Bath has a Clean Air Zone, and the first thing to know is that it does not want your car's money. It is a Class C zone: private cars and motorcycles pay nothing, foreign plates included. Vans and taxis pay £9 a day, coaches and lorries £100.
What costs a visiting driver more is the car park. Bath prices its council car parks by your car's emissions, and a car that is not registered with the DVLA is charged at the highest band. The council can't read your logbook, so you pay as if you drove the dirtiest diesel. My plan: leave it at a Park & Ride and ride the bus both ways the same day, and the parking costs nothing.
The zone waves you in, the ticket machine does not
The sign says Clean Air Zone and most drivers from abroad brace for a charge that never comes. The bill arrives later, at a machine that has already decided your car is a top-band polluter. Bath's honey-coloured stone is the backdrop; the real argument is your number plate.
£18 for the wrong house, and £31 at the Roman Baths door
The Jane Austen Centre sits at No. 40 Gay Street and charges £18 for an adult. Austen herself lived further down the same street, at No. 25. The centre is an exhibition about her time in Bath, not her home. I would walk past No. 25 for free and spend the £18 on a spa session instead.
The second trap is walking up to the Roman Baths on a Saturday. The September–October advance price is £26.50 on weekdays and £29 at weekends, and the museum says tickets bought on the day cost £2 more. That is £31 at the door for the same visit you could have booked on a Tuesday for £26.50.
Guildhall Market before the coaches
Guildhall Market calls itself the oldest shopping market in Bath and opens Monday to Saturday from 08:00 to 17:30, closed on Sunday. Go at eight, when stallholders are still setting out and the High Street is quiet. My route is straight through to the second-hand books at Paperbacks, then out the back towards the river.
Ride the bus back the same day, or pay for the privilege
The three Park & Ride sites, Lansdown, Newbridge and Odd Down, are open 24 hours. Parking there is free if you take the bus in and back the same day. Stay overnight or skip the bus and it is £2 for three hours, and since 1 October 2026 £4 for 24 hours (it was £3).
The bus fare is where sources disagree. First Bus lists an adult return at £3.70 (since 28 July 2024); TravelWest shows £4.00. Check the price on the bus; it is the operator's fare that you pay. Mind the roofs: Newbridge is 2 m, Odd Down 2.2 m, Lansdown has no height limit.
Parking in Bath: The top band is where foreign plates land
The council's car parks charge by CO2 band. When the scheme started in 2023 the hour began at £1.70; the top petrol band was £2.00 and the top diesel band £2.50, with a rise of 10p an hour every October from 2024. The council has not published a current table I could find; its car-park pages point you to the MiPermit app for the live price. Treat the top band as your band.
Charlotte Street is my pick if you are driving in: no height limit, open 24 hours, charged every day, and an easy walk to the Circus. Avon Street has 299 spaces but only 1.8 m of headroom. Manvers Street, by the station, is 2 m. Claverton Street is a short stay, two hours at most.
SouthGate is the privately run one under the shopping centre: 876 spaces, 24/7, 2.1 m, card or app only. Its own tariff is emissions-based too: £4.00–£5.20 for two hours, £16.00–£22.20 for up to 12 hours, and 50p–65p an hour overnight.
On the street, I could not find a current tariff. The council's on-street page loads its prices from a live map; the last figures I can source come from consultation papers (a one-hour Band 1 price of £2.80 in 2024), which disagree on whether the hours end at 19:00 or 20:00. Payment is by coin or MiPermit. Blue Badge holders park free with no time limit on the street.
Car parks worth knowing
| Car park | Price | EV |
|---|---|---|
| Charlotte Street (council)Charlotte Street, BA1 2NE, west of the centre | Emissions-based; foreign plates pay the top band. The council's price table is empty and points to MiPermit. No height limit, 24 hours, charged every day. | Three Revive units and one Pod Point; 55p/kWh fast, 69p/kWh rapid. Charging bays: £1.90 for one hour's parking. |
| Avon Street (council)Avon Street, BA1 1UF, near SouthGate | Emissions-based, top band for foreign plates; current table not published. 299 spaces, height 1.8 m. | Not published. |
| Manvers Street (council)Manvers Street, BA1 1JZ, by the railway station | Emissions-based, top band for foreign plates; current table not published. Height 2 m. | Not published. |
| SouthGate (private)Under the SouthGate shopping centre, BA1 1TP | Emissions-based: £4.00–£5.20 for 2 h, £16.00–£22.20 up to 12 h, 50p–65p an hour overnight. 876 spaces, height 2.1 m, 24/7, card or app only. | Pod Point, 49p/kWh, 7 kW Type 2 on all three levels. |
| Lansdown, Newbridge, Odd Down Park & RideThree sites on the edge of the city; open 24 hours | Free if you ride the bus there and back the same day. Otherwise £2 for 3 h, £4 for 24 h from 1 October 2026. Height: Lansdown none, Newbridge 2 m, Odd Down 2.2 m. | A few 7 kW posts at each (Revive and Pod Point), 55p/kWh. |
The cheapest way to park, by how long you stay
| If you stay | Cheapest | Cost | Watch out |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 hours in the centre | Park & Ride with same-day bus return | Free | Parking free if you ride the bus there and back the same day; bus £3.70 (First Bus) or £4.00 (TravelWest) adult return. Otherwise £2 for 3 h, £4 for 24 h from 1 October 2026. |
| …and the cheapest central garage | SouthGate (private) | £5.20 ≈ €6.1 | height 2.10 m · top emissions band shown |
| …and the kerb, for comparison | Kerb, Band 1 (2024 figure) | £5.60 ≈ €6.6 | £2.80 an hour is the last figure I can source (Band 1, 2024); the council's live map shows the current price. Pay by coin or MiPermit. |
| A full day (10 h) | Park & Ride with same-day bus return | Free | Parking free if you ride the bus there and back the same day; bus £3.70 (First Bus) or £4.00 (TravelWest) adult return. Otherwise £2 for 3 h, £4 for 24 h from 1 October 2026. |
| …and the cheapest central garage | SouthGate (private) | £22.20 ≈ €26 | height 2.10 m · top emissions band shown |
| …and the kerb, for comparison | Kerb, Band 1 (2024 figure) | £28.00 ≈ €33 | £2.80 an hour is the last figure I can source (Band 1, 2024); the council's live map shows the current price. Pay by coin or MiPermit. |
| 24 hours | Park & Ride with same-day bus return | Free | Parking free if you ride the bus there and back the same day; bus £3.70 (First Bus) or £4.00 (TravelWest) adult return. Otherwise £2 for 3 h, £4 for 24 h from 1 October 2026. |
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Towed in Bath: Hinton Rescue has the car; nobody says where
The council's removal contractor is Hinton Rescue, 01225 448025. Ring them first. The council's page gives a removal fee of £109.80, storage at £12 a day and £50 if the car is disposed of; a clamp release is £40. The same page words the £109.80 as "per week", which I read as a typo. Another council decision paper cites the statutory £105 removal fee. Expect a bill of about £110 plus storage.
