Parking in Barcelona, or in any big city for that matter, can be pretty frustrating, especially if you have to travel within the centre of the Catalan capital regularly.
And although there are many paid car parks all over the city, sometimes you just want to park somewhere for free, either because you only need to park your car for a little while, or because you do not need your car for the next couple of days.
And that is why today, in this article by ShBarcelona, we will share a few tricks with you, to help you find parking in Barcelona.
Table of Contents
How is parking in Barcelona + the best parking tricks
First tip: Take a walk around Zona Universitaria and travel by public transport
The area Zona Universitaria is located in the heart of the Les Corts district, near the exit (or entrance) of the city, just where the Avinguda Diagonal starts.
Zona Universitaria is not at all close the old centre of the Catalan capital, but you will find many free parking spaces here, especially on the weekends.
Photo via Pixabay
If you are not trying to find free parking in Barcelona on Sunday, however, it is more difficult to find a parking spot during the week, as many students park their cars in the area to go to their faculties.
Metro line 3 (green line) has several stops in this area, and it will take you right to Barcelona’s city centre in about 10 minutes.
Second tip: Explore Google Maps
Google Maps has enabled their car park search function in Spain. Up until now, it was only available in a few cities around the world, but not in our country.
Photo via Pixabay
On Google Maps you can now discover 25 new cities (worldwide), and five of these are on Spanish territory. With this application you can find parking in some of Spain’s largest cities, like Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante and Malaga.
Other cities that already have a car park search function in the application are in Europe, Canada and Brazil.
Related article: Where to Find Parking Spaces for Rent in Barcelona
Third tip: Park at a shopping centre
It is always an option to leave your car in a car park at a shopping centre or some other large parking garage. You can avoid paying high parking tariffs and it allows you to park your car in a secure place, protected from the weather outside.
Not every shopping centre, however, allows free parking in their facilities. Always check before you enter the car park (or at home), if you can leave your car there for free for two or three hours.
Photo via Pixabay
You will have to pay for the extra hours, when exceeding the time limit for free parking. Therefore, parking at a shopping centre is not always the perfect alternative, because sometimes you need to leave your car all day, and not just for a couple of hours.
This is only a good option if you have a meeting or other short activity, and you know in advance this car park fits in your time frame.
The following four shopping centres have free underground parking:
- Diagonal Mar
- Heron City
- La Illa
- Granvia2
These are safe and covered parking garages, and you can park your care here, knowing nothing will happen to it.
Photo via Pixabay
Other options for free parking in Barcelona are parking on the outskirts of the Catalan capital, like in Vall d’Hebrón.
From here you can also take metro line 3, and if you travel to the city centre or the neighbourhood of Sarrià or Pedralbes, this is where you can hop on the FGC (train), which stops at Plaza Cataluña.
P.S. Never forget to check the parking rules in Barcelona for the area that you are in and want to find a parking spot! And check this website for Barcelona residents with a car.
Do you have other tricks up your sleeve for parking in Barcelona?
Share your best advice with our readers!
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