Parking in Stratford-upon-Avon: £1.40 an Hour, £13.90 a Day

Stratford-on-Avon District Council runs twelve car parks in Stratford-upon-Avon town centre with more than 2,800 spaces. An hour costs £1.40 and 24 hours costs £13.90. Two of them give you the first hour free, and every council car park elsewhere in the district is free all day.

That last point is the one worth knowing. The council charges in Stratford town. Outside it, in Alcester, Bidford-on-Avon, Henley-in-Arden, Southam, Studley and most of Shipston, its car parks cost nothing.

The standard town tariff

Arden Street, Church Street, Recreation Ground, Riverside, Swans Nest Lane and Windsor Street all charge the same:

All of them are pay and display, card only, no cash. From 11 May 2026 you can also pay through the National Parking Platform, which means APCOA Connect, Caura, JustPark, PayByPhone or RingGo rather than one nominated app. Each provider sets its own fees, so check the sign. (Stratford-on-Avon District Council, Car Parks)

The council’s car parks page states that “charges apply 24 hours a day, seven days a week”. That is true of most of them but not all, and the exceptions are below.

Where to park, and what each one is actually like

• Bridgeway Multi-Storey, Bridgeway, CV37 6YX. 650 spaces, the biggest in town. First hour free. ANPR barriers, pay on return at a machine, no ticket. 13 disabled bays on Level 1, nine ShopMobility bays and nine dual disabled and parent-and-child bays on Level 2, two lifts, toilets. Height limit 1.8m.
• Bridgeway Surface, same address. 66 spaces, same ANPR system, first hour free, no height limit.
• Riverside, Bridgeway, CV37 6YY. 497 spaces, height limit 2.1m, open 24 hours.
• Recreation Ground, Swans Nest Lane, CV37 7LS. 378 spaces, eight disabled bays, toilets. Access is limited between 16:30 and 06:00. No motorhomes.
• Windsor Street Multi-Storey, CV37 6NL. 243 spaces, eight disabled bays on the ground floor, 15 dual disabled and parent-and-child bays on Level 2, toilets. No lifts.
• Arden Street, CV37 6PA. 240 spaces, eight electric vehicle bays, height limit 1.8m.
• Church Street, CV37 6HB. 197 spaces. See the warning below.
• Fisherman’s, Warwick Road, CV37 0NP. 50 spaces. See below.
• Swans Nest Lane, CV37 7LS. 26 spaces, no disabled bays, no height limit.
• Bridgeway Motorcycle Park, CV37 6YX. Free, 24 hours, no maximum stay.
• Guild Street, CV37 6QY. Blue Badge holders only, three bays, three-hour limit.
• Sheep Street rear access, CV37 6EE. Blue Badge holders only, nine bays, three-hour limit.

Every one of these has its own page on the council site, reached from Car Parks in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Three traps

Church Street is shut to the public on weekday daytimes. It is open to permit holders and other authorised users Monday to Friday 08:00 to 16:00, and to everyone else only from 16:00 to 08:00 on weekdays, plus all day Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays. Turning up at 10am on a Tuesday will not work. (Church Street Car Park)

Fisherman’s is locked overnight, and only charges in the daytime. Charges apply 09:00 to 18:00 seven days a week, so an evening stay is free. But the gates open at 06:00 and close at 21:00 from April to September, and at 19:00 from October to March. Maximum stay is 15 hours in summer and 13 in winter. Leave a car in there past closing and it stays until morning. (Fisherman’s Car Park)

A Blue Badge is not enough at Bridgeway. Parking is free for Blue Badge holders in every council pay and display car park in the district. Bridgeway Multi-Storey and Bridgeway Surface are not pay and display; they are ANPR barrier car parks, and free parking there has to be arranged in advance. You register with Stratford ShopMobility inside the multi-storey, or email parking@stratford-dc.gov.uk with your name, address, vehicle registration and photographs of both sides of the badge. (Disabled Parking)

Free parking in the district

Twelve council car parks outside Stratford town charge nothing at all, all of them open 24 hours with a 72-hour maximum stay.

• Alcester: Bulls Head Yard, B49 5DL (125 spaces, four disabled bays, eight EV bays, toilets); Bleachfield Street, B49 5BA (62 spaces); Moorfields, School Road, B49 5DE (9 spaces); and the Greig Leisure Centre, Kinwarton Road, B49 6AD (leisure centre users only, three hours, no return within 12 hours).
• Southam: Wood Street, CV47 1PH. 133 spaces, four disabled bays, six EV bays, a motorcycle bay, a bicycle bay and toilets.
• Studley: Pool Road, B80 7HJ. 86 spaces, six disabled bays.
• Bidford-on-Avon: Courtway, Wards Lane, B50 4HW (48 spaces) and Saxon Fields, Sallieforth Place, B50 4JA (56 spaces).
• Henley-in-Arden: Prince Harry Road, B95 5DD. 50 spaces, two disabled bays, a motorcycle bay.
• Shipston-on-Stour: Bridge, Mill Street, CV36 4AW (58 spaces); Mill Street, CV36 4AW (27 spaces); and West Street, CV36 4HD (23 spaces).

