Parking in Amsterdam without going broke: P+R and plate payment

Why parking on the street in central Amsterdam costs so much

You pay to park on most streets in Amsterdam, and the historic centre is by far the most expensive part. The city is split into parking zones, and each zone has its own hourly rate and its own paid hours. The figures published by the gemeente speak for themselves:

Paid hours also vary from one zone to the next, so the only reliable reference is the sign next to the parking machine or the municipal parking map, where you search by street name.

A few rules catch visitors out. On public holidays, the Sunday prices and hours apply. On King’s Day, 27 April, street parking is free throughout the city, but car parks keep charging their usual rates. Motorhomes, caravans and trailers may stay on a public road for at most 3 days in a row, and sleeping in the vehicle is not allowed.

The city itself points to the two ways of paying less: a day ticket if you need the car nearby for many hours, or a P+R site on the edge of town, where 24 hours can cost less than 1 hour in the centre.

How you pay: your number plate is your ticket

On the street there is no paper ticket at all. At the machine you type in your number plate (kenteken), choose how long you want to stay and pay. Nothing goes behind the windscreen: a scan car drives past, reads plates and checks them against the payments.

What you need to know at the machine:

• Cards or phone only. You pay by debit card, credit card or mobile phone. Cash is not accepted.
• Foreign plates work. The machines accept them and also give instructions in English.
• Hourly or daily. An hourly ticket is set in steps of 5 minutes; a day ticket runs until 19:00 or 21:00.
• Check the plate before paying. Once you have paid, the plate cannot be changed. You would have to pay again for the correct plate and then ask for the overpaid amount back.
• Extending. You can top up at any machine within an area with the same hourly rate, but the extension starts at the moment you pay, so any overlap is paid twice. You cannot make it start only after your paid time runs out.

Beware of fake QR codes. Do not scan QR codes stuck on parking machines. The city warns against them and asks drivers to pay only through the official methods: debit card, credit card or mobile phone.

If the scan car finds no payment, you receive a parking ticket (parkeerbon), officially a supplementary parking tax assessment. It costs €79.10 plus at least 1 hour of parking fees, and if the car is scanned several times in the same spot you also pay for the time between the first and the last scan. You have 2 weeks to pay; after that a reminder adds €10. Drivers with plates from several European countries, including Belgium, Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, pay through Parktrade (ParkiaPay); other foreign plates go through the city’s online assessment portal.

P+R: the cheap way into the centre

Park and Ride is the city’s answer to visitors. You leave the car at a P+R site and continue by tram, metro, bus or train. The city publishes the same P+R rates for its sites:

At most sites you can stay up to 96 hours at the P+R rate. P+R RAI is the exception, with a maximum of 24 hours. These amounts cover parking only; public transport is paid separately.

The low rate comes with conditions, and this is where many visitors lose it:

1. Do not use your bank card at the entrance barrier. At most sites you take a parking ticket; at RAI your plate is scanned.
2. Travel to and from the centre by public transport. On the way back, your last check-in or change must be in the city centre area.
3. Use an accepted ticket: an OV-chipkaart, a paper GVB ticket, or the P+R GVB return ticket.
4. Pay for parking within 1 hour of checking out of public transport, and scan your travel card or ticket at the payment machine.

Several common tickets do not give the discount: OVpay with a contactless bank card, credit card, phone or smartwatch, the new OV-pas, a digital ticket with a barcode or QR code, and a paper NS train ticket. The only exception is P+R Sloterdijk, where OVpay, the OV-pas and a paper NS ticket are accepted. If you have no OV-chipkaart, the city suggests travelling into town with your bank card and buying a paper GVB ticket at a GVB service point for the return.

Travelling as a group: the P+R GVB ticket

The number of people in the car does not change the parking rate, but it does change the transport cost. GVB, the city’s transport operator, sells a P+R ticket valid for 2 trips, out and back, of up to 1 hour each, on GVB trams, buses and metros. It is not valid on GVB night buses or on trains. A maximum of 5 can be bought per car, and it is sold from machines at certain sites, for example RAI and Bos en Lommer. GVB’s 2026 prices:

The milieuzone: a diesel check before the A10

The low-emission zone for passenger cars covers the whole area inside the A10 ring road. Its rules are simple, but they are enforced by camera:

• Not allowed: diesel cars with emission class 4 or lower, even with a particulate filter, and diesel hybrids of class 4 or lower.
• Allowed: diesel cars of class 5 or higher, and cars running on petrol, LPG or CNG.
• Exempt without applying: diesel cars that are 40 years old or more.

Amsterdam’s zone is a “blue” zone, one of 4 Dutch cities with a diesel zone for cars, alongside Arnhem, Den Haag and Utrecht. The rules apply to foreign vehicles too, and there is nothing to register in advance: cameras read number plates. Since 26 November 2025 the fine for a car or van is €130, plus administration costs.

Here is the trap for P+R users: several P+R sites lie inside the zone. According to the city, Noord, Zeeburg II, Bos en Lommer, Olympisch Stadion and Boven ‘t Y are inside it; Sloterdijk, RAI and P1 ArenA are outside it. If you drive an older diesel, pick one of the last three.

The city had announced a zero-emission zone for cars for 2030. It now states that this date will not go ahead, because no national legislation allows it yet.

Real P+R sites from our database

The cards below come straight from our database: location, transport nearby and the details we have from official open data. For rates and heights, rely on the cards and on the operator’s signs.

Outside the milieuzone

P+R Sloterdijk is the most flexible option for anyone without an OV-chipkaart, since it is the only P+R that accepts OVpay and paper NS tickets. The train to Centraal is the quickest link. P1 ArenA sits under the Johan Cruijff ArenA, off the A2 and A9, and is linked to the centre by metro 54 or train; just avoid event days.

P+R Sloterdijk Paid

4.2 km from the centre Surface

Directions

Garage P1 ArenA

7.3 km from the centre Car park 2.25 m

Directions

Inside the milieuzone (petrol, LPG, electric or diesel class 5 or higher)

P+R Noord is linked to Centraal Station by metro 52 from Noord station, and the city warns that it often fills up quickly; Boven ‘t Y nearby is the suggested alternative. P+R Zeeburg II, on the east side, is served by tram 26 and bus 37 and also rents P+R bikes. At P+R Bos en Lommer, in the west, P+R parking is only on level -1: press the P+R button at the entrance, then take tram 7 or bus 21.

P&R Noord Paid

4.5 km from the centre Car park 2.20 m

Directions

P+R Zeeburg 2 Paid

4.9 km from the centre Car park 2.90 m

Directions

P+R Bos en Lommer Paid

3.3 km from the centre Underground 1.95 m

Directions

© Kadaster / PDOK

The full list of park and ride sites we know of is on our Amsterdam P+R page.

Our plan for a stress-free day

• Before leaving: if you drive a diesel, check its emission class. Class 4 or lower means no entry inside the A10, so choose Sloterdijk, RAI or P1 ArenA.
• On arrival: drive in after 10:00 on a weekday, or at the weekend, to pay €6 rather than €13. Do not touch the barrier with your bank card.
• For the trip: bring an OV-chipkaart, buy paper GVB tickets, or, in a group, P+R GVB tickets. Only at Sloterdijk does travelling with a bank card still count for the discount.
• On the way back: your last check-in must be in the centre, and you have 1 hour after checking out to pay for parking.
• If you must park in town: pay by plate at the machine, check every character before confirming, and never scan a QR code on the machine.

The city also points out that parking is free at P+R Almere ‘t Oor and P+R Muiden, and free during the day at P+R Weesp. They are further from the centre, so allow more travel time.