Where to park in Melbourne City | Cheap parking Melbourne CBD
Navigating Melbourne CBD's Parking Maze: Your Complete Guide to Affordable and Hassle-Free Parking
Parking your car in Melbourne CBD can be both hard work and expensive. Parking spaces are in high demand, and the CBD is full of people commuting to and from work each day. Oh, and then there are the tourists!
The best way to get into the Melbourne CBD is with public transport. Trains are reliable and regular, with Spencer St Station and Flinders Street Station centrally located. Best of all, the city tram is free once you’ve got into the CBD itself!
If you really do need to drive into the Melbourne CBD, you need to have a plan on where to park your car. Keep reading for the GoGet guide on where to park in Melbourne City.
Cheap parking Melbourne CBD: The District Docklands East & West Car Parks
The District Docklands East and West Car Parks has some of the cheapest parking rates in Melbourne city. It’s the perfect spot if you’re heading to Marvel Stadium, or having dinner in the Docklands precinct. Even better, the first 90 minutes are free!
If you’re heading into Melbourne CBD, you can park here and catch a free tram from Docklands Drive. The trams leave every few minutes. As of October 2023 , Daytime parking rates are as follows:
0-90 minutes: FREE
1 Hour - 2 Hours: $9.00
2 Hours - 3 Hours: $12.00
3 Hours - 4 Hours: $16.00
4 Hours+: $16.00
Maximum Charge Per Day: $16.00
Early bird pricing: $11.00 if you enter before 10am and leave before 3pm
Evening and weekend rates are available too and there are also special cheap parking rates available for HOYTS visitors. Monthly packages and pre-paid packages are also available by arrangement.
Cheap(er) parking Melbourne CBD: Council House car park
The City of Melbourne operates the Council House car park in the central CBD area. Their short-term parking rates are slightly lower than regular commercial rates.
The car park has three separate entries: 200 Little Collins St, Russell Place, and Royal Lane.
Rates (as of October 2023) are as follows:
Weekday Parking:
Less than 30 minutes: $6
0.5 to 1 hours: $12
1 to 1.5 hours: $18
1.5 to 2 hours: $25
2 to 2.5 hours: $30
2.5 to 3 hours: $36
3 to 3.5 hours: $46
3.5 to 4 hours: $56
Weekday Maximum: $66
Night parking (after 5pm, exit before close): $10.
Saturday & Sunday Parking:
Less than 30 minutes: $5
0.5 to 1 hours: $10
1+ hours: $12
Street parking Melbourne CBD
While street parking is an option in Melbourne CBD, you will need to pay for it, and it’s not easy to come by. If you need to be somewhere at a specific time, it’s best to give yourself a bit of time to find an on-street spot, and have a nearby car park as a back-up option just in case.
Most parking bays in Melbourne CBD have a limit of one-hour during the day. After 6.30pm, many parking bays have a two-hour limit. Parking restrictions in the CBD end at 8.30pm.
The hourly rate for street parking depends on where in the city you are, with a maximum peak hourly rate of $7/hour (as of October 2023).
Share with Oscar Melbourne Parking
If you’re heading into the CBD for the day or just a few hours, Share with Oscar allows you to book cheap city of Melbourne parking from just $18 a day.
Share with Oscar offers rates that are over 30% cheaper than booking somewhere else. There’s hundreds of options available in most parts of the city. The best part? Once you’ve booked, you can rest assured you’ll have guaranteed parking in the city for the day.
Melbourne Central car park
Melbourne Central car park has over 880 parking spaces and is located right in the heart of Melbourne CBD. For every $10 you spend at any Melbourne Central store, you pay only $8 per hour for parking between 7am and 5pm, so this could be a cheap parking option for keen shoppers. Just remember to have your parking ticket validated in store at point of purchase or at the Guest Service Desk.
Other parking rates (as of October 2023) are as follows:
Standard rate: $16 per hour
Evening rate: $13 flat rate after 5pm
Earlybird rate: $16 flat rate (enter before 10am, exit after 3pm)
Private Parking Melbourne – Plan ahead and book online to save on parking
Many of the private parking garages in Melbourne CBD offer discount rates if you pre-book your parking online, or early-bird rates if you enter the carpark before a designated time. There are some great rates available if you plan ahead.
Use the Secure-a-spot website to book ahead. Parking can be booked online up to 45 days in advance of your visit and up to 15 minutes before you need to enter the car park.
The Wilson parking website and app also lets you search for and book a carpark online. If you’re looking for all-day parking, the cheapest option is usually early-bird parking.
Get around multi-modal style with GoGet
Multi-modal transport is more and more common, and helps reduce the demand for parking in Melbourne. Multi-modal transport could mean getting a train to a tram stop, then a tram into the city. Or you could catch a tram to Fitzroy, then walk a few blocks to somewhere else.
With 1,000+ GoGet cars and vans parked all over Melbourne’s CBD and suburbs, car share is now a big part of the multi-modal shift. If you need to be somewhere not served by public transport, GoGet lets you use public transport some of the way, then grab a car for the last part of the trip.
While GoGet might not help you park in Melbourne today, it could help you never have to park there again! Hundreds of thousands of Australians use GoGet to replace a car – you can do it too! (It could also save you thousands, by the way!)
Ditch the City Parking Panic: GoGet Your Easy Melbourne CBD Access!
Skip the Spot-Hunting Scramble: GoGet Your Wheels on Demand
Forget the CBD parking maze! Trapped circling the block, battling parking metres, or facing sky-high fees? No thanks! GoGet car sharing liberates you from the tyranny of traditional car ownership. Need to grab groceries after work? GoGet!
Why waste time and money on parking? Join GoGet today and unlock freedom and flexibility in the heart of Melbourne!
