PARKING IN AMSTERDAM

As one of the millions of tourists who visit Amsterdam every year, there is a good chance that you will rent a car for your trip. Maybe you are even traveling by car and just passing through Amsterdam for a day, who knows? In each case, if you are here, you have a car or plan to rent one for your trip in the Netherlands.

Of course, if you plan on staying in the city only, a car will be a pointless outlay for your trip. But there are so many unique and beautiful places that you can visit around Amsterdam, that it is a mistake not to consider renting a car and making your album of memories even richer.

Like most services in Amsterdam, parking is incredibly expensive compared to most other cities, especially in the central area. The easiest example is to park your car on the street in the city center which would cost you €7.50 per hour.

With most tourist attractions and landmarks scattered around the center and always at walking distance from one another, can you imagine how much you would have to pay for a full day of parking?

Whatever your plans for your day in Amsterdam may be, the IJDock parking garage is one of the two best options to leave your car for the day or night. Located at just about 5 minutes walking distance from the Amsterdam Central Station, it is a spacious car park with about 350 parking spaces that await your arrival.

Your second option is to park your car at IJ-oever Centrum. If you plan to explore the more distant areas of the city instead of just the city center, IJ-oever Centrum is connected to the most important public transport lines.

In addition, it is located at close walking distance to a few of the most important museums and attractions in Amsterdam – the NEMO Science Museum, which is definitely a mandatory location and the best place to see the city from above for free, and the National Maritime Museum.

Last but not least, if you own or rent an electric vehicle, both car parks have over a dozen charging stations for your convenience. Why not be environmentally friendly when you can, right?

Is there Free Parking in Amsterdam?

To begin with, Parking in Amsterdam is free on Sundays, however, not in the city center. If you plan a day visit on a Sunday and you do not want to pay any fares, make sure you are out of the central area, as well as not in the southern part of Amsterdam Noord where you will also have to pay the usual rates per hour.

Other than that, there are a few areas scattered around Amsterdam like small parts of Amsterdam Zuidoost and Amsterdam Nieuw-West where you can regularly park for free but we would strongly advise you not to. These areas are simply not as safe as they should be and your car will be at true risk of being stolen, no matter how impossible this sounds. Besides that, if you are not local, it would be hard to find these certain areas.

Last but not least, there are certain areas near the city that you can use to park for free and then reach the city by train or bus but who has time for such inconvenient actions when on vacation?

There are many other car parks in Amsterdam besides the ones that are included in our deal. However, most roofed parking locations and garages cost just as much as the street parking (€7.50 per hour) and sometimes even more.

Besides that, most car parks work until 23:59 which is a bummer if you want to use your car late at night or in other occasions. With our exclusive deal, you can use IJDock and IJ-oever Centrum for 24 hours at your convenience at the lowest possible price.

The parking fines in Amsterdam are not as astronomical as you may think compared to the expensiveness of everything in the city. However, you still do not want to get a parking ticket while you are on vacation, right?

What is the chance to get caught, you may ask? Every street gets checked regularly via a scanner every day. If you park for a short period of time, you may get lucky, but the chance of getting a terrible Amsterdam parking experience is too high to risk it.

The cost of the parking fines are the same for natives and foreigners but the rules are slightly different. For example, the regular fine will cost you €38.10 and luckily, you will not get a clamp on your very first offense.

If you are a Dutch native or live in any of the European countries apart from Eastern Europe, you will get a clamp after your fifth fine. If for some reason you get those fines, you will get a clamp and the only way for your car to be released will be to pay everything in the police station, in addition to €192 for the clamp itself.

For people from Eastern Europe or any other part of the world, it takes two offenses to get a clamp. In any case, you will find the tickets waiting for you in your mail at home with instructions on how to pay them. Do not think that you can simply not pay and forget about the fines. What follows will be a lawsuit and a possible forbiddance to enter the country in the future.

Is Parking in Amsterdam outside the City Center Cheaper?

For obvious reasons, the most expensive place to park will be in the city center. However, it is too hard to find a free spot in most days. Then again, the further you go out of the city center, the lower the hourly rate becomes.

You can search online for a detailed map of the prices per area. Nevertheless, would you park your car kilometers away from your hotel and travel all the way there on foot or via public transport? 

What is P1 Parking in Amsterdam?

P1 Parking is another valuable option in certain cases. They have two car parks, one of which is also located at Amsterdam Centraal, and a variety of options for parking. For example, the regular cost for 24 hours is €20 but only if you book in advance, these spots are limited.

We should mention that there is one rule that you definitely need to take note of if you consider using P1 instead of Interparking. In case you plan to enter and leave the parking a lot or plan a trip in between, you should choose the multi-pass option when you book your spot. Otherwise, you will be charged the regular daily fee of €55 if you want to use the unlimited entry and exit service.

P1 Parking also offers a 6-hour evening parking service which costs €10 but is active only between 18:00 and 00:00. If you purchase this, you can only enter the car park after 18:00 and you have to leave before 00:00, otherwise, you will be charged an extra €5 for every 50 minutes.