know where to look, even without a single citywide network to point to. St James Quarter has by far the most on-site chargers, 45 PodPoint points at £0.75/kWh by day and £0.45/kWh in the evening; Q-Park's OMNI car park has 20 points and Capital Square has 7, both included in their standard parking access; and Ingliston Park & Ride has EV charging alongside its free parking, useful if you're leaving the car for a full day while you're in the centre. Bring your own cable for the PodPoint chargers, since they're untethered.
Frequently asked questions.
Is parking free in Edinburgh on Sundays?
Do I have to pay for parking in Edinburgh in the evening?
What is Edinburgh's Low Emission Zone, and does it apply to visitors and rental cars?
Is there any free parking near Edinburgh city centre?
How much does a multi-storey car park cost in Edinburgh?
Stop reading lists.
Start the trip.
Tourli turns any guide into an actionable day plan — pinned to a map, walking directions and offline access included. One tap to save every place on this page.