Bournemouth Car Parks
There’s NO Park & Ride scheme operating in Bournemouth so car parks in the town centre or close to the beach can get pretty busy in the summer and on hot Bank Holiday weekends it can be a nightmare unless you make that extra effort to get up early and arrive before 9am 🙂 The list of car parks below isn’t meant to be a comprehensive list it’s just there to give you an idea of how much you can expect to pay. Between £10 – £18 is around average for all-day parking in the summer. Many ticket machines no longer accept coins so it’s a good idea to download a parking app to your phone in advance (JustPark, PayByPhone, RingGo).
More details on Bournemouth car parks can be found on the https://www.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/Parking/ web page.
Bath Road South Long Stay Car Park
This is an outdoor car park is the most convenient for visiting the beach and is just a couple of minutes walk from Pier Approach, a fact that is reflected in its charges. It’s also one of the first to fill up.
Sat Nav postcode BH1 2EW (Google map)
You can’t pay by cash but the machines will accept payment by card. Alternatively you can pay by phone or by using an online app (JustPark, RingGo or PayByPhone).
More info at https://www.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/Parking/
| Apr-Oct | Nov-Mar | |
| 1 hour | £3 | £1.90 |
| 2 hours | £6 | £3.60 |
| 3 hours | £9 | £5.10 |
| 4 hours | £12 | £6.40 |
| 6 hours | £18 | £10.20 |
| 24 hours | £22 | £16.30 |
Richmond Gardens Multi-Storey
This is my car park of choice when visiting Bournemouth just because it’s fairly cheap particularly if visiting for a couple of hours. It’s a long-stay multi-story car park located at the top of Richmond Hill and about 15 minute walk to the beach through the town and Lower Gardens.
Sat Nav post code BH1 1JD (Google maps)
More info at https://www.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/Parking/
| All-year | |
| up to 2 hours | £2.50 |
| up to 3 hours | £3.50 |
| up to 4 hours | £4.50 |
| up to 6 hours | £8 |
| up to 24 hours | £10 |
Avenue Road Car Park – BH2 5SL (Google maps) is also a multi-story car park in the town centre that has the same reasonable prices as Richmond Gardens Multi-storey (see above). It may be my imagination but the spaces feel a bit smaller. More info at https://www.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/Parking/
Winter Gardens Car Park
This is another good outdoor choice, very convenient since it’s just a short 5 minute walk to the pier and has reasonable parking charges. Even though it’s centrally located it is surrounded by trees and feels a bit more isolated so definitely not a place top leave valuables in your car or go back to after dark if you are on your own (although I’ve never heard of any problems).
Sat Nav postcode BH2 5AQ (Google maps)
You can’t pay by cash. You can only pay for parking by phone or using an online app such as JustPark, RingGo or PayByPhone.
More info at https://www.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/Parking/
| All-year | |
| up to 2 hours | £2.50 |
| up to 3 hours | £3.50 |
| up to 4 hours | £4.50 |
| up to 6 hours | £8 |
| up to 24 hours | £10 |
Boscombe Undercliff Car Park
This car park is the closest you’ll get to actually parking on the beach with unspoilt sea views. It’s not technically a Bournemouth Car Park since the entrance is by the round-a-bout next to Boscombe Pier but the seafront parking along the promenade does extend all the way to within 1km of Bournemouth Pier (15 minute walk along the seafront) and is a great choice if you are spending the day at the beach and have plenty of heavy beach equipment such as deckchairs, paddle boards, picnics and BBQs. It’s also the perfect place to park if you have a small campervan.
Sat Nav postcode BH5 1BN (Google map)
Parking charges are a bit complicated as it not only depends on the time of year but also on what time of the day you arrive so best to consult https://www.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/Parking/. However all day parking during the summer months is cheaper than car parks such as Bath Road in Bournemouth and you get the absolute best view of any car park in Dorset. Open the car door and roll onto the beach 🙂
Related Pages: Bournemouth / Bournemouth Beach / Bournemouth Big Wheel / Bournemouth Oceanarium / Rockreef and PierZip / Russell Cotes Museum / Land Train / Boscombe Beach / Alum Chine Beach / Durley Chine Beach / Bournemouth Air Festival