Shipston has the district’s only paid car park outside Stratford town. Telegraph Street, CV36 4HD, charges Monday to Saturday 09:00 to 18:00 only, which makes it free on Sundays and every evening. Its tariff is nothing like the town’s: 40p for an hour, 60p for two, then £1.70 for three rising to £8.90 for nine. There is a no-return-within-three-hours condition on the 40p and 60p tickets. (Car Parks in Shipston-on-Stour)

Permits and season tickets

• All-day season ticket: £580 a year or £160 a quarter, valid at one named car park only, and usable by up to two registered vehicles. Available for Bridgeway (both), Riverside, Recreation Ground and Swans Nest Lane, Arden Street, Windsor Street, and Church Street evenings, weekends and bank holidays only.
• Residents’ overnight permit: £110 for 12 months or £35 for three, valid 16:00 to 08:00 in any council car park, one vehicle.
• Concessionary permit for state pension age (66+): £50 a year, ANPR based, Bridgeway Multi-Storey and Bridgeway Surface only, maximum four hours in any 24-hour period, non-transferable between vehicles. You need a V5C, driving licence and insurance document to apply.
• Leisure Centre members’ permit: £40 a year, three hours while using the facilities, applied for at the Leisure Centre rather than online.
• Fisherman’s permit: £160 a year or £50 a quarter, and only sold to Stratford-on-Avon District residents, in person, because proof of address is needed.

(Car Park Permits)

On-street parking is not the district council’s. Warwickshire County Council has run it since November 2014, contracted to NSL. Resident and resident visitor permits cost £25 per permit per year, and Stratford-on-Avon has fifteen permit zones, S1 to S14 plus SM. Queries go to NSL on 0333 003 0033. (Warwickshire County Council, Parking permits · Stratford-on-Avon permit zones)

Park and Ride: £1 if you arrive after 9am

Stratford Park and Ride is off Bishopton Lane near the A46 and A3400 roundabout, postcode CV37 0RJ, with more than 700 spaces and EV charging.

The tariff is not flat, and the difference is large:

Buses run every 15 minutes for most of the day and take 10 to 12 minutes. Monday to Saturday the service runs from 7.30am to 6.28pm, Sunday from 10.00am. An adult single or return is £2.50, a child £1.50, and a group return covering up to five people is £4.00. Warwickshire concessionary passholders travel free after 9am on weekdays and any time at weekends; passholders from elsewhere travel free after 9.30am.

Blue Badge holders park free, but still pay the bus fare. There is a 2.1m height limit, and motorhomes, caravans and camper vans are banned at any time. The terminal toilets are open Monday to Saturday 7.30am to 12.30pm only, and not at all on Sundays.

The Park and Stride walking route into town along the canal towpath is currently closed because of a landslip. The council directs walkers along Timothy’s Bridge Road instead. (Park and Ride)

Station parking

Stratford-upon-Avon station, Western Road, has 146 spaces, of which 140 are standard and six are Blue Badge. It is run by Saba for West Midlands Railway, and the arrival time changes the price:

• Monday to Friday, entry before 10am: £5.90
• Monday to Friday, entry after 10am: £4.00
• Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays: £4.00
• Weekend ticket, Friday 10am to Monday 4am: £8.00
• One week £19.80, one month £57.20, twelve months £457.60

Payment must be completed by 3:59am the morning after you arrive. Pick-up and drop-off is free for up to 20 minutes. Blue Badge holders park free, but only if they have registered on the West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway permit portal on the day they park; if the six badge bays are full, a standard bay is still free. (Saba, Stratford-upon-Avon Station Car Park)

Saba’s own page gives the postcode twice and gives it differently, CV37 6PL at the top and CV37 8PL in the body, so navigate to Western Road rather than trusting either.

Stratford-upon-Avon Parkway shares the Park and Ride site at Bishopton, so the £3 before 9am and £1 after applies there too.

Coaches, lorries and motorhomes

The Riverside Coach and Lorry Park on Bridgeway, CV37 6YY, is the only council provision. It has 33 coach and minibus bays, 26 lorry and coach bays and nine motorhome bays. Coaches, minibuses and lorries pay £2.70 for an hour up to £23.20 for 24 hours, with a 24-hour maximum stay and no 72-hour option. Motorhomes pay the standard car tariff up to nine hours, then £11.60 for 12 hours, £23.20 for 24 and £34.80 for 72. Motorhomes may only use the motorhome bays, and vehicles over 2.1m may only use the coach and lorry bays. (Riverside Coach & Lorry Park)

Recreation Ground and Swans Nest Lane both state “no motorhome parking”.

More local information

• Stratford bin collection days
• Stratford council tax bands for 2026/27
• Stratford roadworks and travel
• Things to do in Stratford-upon-Avon