The pound's address and opening hours are not published on any council page I read. Bring your passport, driving licence and the registration document; with a hire car I would call the rental company before the taxi.
If your car has disappeared
- Who took it
- Bath & North East Somerset Council, through its contractor Hinton Rescue
- Phone
- Hinton Rescue, the council's removal contractor: 01225 448025
- Collect it at
- Not published. Ring Hinton Rescue and ask where the car is; no council page I read gives the pound's address.
- Hours
- Not published.
- What it costs
- Council page: removal £109.80 (worded "per week", most likely a typo), storage £12 a day, disposal £50, clamp release £40. A separate council decision paper cites the statutory £105 removal fee.
- Bring
- Not listed by the council. Bring a passport, driving licence and the registration certificate; with a hire car, ring the rental company first.
EV charging in Bath: 55p at the council, 49p under SouthGate
All council chargers run pay-as-you-charge: 55p per kWh on the fast units (7–22 kW) and 69p on the rapid 50 kW ones, through Revive and Pod Point. Charlotte Street has three Revive units and one Pod Point; Kingsmead Square has two 22 kW units. Each Park & Ride has a few 7 kW posts.
The cheaper figure is under the shopping centre: SouthGate lists Pod Point at 49p per kWh, 7 kW Type 2 sockets on all three levels. A hotel page I found claims 35p; SouthGate's own page wins. My choice: SouthGate, and do the shopping while it charges.
Where to charge
- SouthGate car park — Pod Point, 49p/kWh — SouthGate car park, all three levels. 7 kW Type 2, paid through the Pod Point app. The cheapest published figure I found in Bath
- Charlotte Street — Revive and Pod Point, 55p/69p — Charlotte Street car park. Council pay-as-you-charge: 55p/kWh on 7–22 kW, 69p/kWh on 50 kW rapid
- Kingsmead Square — Revive 22 kW, 55p — Kingsmead Square car park. Two 22 kW units in a small central car park
Free parking in Bath: The Park & Ride is free if you use the bus
The only reliably free parking for a visitor is the Park & Ride rule above: arrive, take the bus, come back the same day. Lansdown is my pick for the Royal Crescent end of town.
For hotels, I found exactly one whose own site offers free parking with charging: Macdonald Bath Spa Hotel. Three others I checked, 2 Crescent Gardens, The Kennard and The Edgar Townhouse, do not offer free parking.
Free or nearly-free spots
Park & Ride with a same-day bus return
Parking at Lansdown, Newbridge and Odd Down is free if you take the bus in and back the same day. Adult return £3.70 (First Bus) or £4.00 (TravelWest); the operator's fare wins.
No Clean Air Zone charge for cars
Class C zone, 24/7: private cars and motorcycles pay nothing, foreign plates included. Vans, taxis and minibuses pay £9, coaches and lorries £100.
Blue Badge on the street
Blue Badge holders park free with no time limit in any on-street space, according to the council.
Hotels with free parking
- Macdonald Bath Spa Hotel — Bath Map. The only hotel I found whose own site offers free parking, with charging. 2 Crescent Gardens, The Kennard and The Edgar Townhouse do not
⚠ The small print on 'free' parking
- Council car parks price by CO2 band; vehicles not registered with the DVLA, so all foreign plates, pay the highest band. No current tariff table is published; MiPermit shows the live price.
- Avon Street car park is only 1.8 m high and Manvers Street 2 m. With a roof box, use Charlotte Street (no limit) or Lansdown Park & Ride (no limit).
- Park & Ride parking is only free with a same-day bus return. Overnight it is £4 for 24 hours from 1 October 2026.
- On-street tariffs are not published in readable form; the last sourced figure is £2.80 for an hour (Band 1, 2024). Consultation papers disagree on whether control ends at 19:00 or 20:00.
- Clean Air Zone: vans, taxis and minibuses £9 a day; coaches, lorries and motorhomes classed as HGVs £100. Private cars free.
Take these places with you
Every place on this page as a file you can keep — car parks with their prices, the free and park-and-ride spots, the chargers and the pound.