Free parking in Budapest

free parking budapestAre there any free parking spots in Budapest?

Thank you for the question! This is a good question and, at times, a tricky question. The local government has removed more and more free parking spots in Budapest, but there are still some. Here we will write about some of those free parking spots.

First of all, in large parts of the city, it is free parking on Sundays and after 22.00 in the evening (on the other days). However, this is in general, so make sure to check it out as you park your car to know if this is valid for where you would like to park your card as well.

General advice is to never to leave valuables in your car because, as in all other cities, there are people in Budapest as well who like to steal valuables from cars, so if you have lots of valuable stuff in your car, you better go to a secure parking lot instead with guards, to make sure that you, your car and your values stay safe!

Free parking in Budapest

Campona

You must park outside the city center if you want 100% free parking in Budapest. You can park mostly anywhere in the 22nd district of Budapest and in other “outside districts” such as the 4th district, the 17th district, and many others. Still a better option is to park in the giant parking lot by the shopping mall Campona outside the city center of Budapest. From there, you can travel with public transportation buses to Moricz Zsigmond Korter, Bikas, Park, or Ujbuda center, and then you can travel further on with the green metro line to wherever you want to in Budapest

parking lot next to campona

You can type Campona Budapest in your GPS and you will be taken to the mall and its giant parking lot. This is probably the best option right now if you want a 100% free parking in Budapest.

Market Central (Vecsés, Fő út 246-248)

This is a shopping area very close to Budapest Airport. Here you find all sorts of stores, such as Tesco, Praktiker, DM, kik, Deichmann, SportFactory, Lidl, Müller, Burger King, and many others. A large parking lot is in front of the complex, and you can leave your car here for free. From here you can travel by bus 200E towards Köbanya Kispest and travel on the blue metro line from there to the city center of Budapest.

market central budapest

The parking lot along the main road connects the city center with the airport. You should, of course, be careful with leaving valuables in the car, just like you should anywhere else in the city.

P+R parking in Budapest (not free, but very cheap).

It is hard to find free parking in Budapest at central locations, but there are a couple of P+R parking options that will allow you to leave your car at a cheap price and then travel on with public transportation to all of Budapest within a few seconds. These were completely free until July 1st in 2023, but they now require a payment. Luckily, they are still cheap, making them great options!

What is the price of the different P+R parking options in Budapest?

The price is 350 HUF per entrance (valid between 06.00 and 22.00). In other words, if you arrive at 8.00 and leave at 21.50, you only pay 350 HUF (less than 1 euro) for the entire parking time. If you leave your car there for the night, you need to pay 105 HUF per hour between 22.00 and 06.00. If you arrive at 10.00 on a Monday and leave the parking lot at 10.00 on a Wednesday, you will end up paying three-day tickets (3×350) and also 16 night hours (16×105). The end result is then 2730 HUF, approximately 7 euro. The parking lot is guarded, meaning that it should be considered fairly safe to leave your car in this and other P+R locations in Budapest for a couple of days


1) Etele tér P+R (not free, but cheap)

You can type this name into Google Maps, leading you to a big parking lot in Budapest. It is located next to a big shopping mall named Etele Plaza, and from here, you can travel by metro line 4 to Kalvin square and Fövam square which are central locations in Budapest. Be aware that many people use this option on weekdays, meaning it might be hard to find a free parking lot, but if you are patient and lucky, it should work out nicely!


2) Örmezö P+R (not free, but cheap)

This is located close to the first parking lot mentioned (Etele tér P+R), on the other side of the railway lines. It is the perfect place to start your trip to Budapest as you can leave your car for free and travel by metro to downtown. You can buy tickets at the metro station. If you’d rather travel by tram to central Budapest, that can also be done using tram 49.


3) KÖKI Terminál P+R (not free, but cheap)

This isn’t entirely free, but it is quite close to free. It is located next to metro line three (the blue line) and the station named Köbanya Kispest. It is a part of a giant mall, meaning that you can easily shop at this location besides parking your car.

The mall is between the main city center of Budapest and the international airport, making it ideal for those traveling between the city and the airport or who just want a good location for parking their car. It is possible to buy tickets for longer periods of time here, including a ticket valid for 30 days. Such long-term tickets must be bought in the parking office at the -1 level of the mall.

koki terminal
parking tickets at Koki Terminal

Above you can see the prices and tickets available for parking at Köki Terminal in Budapest.


