Český Krumlov's old town is a pedestrian zone, and since 9 June 2025 not even guests of hotels inside it may drive in. Your satnav may still try. The car stays outside, in one of the town's numbered car parks.
How I'd park: P2 Pod Poštou at 40 Kč an hour, never more than 290 Kč for the day, then about ten minutes on foot. Leave within 40 minutes and you pay nothing.
Parking in Český Krumlov: P1 to P5 outside, nothing inside the walls
1. Don't drive into the pedestrian zone
Since 9 June 2025, staying at a hotel or guesthouse inside the zone no longer gets you a permit to drive in. Permits go to residents, owners, businesses, taxis, delivery firms, event organisers and wedding parties, through the town's online system. Deliveries run 05:00–11:00, and from 20:00 to 05:00 nobody goes in. The music festival's parking page warns that Google Maps may route you into the zone without a word; it suggests Mapy.cz (a Czech map app) instead.
2. Pick the car park by its hourly rate
The town's company, ČKRF (Českokrumlovský rozvojový fond), runs the gated car parks on one price list, in force since 1 May 2025. P1 Jelenka is 60 Kč an hour. P2 Pod Poštou and P3 Městský park are 40 Kč. P5 by the bus station is 30 Kč. Every one stops at 290 Kč for up to 24 hours. Machines take koruna, euros and cards.
3. Do the sums before you choose
Six hours costs 290 Kč at P1, 240 Kč at P2 or P3 and 180 Kč at P5. P1 reaches the day price after five hours, P2 and P3 after nine, P5 after ten. A full 48 hours is 580 Kč, and each extra 24 hours adds 290 Kč. Lose the ticket at P2 and it's 500 Kč.
4. Know the sizes and the odd ones out
P1 has 240 spaces under the castle's northern walls, P2 180 by the post office, P3 174 in the town park, P5 117. P4 Castle Garden has 80 spaces, no barrier and a pay-first machine, about 15 minutes' walk from the castle. Caravans and motorhomes use P7 Chvalšinská, which has water but bans camping. The kerb outside the centre has blue (permit holders only), green and yellow zones, paid at the machine or in ParkSimply (a parking app); I couldn't find their prices.
5. Buy the e-vignette for the D3
From Prague you drive the D1 and D3 motorways, which need the Czech e-vignette. For 2026 it's 230 Kč a day, 300 Kč for ten days, 480 Kč for 30 days. Two separate days already cost 460 Kč, so a weekend means the ten-day one. The ministry says to buy only on edalnice.gov.cz.
On a summer weekend I'd be at P2 or P5 before ten; P1 is the one that fills.
Car parks worth knowing
| Car park | Price | EV |
|---|---|---|
| P1 JelenkaChvalšinská (road I/39), under the castle's northern walls; 240 spaces, gated, open around the clock | 60 Kč an hour, 290 Kč from the fifth hour up to 24 hours; 48 hours 580 Kč. First 40 minutes free. | E.ON 22 kW AC post; price not published. |
| P2 Pod PoštouU Poráků, by the post office and the brewery; 180 spaces, gated, open around the clock | 40 Kč an hour, 290 Kč from the ninth hour up to 24 hours; 48 hours 580 Kč. Lost ticket 500 Kč. | E.ON 22 kW AC post; price not published. |
| P3 Městský parkLinecká, in the town park inside the river bend; 174 spaces, gated | 40 Kč an hour, 290 Kč for up to 24 hours, the same tariff as P2. | E.ON 22 kW AC post; price not published. |
| P5 bus stationAt the bus station; 117 spaces, gated | 30 Kč an hour, 290 Kč from the tenth hour up to 24 hours. | E.ON AC post, the first one in town; price not published. |
| P4 Castle GardenBy the castle garden; 80 spaces, no barrier, pay first at the machine; about 15 minutes' walk to the castle | Rates by 45, 90 and 180 minutes and 24 hours; I couldn't read the figures reliably from the operator's PDF, so check the machine. | None listed. |
| P7 Chvalšinská (caravans)Chvalšinská; 66 spaces for caravans and motorhomes, drinking water, no camping | 50 Kč an hour, 600 Kč for 12–24 hours on the operator's list. | Not published. |
The cheapest way to park, by how long you stay
| If you stay | Cheapest | Cost | Watch out |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 hours in the centre | P5 bus station | 60 Kč ≈ €2.5 | |
| …and the cheapest central garage | P2 Pod Poštou | 80 Kč ≈ €3.3 | Leave within 40 minutes and it's free |
| A full day (10 h) | P1 Jelenka | 290 Kč ≈ €11.9 | Leave within 40 minutes and it's free |
| 24 hours | P1 Jelenka | 290 Kč ≈ €11.9 | Leave within 40 minutes and it's free |
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Towed in Český Krumlov: Krumlov's police, and a pound nobody publishes
1. Ring the municipal police first
The Městská policie Český Krumlov sits at Nemocniční 586 and answers 380 766 308 around the clock; a second line is 380 766 323. They enforce the pedestrian zone, so a car that's gone from a kerb there is their file.
2. Ask the price before you pay
I found no tow tariff, car pound address or tow company published by the town or its police. Prague and Brno publish theirs; Krumlov doesn't. So ask the police on the phone where the car is, what you owe and which documents to bring. I'd bring the registration document or rental contract, a driving licence and a passport.
3. Call 158 if it wasn't towed
If the municipal police have no record of your car, it's a matter for the state police on 158.
The cheapest tow here is the one you never get: stay out of the zone.
If your car has disappeared
- Who took it
- The Městská policie Český Krumlov (municipal police) enforce the pedestrian zone. The town publishes no tow operator, tariff or car pound address
- Phone
- Municipal police, 24 hours: 380 766 308
Municipal police, second line: 380 766 323
State police, if the car was not towed: 158 - Collect it at
- Not published. Ask the municipal police at Nemocniční 586 where the car went.
- Hours
- The municipal police work around the clock. No pound hours are published.
- What it costs
- Not published by the town or the police. Ask before you pay.
- Bring
- No list is published. I would bring the registration document or rental contract, my driving licence and passport.
EV charging in Český Krumlov: Four car parks with E.ON posts
1. Charge where you park
E.ON put 22 kW AC chargers in P1, P2 and P3 in 2020, next to an older one at P5. The festival's parking page still lists charging at all four. No kWh price is published, so read the screen first.
2. Pay with any card, by phone
You start a session with an E.ON Drive card or any bank card, through your phone, which needs data. The posts run 24 hours a day and take roaming cards through Hubject.
3. Skip the vignette in an electric car
Fully electric and hydrogen cars are exempt from the motorway vignette, on the ministry's conditions. Plug-in hybrids pay 50 Kč a day instead of 230.
A 22 kW post suits a long lunch, not a quick top-up. I'd plug in at P2 and walk.
Where to charge
- E.ON at P1, P2, P3 and P5 — P2 Pod Poštou and the other three gated car parks. 22 kW AC posts installed at P1–P3 in 2020, beside an older one at P5; any bank card through your phone, roaming via Hubject, 24 hours. No kWh price published
- Vignette exemption for electric cars — Czech motorways, including the D1 and D3 from Prague. Fully electric and hydrogen cars are exempt on the ministry's conditions; plug-in hybrids pay 50 Kč a day
Free parking in Český Krumlov: Forty free minutes and a free castle garden
1. Use the 40-minute rule
Leave any gated car park within 40 minutes of entering and you pay nothing. That's enough to buy a day card at the Infocentre or collect keys, not to see the castle.
2. Don't hunt for a free kerb
I found no free car park near the centre on the town's or the operator's pages. The cheapest short stay is P5 at 30 Kč an hour. For a full day the four big car parks all end at the same 290 Kč.
3. Spend the savings on the garden
The castle garden costs nothing to enter; in October it's open 07:00–17:00. I found no hotel whose own website promises free parking, so budget 290 Kč a night for the car.
The rule that matters is the first one on this page: the car stops outside the zone. Every price above was checked against ČKRF's price list on 6 October 2026.
Free or nearly-free spots
40 free minutes at P1–P5
Leave any gated car park within 40 minutes of entering and you pay nothing. Enough to buy a day card or collect keys, not to see the castle.
The castle garden, free entry
No ticket, no booking; in October open 07:00–17:00. Four terraces, a cascade fountain and the revolving auditorium.
⚠ The small print on 'free' parking
- Since 9 June 2025 guests of hotels and guesthouses inside the pedestrian zone may not drive in. Permits go only to residents, owners, businesses, taxis, deliveries (05:00–11:00), event organisers and weddings; from 20:00 to 05:00 nobody enters. The town publishes no fine on the pages I could reach.
- The ČKRF price list of 1 May 2025 prints P2 and P3 in one column (40 Kč an hour) and P5 in another (30 Kč). A December 2025 travel blog gives the same split. The town's and the tourist board's own parking pages would not load for me, so the operator's PDF is the price I use.
- The kerb outside the centre has blue (permit holders only), green and yellow zones paid at machines or in ParkSimply; I could not find their prices.
- I found no hotel whose own website promises free parking. Guests of hotels in the centre walk from a car park or take a taxi.
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.