Parking in Zurich

The short version: do not drive into Zurich. The city centre is compact, largely pedestrian, extremely well served by trams, and parking is priced to discourage you. See Zurich transport tickets.

If you are driving anyway, this is how it works.

The parking compromise

Zurich has an unusual arrangement, agreed in 1996 and known as the Historischer Parkplatzkompromiss. The total number of public parking spaces in the city centre is capped at the 1990 level: whenever a new underground car park is built, the same number of surface spaces must be removed.

The result is that the centre has steadily lost street parking and gained squares, and the number of cars entering the centre has not grown for thirty years. It is deliberate, and it is why you will not find a space.

The colours

White lines — paid parking. Meter or ticket machine, display the ticket on the dashboard. Many machines still take coins only, which is the most common reason a visitor needs cash; see money.

Blue zones — free for one hour with a parking disc on the dashboard showing your arrival time. You cannot use a blue zone without a disc. They are given away at petrol stations, police stations and tourist offices. Blue zones are mostly residential, and outside the marked hours parking is unrestricted.

Yellow — private. Never.

Fines are issued briskly and promptly.

Car parks

Around forty public car parks in and around the centre, most of them underground. They are expensive by any standard — a day in a central one costs more than a day’s train travel across the country.

The city runs a live parking guidance system on signs at the approaches and online, showing free spaces per car park in real time. Use it rather than driving round.

Park and ride

The sensible answer. P+R sites ring the city at railway and tram stops: you leave the car for a modest daily rate and take public transport in, often with a combined ticket.

There are around twenty of them. For a day in the city this costs a fraction of central parking and is faster.

The airport

Zurich airport has large multi-storey car parks with long-stay rates, and they are cheaper than anything in the city. If you are flying and staying in Zurich, leaving the car at the airport and taking the 10-minute train in is often the cheapest option available; see from the airport.

Hotels

Central hotels either have no parking or charge a daily rate on top of the room. Ask before booking rather than after arriving — this catches people out routinely.

And the alternative

The one-day route through Zurich is entirely on foot except for the hill at the end. A car adds cost and removes options. If you have one, leave it at a P+R or at the hotel and forget about it.

More on driving elsewhere in the country in driving in Switzerland.