4) Arena Plaza parking lot (this is not P+R, making it much more expensive than the other options)

The parking lot belonging to the Arena Plaza shopping mall can be used for free. It is not super central, but by walking a bit you can reach the Keleti Palyaudvar, and there you will find two metro lines, making it easy to get on from there in town.

November 2022 update. You can now only park for free for 2 hours in Arena Plaza. After this, all the following hours will cost 300 HUF (appx. 1 Euro). The parking lot is possible to use during the opening times of the Plaza itself.


5) Bikas Park (this is not P+R, so it is more expensive than the other options)

This is not very central, but this location has a metro station, and from here, you can easily travel to central locations using public transportation. It is also nice to know that this entire region has free parking, so if you cannot park at the large parking lot on the Bikas park, then you can also park for free in the streets around the park. Be aware of the fact that it is a local market at Bikas Park every Saturday, so all cars have to be removed from the spot before the market starts (they have to be removed latest on Friday evening before midnight).

This is a great place to leave your car if you come to Budapest by car and want to do a day of sightseeing before traveling in the evening. You can also leave your car here for days, but that isn’t a normal thing to do. If you leave your car here, make sure not to leave it from Friday to Saturday as it will be removed due to the market (a great local market in Budapest).

December 2022 update: The local government just changed its policy about Bikas park. Since December 5th in, 2022, you need to pay a parking fee here of 300 HUF per hour between 8:00 and 18:00 on weekdays. It is still free parking here on Saturdays after the market has finished (around 13.00) and on Sundays.

76 thoughts on “Free parking in Budapest

    • Budapest Guide says:

      Hello,
      as far as we know, that should be possible, meaning that you can park in Arena Plaza, also at night.
      Update: It can not be left there during the night, only during the opening hours of the plaza itself!

      • bar ita says:

        Hey , there is free parking around Budapest, Danubius Hotel Astoria, Kossuth Lajos u. 19, 1053 Hungary

        • Budapest Guide says:

          Hello, there is no free parking in that area, only on Sundays. It is actually one of the most expensive areas in Budapest to park (since it is the inner district of Budapest).

    • Budapest Guide says:

      It is only possible to park in Arena Plaza during the opening times for the mall itself. Most stores close at 20.00, but the cinema is open until approximately 24.00 every day. In other words, you can not park in the mall at night.

  1. Fabi says:

    Is it possible that the parking at 56-osok tere is not free any longer? Parked there 2 days ago for 1 night (round about 20 hours) and got fined for 20000 HUF (65 Euro). Every car had at least one fine (some even up to 7 fines), but when i parked my car the night before not one single car had one. Kind of mysterious. What do you think?
    Is it possible that that`s a fake?

    Thanks for your Response!

    • Budapest Guide says:

      Hello, as far as I know, you know need to pay for your parking at the 56-osok tere (360 HUF per hour), so it might be a real fine you got. I must say that the fine was extremely high (compared to the parking fines you get elsewhere in the city), but maybe it is some special system for such fines in that area.

    • Budapest Guide says:

      I just searched for both Bikas park and Arena Plaza in Google Maps, and could easily find them both! Make sure to write Budapest as well after either Bikas Park or Arena Plaza!

    • Budapest Guide says:

      Hello,
      you can not park your car in the plaza when the mall is closed. It is only possible to park there during the opening times of the plaza (which is from approximately 6.00 in the morning until midnight)… The Tesco store inside is the first to open in the morning, and the cinema is the last to close in the evening.

  2. Stefan says:

    So let me check if I got this write. If you park in Arena Plaza, first 3 hours are free and if you stay more would it be one or five hours you will pay 300 Huf ?

  3. Predrag says:

    5h of course if you stay 5h. Because you pick up the ticket at 10:00 and if you stay untill 15:00 you will pay whole time spent.

  4. Moli says:

    I want to make sure if it’s free to park in this street Városligeti fasor? Or in Budapest Park parkoló?
    Thanks

    • Budapest Guide says:

      Varosligeti fasor is not free for parking on weekdays… The Budapest Park parking lot (which is far from the city center) is far outside the center, so not ideal… when it comes to price, I am not sure.

  5. Dragan says:

    Westend, külső parkoló 1.000Ft/day
    Very good price (IMHO).
    From there you can have Bolt taxy to center at about 2.000Ft.

  6. Dragan says:

    I parked for 4 days there all day & night and it was all good.
    Unfortunatelly, last year+ this is not the case. You can leave it there only 2 hours for free.

  7. Davor says:

    Hi,

    All the best i New Year, is it safe to leave the car for 72hours at Etele tér P+R or Örmezö P+R (it is not expensive car)

    • Budapest Guide says:

      Yes, it is still free, but it is now harder to find a free spot since the street in the vicinity has turned into areas where you need to pay. But if you are lucky enough to find a free spot, you can park there without paying.

        • Budapest Guide says:

          It depends on whether you plan to stay for a long time or just a few hours. The parking at the Bikas park (nearby) “only” costs 300 HUF per hour, meaning that you can stay there for 3-4 hours and only pay 3 Euro in total. Be aware that there is a maximum time for parking there, meaning that you cannot leave your car there for the full day because you can only pay for a few hours at the same time.

          You could consider going to Savoya Park (2km away from Etele P+R) and then travel from there with the tram 17 or 48 towards the city center. Tram 48 takes you all the way to Deak ter (city center), while tram 17 takes you to Moricz Zsigmond Korter where you can change to metro line 4 or other trams or buses taking you to the city center.

          This is a big mall area with a big grocery store and other stores, and there are always lots of free parking lots available. They do not have cameras etc, so might not be the best place to leave a beautiful car for days, but in general, it works well as parking.

  8. Piotr says:

    Hi Budapest Guide!
    I need to leave my car in Budapest for ca. 10 days (due to my flight from/to Bud. airport). What would be the cheapest option? Are there any free parking lots near apartment blocks?
    Best!

    • Budapest Guide says:

      Hello,

      there are free parking near several apartment blocks in BUdapest. You could also consider booking the cheapest parking at Budapest Airport which isn’t that bad in price (if they have free spots). You can also consider using one of the P+R options, for example in Köki Terminal as described in the article.

  9. Mona says:

    In the period 11.06-17.06.23 I am on vacation in Budapest at Atlantis apartaman’s ’16-18 Fazekas utca. I need parking for this period. Can you help me?

    • Budapest Guide says:

      Read my reply to Stanimir above as his question dealt with parking in a very similar area. There are no good parking options here as they are all expensive (parking in the garages of hotels or shopping malls).

  10. Stanimir Valchev says:

    Hi, is the P+R Parkoló Budapest Batthány tér car park still free? Is it hard to find places there? Is it safe to leave the car there for 3-4 days?

    • Budapest Guide says:

      No, and it isn’t an official P+R either, so I would not count on it at all. YOu will most likely have to park your car somewhere far away from this area. Mammut is a shopping mall nearby, but it is very expensive to leave your car there. You can also check Novotel Buda Danube, but that will for sure cost quite a lot as well.

      If not, park in one of the much cheaper or free options further away and leave your car there while in Budapest.

  11. Krasimir Vladimirov says:

    Hello, please recommend me a parking lot in the area of the Hungarian National Opera. Thanks in advance!

    • Budapest Guide says:

      I would probably use either the parking lot at Deak square, or by Szent Istvar Ter, or maybe park in WestEnd CityCenter. These are good parking lots for some hours, but quite expensive if you want to leave your car there for a longer period of time.

  12. Danica says:

    Hello, I have just checked the information on this page, as I’m leaving for Budapest tomorrow and unfortunately, Etele ter and Örmezö are now paying parkings lots, since July 1st 2023. :((((((

    • Budapest Guide says:

      You are entirely right about that, it’s time to update this article. It is a really bad thing, and it makes it so much harder to find free parking in Budapest…. what’s even more stupid is that they are running these parking lots on an hourly basis. They should at least have made it possible to buy a 24 hour ticket or a very discounted price if you leave your car there for multiple days.

  13. Feri says:

    Hi, I will stay 3 nights at Charles Hotel (Hegyalja út 23) from Thursday afternoon (Aug 3) till Sunday before noon (Aug 6). This hotel provides a limited number of parking places for 12,50 EUR/car/night. Can you suggest:
    a. A better option, if possible…
    b. One or two “emergency options”, for the situation when no parking places will be available at the hotel.
    Thanks in advance!

