Park and Ride, public car park or street parking?
You’re allowed to park your car in Rotterdam nearly anytime and anywhere. The easiest way is to park your car on the street at your destination, but public car parks in Rotterdam are usually a bit cheaper than street parking. In addition, in Rotterdam centre parking spots are scarce and you have to pay the parking fee in advance. During the major festivals in Rotterdam the city centre is often poorly accessible and if you must park your car in Rotterdam for a longer period, your parking expenses are getting pretty high. A cheap alternative are the Park and Ride areas just outside the city centre. Or alternatively you can buy a full day parking ticket online to park in a covered parking in the middle of city center against a discounted rate and a reserved space:
Street parking in Rotterdam
Parking on the street in Rotterdam is mostly free, except for the city centre and areas with a high parking pressure. Within the city centre it’s hard to find a free parking spot during the weekend, but there are plenty of public car parks in Rotterdam. In Rotterdam you can’t pay to park on the street by cash! Payment can be done in two different ways, namely at the parking meter where you have to enter your licence plate number or by mobile phone. The parking meters in Rotterdam accept electronic payment by creditcard or a standard EC cash card.
Pay to park in Rotterdam by mobile phone
The number of parking meters will be reduced in the coming years and at the same time, payment by mobile phone for street parking is stimulated in Rotterdam. Currently you can already pay anywhere with your mobile. Just park you car and check-in and check-out your parking transaction with your mobile phone by calling a hotline, by SMS or through an app on your smartphone. The disadvantage of paying with your mobile is that you need to subscribe to this service in advance using one of the following providers: Yellowbrick, Park-Line, Parkmobile and SMSparking. Tourists can use the service as well and register their foreign license plate. Once registered you can use the service in many other cities in the Netherlands. In addition to the parking fees you will be charged a small fee of approx. €0,25 for checking in and out and the costs for using your mobile phone. The costs will be charged on your registered creditcard.
Public car parks in Rotterdam
There are many car parks in Rotterdam and so parking in the centre of Rotterdam is made easy. The parking garages are indoor and under camera suerveillance. Electronic signs show the number of free parking spots still available in the indoor garages in Rotterdam. In the Rotterdam car parks you can pay with cash, cash card or creditcard at the ticket machine when retrieving your car, so you never pay too much. The parking costs are calculated per x number of minutes. Unfortunately this number of minutes is different at almost every car park, ranging from 15 minutes to an hour!
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