Parking fees in Amsterdam are enormously high. If you park your car in the city center you pay as much as 7,5 Euro per hour. Prices of parking in Amsterdam were recently raised and they are so high because the municipality does not want that many cars in the city center. They have already plan for Amsterdam to be CO2 free city by 2030. In the future, there will be only electric vehicles allowed in the city. But let’s get back to the topic. What is the Cheapest Parking in Amsterdam?
The Cheapest Parking in Amsterdam is the Park and Ride. You can park in P+R for as little as 1 Euro per day. There are 9 park and ride locations in Amsterdam. Other cheap parking is located in Amsterdam Noord and Bijlmer Arena.
In this article, I will give you some more tips on cheap parking in Amsterdam. Yes, it is possible to park in some places even for free. I know what I am saying because for a few years I’ve been living in Haarlem, a city close to Amsterdam, and I’ve been coming here often by car. This way I learned everything about saving money on parking in Amsterdam.
How To Park For 1 Euro in Amsterdam
If you come to Amsterdam for a few hours by car then your best parking option is P+R. Park and Ride are 9 garages around the city center. Each of them has a good public transport connection with the city center. There are some rules you must follow if you want to pay only 1 euro for this parking. The most important rule is that you have to get to the city center by public transport. In a result, you have to pay a little bit more than 1 euro because there is also a price of the public transport ticket. Both way public transport ticket will cost you 5,50 euros.
P+R locations differ from each other. In some of them you can park for 96 hours and for example in Rai P+R location you can park maximal for 24 hours.
P+R Rules
- Enter after 10am, if you park before 10am you pay 8 euros per day
- Get to the city center by public transport(bus, metro, tram)
- Come back to P+R garage by public transport from the city center(if you don’t enter public transport in the city center you pay a regular parking fee)
- Don’t go to the city center by bike, taxi or walk. This way you won’t get a P+R discount and the regular fee for this parking is the same as the street parking fee.
- Get a public transport ticket in the P+R location. GVB public transport ticket can be used to travel on GVB bus, tram and metro. A discount P+R transport ticket costs 5,50 per person and you can use it both ways.
Here you can watch a video I recorded for you where I explain exactly how P+R in Amsterdam works. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to my youtube channel 😉
Free Parking in Amsterdam
- Parking on Sunday is free in many places in Amsterdam. In the strict city center, you must pay, but you can park for free in 15 minutes’ walking distance from the canal ring. I often park in the area below the Vondelpark. It’s only 15 minutes from Leidseplein, and there are always some parking spots.
- Parking between midnight and 4 am is free
- There are some free parking in neighborhoods around the Amsterdam ring. I park my car for free in the Bilmer Arena district.
There are a few more spots where you can park for 0.10 euro per hour and I tell about them in the video below in the section Tips and Tricks
ParkBee Parkings
In Amsterdam, there are over 20 ParkBee locations where you pay only 1,50 euro per hour or 10 euro per 24 hours. You can find their locations here.
Blue Zones
You can see a lot of blue zones in Amsterdam. They are marked with a blue line around the parking spot. In these places, you can park your car just for a certain period of time. You need a blue clock disc, you set an arrival time and then you put it on a car dashboard. You can not exceed the allowed parking time. If you do, you will get a fine.
Can I Park in Amsterdam Noord For Free?
There are a few spots where you can park for free in Amsterdam Noord, but since they’ve built a metro station there, in most places you have to pay for the parking. But parking in Amsterdam Noord is still cheaper than in most parts of the city. You pay here 1,40 Euro per hour.
Free Parking At Night
After midnight parking even in the city center is free. Often when I go to the party to Rembrandtplein or Leidseplein I go by car. It’s not always the easiest task to find a parking spot, but within 10 minutes you should find one. Until 4 am parking is free.
Parking Inside the Ring
There is a highway ring around Amsterdam. If you tell someone about the ring they will immediately know what you mean. In most cases, you have to pay for parking in this area. There are few exceptions in particular places and in specific times and I talk about them in the video.
You can also check them by yourself on this Interactive Map with parking fees.
Tips and Tricks
- P+R Olympic Stadium – it’s most often packed. It’s one of my favorite locations but from my experience, it is full most of the time. You can check if there are any parking spots on this website. When it’s full your best alternative is P+R VUMC. It’s only 1 tram stop further from Olympic Stadium and it’s always empty.
- You have 5 minutes from the moment you park to pay for the parking
- You can get save money by buying a day ticket(you can get it in parking metre)
- If the parking metre is damaged you still have to pay, just find another one
Below you can find a video with some more detailed guidance on how to check parking prices, where to park for free, and how to save money on parking in Amsterdam
Get a Parking App
When you park your car anywhere in the Netherlands you have to pay for the parking in advance. So, for example, you pay for 3 hours and that’s not flexible, very annoying approach. Basically you have to keep track of the time, pay extra, so you are sure that you have some spare minutes, or in the worst-case scenario, you must run and buy extra parking time. That’s so annoying.
Here is a solution. You can pay with an app only for the specific time you spent in this parking location. The app is called ParkMobile. You must download it on your smartphone and then you pay 5 euros to register your car. When your car is added to the ParkMobile app you can start using it. You just click start when you park and when you get back to the car you click finish. You pay only for the minutes you’ve been parking.
Always remember to turn off your parking action, as long as it’s turned on it charges you a parking fee. What happens if I forget about it for a long time? Don’t worry, after 1 or 2 hours they send you a message reminding that your parking action is on and asking if you still park there. I think they use some sort of GPS because I often get reminder when I leave parking.
Is it A Good Idea To Visit Amsterdam By Car?
It’s fine to visit Amsterdam by car. You don’t need a car in Amsterdam itself, because it’s a small city and there is well organized public transport. If you are on your road trip or you plan to visit other cities in the Netherlands that’s totally fine. You can leave your car in one of the P+R locations for up to 96 hours. Another solution is to rent a hotel with free parking. You can find hotels with free parking here.
The best way to get around Amsterdam is by bike. You can rent a bike for as little as 10 euros per day. If you are not into cycling you can just walk. Amsterdam is truly small, and it’s beautiful, so you’ll surely enjoy walking around. Within 45 minutes you can get anywhere in the city center.
Is It Easy to Drive a Car in Amsterdam?
I include this question here because people often ask me about it. Amsterdam may seem difficult when it comes to driving a car. There are bicycles everywhere, right? People who drive their car in Amsterdam also tell me that it’s a nightmare, but for me, it’s quite easy. You just have to remember that bicycle always has right of the way, even before pedestrians. There are not that many cars in Amsterdam. The reason behind this is the successful anti-car policy of Amsterdam municipality. They plan Amsterdam to be a CO2 free city by the year 2030! There are fewer and fewer parking spots and more “traffic ban” streets.
Wrap Up
As you can see there are multiple cheap parking in Amsterdam and many ways to park your car for free. If you have any tips and tricks when it comes to parking in Amsterdam please share them with me! Another thing I would like to mention is that I live close to the city center and although I like driving my car it’s just much easier to get to the city center by bike! Cheers