    • Budapest Guide says:

      The best option is probably to park in the hotel. Another option is to park at Etele P+R (described in the article) and grab a taxi for there to your hotel. That is a much cheaper option as the approximate daily fee is around 4 euros (see calculation in the article above). But, it isn’t as convenient as the car is elsewhere and you need to use a taxi or a combination buses/trams/metros (at least one change is required) to travel between the P+R and the hotel.

  14. Raluca S says:

    We want parking for 10 days in the Golden Park hotel area, close to Arena Mall, can we find parking in this area?

    • Budapest Guide says:

      There aren’t a lot of good options. If the hotel can help you, that might be the best option. A second option is to buy a monthly pass for Arena Plaza (the price is 25,000 HUF). You can call them at +36 1 880 7024 for more information about this option.

      If you want some other option, look at those described in the article. 🙂

  15. Armando says:

    Buongiorno, dove ci sono le strisce bianche discontinue, è a pagamento? Invito non ho visto parcometri, ma ho preso la multa.

    • Budapest Guide says:

      You will not always see parking meters at every corner, so sometimes, you need to look around. In general, you need to pay parking in all of the central districts of Budapest, normally from 06.00-20.00, but sometimes until 22.00. Some places are free during weekends, but you need to find the nearest meter to find out about that exactly.

  16. Tomislav Pavlić says:

    Hello..
    we booked apartment, on following adress: 1132 Budapest, Victor Hugo utca. We saw on Google street view, that there is public parking in front of apartment on the street. Can we buy daily ticket for that parking? If so – at what price and where? Tnx in advance!

    • Budapest Guide says:

      Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a daily ticket for the normal parking zones. You pay per hour, and normally, they have a standard of 3 hours of parking at a time (and then you need to renew your parking). I suggest you contact the owner of your apartment as he/she will for sure have more exact information and possibly about permanent parking solutions nearby where you can pay per day instead of per hour.

  17. Marketa says:

    Hello,
    we need to leave our car somewhere for 21 days at a good price. I’ve read the entire article, and if I understand correctly, we have several options.

    1) Market Central – which is close to the airport and offers free parking, but I guess everyone might use it, right?
    2) KÖKI Terminal P+R – where it’s open from 6 AM to 10 PM, and the price is 350 HUF for the entire duration, with no extra charge for overnight parking. Does it work through a mobile app? Can we pay by card?
    3) P+R parkoló (which is close to KÖKI) – on Google Maps, I found that it should cost 350 HUF per day, but they don’t seem to have a website. Do you know anything about it?
    Thank you very much for your advice.

    • Budapest Guide says:

      Dear Marketa,

      Market Central is free, but I would hesitate to leave my car unattended unattended for 21 days. In the end, they might believe someone just left it there and they might remove it… (who knows). Of course, that isn’t very likely, but since it belongs to the shopping area, I would be careful leaving it for a longer period of time like you describe.

      Koki Terminal P+R can be used during the night as well, But, if you leave the car for 21 days, there is a parking office at the -1 level at Köki where you can enter and buy a long-term ticket for 30 days. The price is about 10,000 HUF and it is then valid for 30 days, both day and night. I cannot guarantee that the people in the parking office has great English skills, so be prepared with Google Translate and such tools, but what you want is a ticket for 30 days, day and night.

      • Marketa says:

        “Thank you for the response.
        The 30-day ticket sounds good. I see that you’ve also provided update info – so card payments are possible. Please check what they have on the official website, the price is 350 HUF per hour, may be mistake .. :
        https://www.budapestkozut.hu/parkolas/parkoloink/koki-terminal-pr/
        Do you also have any information regarding the P+R parkoló that is just a short distance from the Koki shopping center, as I asked in point 3, please?”
        -Budapest, Kőbány-Kispest Metróvégállomás P+R Parkoló, 1103 Maďarsko

        Thank you so much, Marketa

        • Budapest Guide says:

          Dear Marketa,
          the parking you refer to is just on the other side of the main road between the airport and the city (compared to Köki Terminal). It is much smaller and outdoors, so I would clearly choose the Köki Terminal option myself if I had to park somewhere.

          • Marketa says:

            Yes, you are right, a covered parking lot is better. We will arrive on Saturday morning. Will someone be at the parking office? I couldn’t find the opening hours anywhere. Is it easy to find the parking office on the 1st floor? And one last question: should we buy the 30-day ticket first and then enter the garage, or should we enter the garage first and then buy the 30-day ticket?
            I assume that we can pay for the ticket by card.
            I apologize for so many questions, but I like to be prepared.

          • Budapest Guide says:

            You need to buy the ticket before entering the parking house, or possibly enter the parking house and pay for one hour, and then leave and then come back in with the 30-day pass later (that is probably the easiest option). 🙂

            The ticket office is open every day.

  18. Elmina Marinoiu says:

    Hello! I ve read the article and as well the comments, very helpfull!! Great job!! I just wanted to confirm as we have less than 2 weeks till arriving in Budapest and our hotel offers parking for 28 euros /night lol. We plan to not use the car during our stay so th e KÖKI Terminal P+R option looks great. They really have the 7 days pass, for just 3570HUF? that would be an amazing option, and having metro station close even makes it better! Thx for the reply!!

    • Budapest Guide says:

      Yes, this is an option, so it should work fine! Just make sure to visit the P+R office in the terminal to get the one-week pass. AN option is to park in the mall, fix the one-week pass, leave the mall, and then return to the parking lot once again, but then with your one-week pass. 🙂 ENjoy your days in Budapest!

      • Elmina M says:

        Thank you for the reply, i am tho a bit confused. So i need to pay 1st for the pass the enter the P+R? Cant we just park car in the P+R and then go buy the pass from -1 office? Before leaving? I dont understand the mall part. Thx again and sorry for the bother.

        • Budapest Guide says:

          Honestly, I haven’t parked there myself yet, so I sent them an exact request about the order in which this happens when you buy a one-week or a one-month pass, but I haven’t received a reply yet. Might be forced to go there myself to find out exactly. In other words, I am not 100% sure, but I think you need to buy the one-week pass on spot before you can actually use it and take advantage of it. For that reason, I expect you might need to enter the mall with a normal parking ticket first, and then later somehow change your normal ticket with the one week pass. I guess the people selling the weekly pass might give you exact information on how this works as well!

  19. Krieg says:

    Hi, I need to leave my car for 2 weeks preferably for free. It is an old car, so I don’t expect anyone would be willing to steal it. Am I correct that I can do outside of the parking zones without any restrictions (as long as I don’t park on streets where it’s explicitly forbidden)?

    • Budapest Guide says:

      That is true 🙂 But, you might want to move it a little bit in the middle of the period, so that people don’t believe you have left it there to die (then they might report it to officials to have it removed). This shouldn’t normally happen in such a short time (two weeks), but it might be worth taking into consideration.

      • Krieg says:

        That’s a bit problematic, because I will fly out from Budapest for that period 🙂 Is there a law that allows authorities to remove vehicles that are parked too long?

  20. Meletis says:

    Hi I will stay at Akacfa utca 26, 1072, budapest for 5 days ,are there any free parking lots around the blocks or what’s the most valuable parking,thanks in advance!

    • Budapest Guide says:

      This is a central location in BUdapest so there are no free parking lots anywhere nearby. You should either consult with your apartment owners for an option (which costs a lot), or you should consider some of the very cheap options or free options listed in this article elsewhere in Budapest and then travel to the apartment using public transportation.

  21. Uros says:

    Hello,

    Would appreciate some help in terms of what is the best option for me, We’re in Budapest for 5 days from 27. December to 1. January. Two of these days are weekend days, +1st Januray so parking is free. We got apartment in Fő utca . So what would you do as cheapest/best option for parking for 27,28 and 29th December? Thank you a lot, the post is great!

    • Budapest Guide says:

      Dear Uros,
      This is an interesting question. In previous years, Budapest has introduced free parking in the city between December 24 and December 31, but it hasn’t been confirmed for 2023 yet. If I forget to check it up, please post a new comment/question in a few weeks from now to remind me to check it out as we get closer to the dates of your arrival. If you need to pay, then I would say the options from elsewhere in the article are the best (for cheap parking for those days), so I would choose one of those.

    • Budapest Guide says:

      Hello Uros,
      just read that Budapest will operate with free parking between December 24 and December 31 this year as well, meaning that if you find a free parking lot near where you live, that should be free. There are a few exceptions, but those are in the castle area and the main road leading to the caste area. Merry Christmas!

  22. Aleksandra Drazic says:

    I just Wanted to say Well Done!! Omg !
    So many reply, you answered on each question, eventhough article itself Is so previse and with so many details!!
    Bravo good Man or whome ever Is writting!
    Budapest should be proud 😉 ❤️🍀👏

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