Often referred to as the ‘second city of the United Kingdom,’ the first thing you’ll notice about Birmingham is that it’s massive. It’s the UK’s second largest city, and has a population of 1.1million, although you could argue that it’s more like 4 million if you include its urban population.
Pretty much in the centre of the UK in the West Midlands, Birmingham holds the claim of being the first manufacturing city in the world. It was the home of the industrial revolution which began in the mid 18th century when it became known as the black country, because of all of the coal being burnt in its steel plants. They were truly terrible places to work, and the smog turned everything black, hence the name. If you’ve seen the legendary Birmingham based Peaky Blinders series, that will give you a good idea about how it was. The industrial revolution really did revolutionise the world in terms of science, technology and manufacturing, and there are a network of canals around Birmingham that were used for the transportation of the goods produced there.
Interestingly, tennis was invented in Birmingham in the early 1860s by Harry Gem in Edgbaston, and Birmingham has the oldest tennis club in the world, the Lawn Tennis and Archery Society. The city is also world famous for the premier league Aston Villa football club, drawing in millions of fans each year. Villa Park stadium has a whopping 42,682 capacity.
Nowadays, Birmingham has a rich mix of cultures and ethnicities, including different religious minorities, and a large LGBTQ+ community. Birmingham isn’t a place for small minded people: you can really be yourself there without worrying about getting any funny looks.
Musically, Birmingham always was, and still is fascinating, with many different genres of music springing out of it. In the early 1950s waves of Caribbean immigrants were invited to help out after the second world war. Their musical culture became really popular, eventually leading to the Two Tone Ska movement in the 1970s, including the Birmingham-based reggae bands Steal Pulse and UB40. It was also the beginning of the heavy metal scene in the 1960s, with bands like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin exploding onto the world stage. Birmingham is also proud of its internationally acclaimed City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. There are also two massive international jazz festivals, occurring annually. Check out the Mostly Jazz Festival and the International Jazz Festival for more info.
If music isn’t your thing, and you would like to hear some amazing socio-political Rasta poetry in the famous ‘Brummie’ accent, you should definitely check out Benjamin Zephaniah.
As well as poetry nights, Birmingham has everything a truly international city has to offer, including its own airport, multiple city centres, thousands of restaurants, bars and clubs, museums, comedy nights, walking tours, 2 cathedrals and much much more. Obviously, as a tourist, there are many different problems and obstacles you may face when trying to find decent parking spots. Here at ParkingScout, we’ve made it easy for you, with a fully comprehensive list of free and paid options. Have a great time in Birmingham – don’t let parking stress you out!
Free Parking in Birmingham
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Free, unrestricted residential street parking
Do you want to avoid parking in paid car parks? You should definitely consider free residential street parking. There are plenty of great free options in Birmingham, and we’ve found all of them and listed them below in order of distances to New Street Station, in the city centre, which will be a great time saver for you. Whether you’re driving in from the north, east, south or west, we’ve got you covered, including postcodes. There are also different options, depending on what you’re interested in seeing on your way to your destination. Save yourself all that stress, as well as money for parking tickets or any potential parking penalties – park for free in Birmingham.
Obviously, when parking on residential streets, be ultra respectful about how you park, as well as about where you park, and keep noise to an absolute minimum, especially at night. We update this site regularly, but you should also check that no new parking restrictions have been implemented. Have a look out for street signs, or any notices written by the locals. Using residential street parking is at your own discretion.
North
If you’re heading into Birmingham from the north, i.e from the Manchester or Stoke-on-Trent directions, you can walk right past St. Chad’s Cathedral on your way to the centre, and cut down onto the towpath along the canal to soak up a bit of that old Peaky Blinders vibe. The North of Birmingham isn’t wonderful for free parking, but we’ve found some great convenient residential parking options on offer, listed below.
- Attenborough Close B19 2QA – 1.2 miles
- Farm Street B19 2UE – 1.6 miles
- Hunters Vale B19 2XH – 1.7 miles
East
If you’re driving in from Coventry or Leicester in the east, there are more free residential street parking options on offer, and you can go check out the Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum on your way to the centre. Again, you will be crossing the canal, and it’s really worth checking out the newly developed towpath. It’s a wonderful walk, and you can wave at the friendly narrowboaters as they drift on by.
- Windsor Street South B7 4JD – 1.1 miles
- Barrack Street B7 4EU – 1.1 miles
- Camp Street B9 4SD – 1.6 miles
- Francis Street B7 4JU – 1.1 miles
- Chapman Road B10 9AP – 1.7 miles
- Witton Street B9 4LH – 1.3 miles
South
Are you driving up from the southerly Worcester or Cheltenham directions? There are loads of great free residential parking spots, all within a 25 minute walk of the centre. You have a few great options for your walk to the centre from here, including walking up the towpath along the canal from Five Ways train station, straight through the wonderfully designed Moonlit Park, which would be perfect if you’re with your kids, or if you just need some peace on a park bench.
- Gough Road B15 2JG – 1.3 miles
- Balfour Street B12 9SY – 1.5 miles
- Pakenham Road B15 2LZ – 1.2 miles
- Wellington Road B15 2ET – 1.2 miles
- Summer Road B15 2BP – 1.1 miles
- Charlotte Road B15 2NG – 1.2 miles
West
If you’re heading into Birmingham from Wolverhampton or Dudley in the west, there are a multitude of brilliant free residential parking options at your disposal. Again, there are peaceful walks to be had along the canal’s towpath, and we recommend taking a stroll around the Edgbaston Reservoir. As you’ll be walking right past it, why not have a gander at the Legoland Discovery Centre, as well as the National Sealife Centre. The Gas Street Basin area is radically cool, with loads of awesome cafes, restaurants and bars along the canal side.
- Springfield Street B18 7AU – 1.3 miles
- New Spring Street North B18 7LB – 1.5 miles
- Lansdowne Street B18 7EE – 1.8 miles
- Herne Close B18 7PS – 1.3 miles
- Wiggin Street B16 0AH – 1.9 miles
- Marroway Street B16 0AR – 1.9 miles
Free, unrestricted non-residential/light commercial street parking
Here are some great free parking options, also measured from New Street Station. They are all about a 20 minute walk from the city centre.
- Bridge Street West B19 2YT – 1.3 miles
- Hospital Street B19 3XA – 1.1 miles
- Cope Street B18 7AU – 1.2 miles
- