This blog post was originally posted on September 6, 2016 and was updated on November 24, 2017.

Coming to Barcelona by car? Plan ahead and avoid nightmarish parking situations! Read our guide on how and where to park in Barcelona.

Street Parking

First things first: if you’re coming over the weekend, know that metered parking in the city is free. Double check the meter just to be sure, but between Friday afternoon and Monday morning, you shouldn’t have any issues. We recommend avoiding Ciutat Vella, the old city center, as so many streets in the area are pedestrian. The best place to park in Barcelona on the street would be somewhere in the Eixample, as the grid system of this area makes it easy to navigate. If you’re going for central, stick around the radius of Plaça Catalunya.

If you’re looking for where to park in Barcelona outside of these times, there is a few options also. The location isn’t too out of your way, many locals like to park their cars around the Poblenou neighborhood, near the beach. Try Avinguda Icaria or Ramón Turro street for loads of free parking at all moments of the day. This area is about a 30-minute walk from La Rambla, or just a short metro ride away.

If you’ll be in the city for a few days and staying uptown (further away from the beach), another option to explore is Avinguda Diagonal. At the top of this avenue, around the Maria Cristina metro stop, there are plenty of smaller streets where you can easily, and safely, park your car for free. If you’re struggling to know where to park in Barcelona this is always a good bet.

Car Parks

If you’d prefer to leave your car in one of the city’s many car parks, you have a range of options, as well as prices! As anyone can imagine, the further out you go, the cheaper the car park will be.

A few of the more economic, albeit not very central, car parks are the following:

• NH Zona Franca car park (7 euros per day)
• BSM Rius i Taulet car park (7 euros per day)
• BSM Plaça del Forum car park (9.95 per day)

These prices are a steal, though the location might not be ideal depending on where you’re staying or what your plans are in the city. However, there are more centrally located car parks in Barcelona everywhere if you’re willing to pay for them! We recommend using the Parclick application that allows you not only to search for car parks across the city with availability, but also reserve them in advance.