Free parking in London and when it is allowed

Most free parking in London depends on the clock. Central councils stop charging for pay-by-phone bays and lift single yellow line rules outside their controlled hours, so a street that is paid at noon on Saturday can be free that evening and all of Sunday, and the Royal Borough of Greenwich lets cars stay in its town centre car parks overnight without a fee. Richmond Park and Bushy Park charge nothing in their car parks while the vehicle gates are open, and Brent Cross and IKEA Greenwich let shoppers park for free. These spots pair well with the free tourist attractions in London nearby.

The council pages give no maximum stay for the free window, but control returns the next morning (from 08:30 in Westminster and 07:00 in the City), so a car left overnight needs moving or a paid session before then. Resident bays follow their own plates, and in much of Westminster they stay controlled around the clock. A free bay also leaves the car inside the Ultra Low Emission Zone, which covers every London borough, and for the central rows inside the Congestion Charge zone, so the road charges column matters as much as the clock.

Central London on-street, free by the clock

The times below show when pay-by-phone bays and single yellow lines in each zone stop being controlled. The plate on each bay has the final word.

Greenwich and Blackheath

The Royal Borough of Greenwich charges in its three town centre car parks from 08:00 to 18:30 every day, Sundays included, so the free window there is the evening. Blackheath's Old Dover Road car park is the only one of the four that is free all day on Sundays.

Royal Parks and big parks, free all day

The Royal Parks state that car parking in Richmond Park and Bushy Park is free of charge and publish the Richmond Park gate times and car park rules. The car park at Hampton Court Green is run for Hampton Court Palace visitors and has its own charges.

Retail car parks, free for customers

Both sites reserve their car parks for shoppers, and IKEA limits free parking at its Greenwich store to five hours.

Each number matches a pin on the map at the top of the page, and the tourist map of London places these spots against the main sights.

Checked 27 Oct 2026.

Sunday is the easiest day to park for free in central London. Westminster stops charging for paid bays and lifts single yellow line rules all day on Sunday and from 18:30 on other days, and it applies Sunday rules on most bank holidays, as its list of bank holiday parking controls shows. Many resident bays in Mayfair, Soho and Marylebone stay reserved around the clock. The City of London ends its controls at 19:00 on weekdays and 11:00 on Saturdays and leaves Sunday free. A consultation closing on 2 December 2026 proposes controls until 20:00 from Monday to Saturday from May 2027, with Sundays unchanged.

Kensington and Chelsea makes its pay-by-phone bays free on Sundays and bank holidays, apart from the Holland Park car park and most of Holland ward. For Tate Modern, Southwark is the trap, as bays in Bankside and Bermondsey stay controlled every day until 23:00, while the Borough zone is free all weekend. In Camden Town, controls around the markets run into the late evening and through the weekend.

The best pairing is a Sunday morning at the South Kensington museums, where the bays cost nothing and the Congestion Charge, which only starts at 12:00 at weekends, does not reach. City bays near St Paul's Cathedral and the Sky Garden turn free at 11:00 on Saturdays, but the City lies inside the Congestion Charge zone, so driving there between 12:00 and 18:00 still costs the daily charge. Greenwich suits the evening, once its town centre car parks stop charging at 18:30.

Two road charges sit on top of any parking rule. The Congestion Charge covers the central zone from 07:00 to 18:00 on weekdays and from 12:00 to 18:00 at weekends and on bank holidays, with no charge from Christmas Day to the New Year's Day bank holiday. A car that drives in the zone during those hours owes the daily charge even if it then sits in a free bay. Electric cars lost their full exemption on 2 January 2026 and now get only a partial Cleaner Vehicle Discount through Auto Pay. Drivers can pay in advance, on the day, or at a higher rate by midnight on the third day after travel, and TfL sets out the hours and payment options on its Congestion Charge page.

The Ultra Low Emission Zone runs 24 hours a day, every day except Christmas Day, across all London boroughs. Cars that miss its emissions standards pay a daily charge for each day they drive inside it, so a free car park in Greenwich or at Brent Cross does not cancel it. Cars registered abroad face the same standards and must be registered with TfL, and Auto Pay settles both charges. For a compliant car, arriving in the centre after 18:00 on a weekday means free parking and neither charge to pay.

Several places once known for free parking now charge, and a few busy districts keep their controls running late. Westfield London and Westfield Stratford City charge from the first hour, Alexandra Palace gives only the first half hour free, and Hampstead Heath allows a short grace period before its charges start. Epping Forest charges every day of the week. The Royal Parks charge in Hyde Park, The Regent's Park and Greenwich Park through the day, bank holidays included, and because they publish charging hours rather than free hours, this page leaves those car parks off the map. Car parks at Underground stations charge on Sundays too, so the Tube offers no free park and ride. In the centre, the streets to treat with care are Bankside, Bermondsey and Camden Town, where bays stay controlled late into the evening.

Event days change the clock around Wembley Stadium, where Brent's Lonsdale Avenue car park switches to event-day charges from 08:00 to midnight with a two hour maximum stay, and Alexandra Palace shuts its road and car parks from 6 to 9 November 2026 for its fireworks festival. A suspended bay can be enforced even on a free Sunday, so the suspension notice on the post beats any time plate.

In Westminster, a sign that reads "Resident permit holders only" with no days or times means the bay is controlled at all times, every day. Single yellow lines follow the hours on the zone entry sign unless a plate says otherwise, and double yellow lines are off limits around the clock.

The national Blue Badge scheme does not fully apply in Westminster, the City of London, Kensington and Chelsea and part of Camden. Westminster gives badge holders four free hours in disabled bays during controlled hours and one extra free hour after paying in a paid bay. Breaking any of these rules brings a penalty charge notice.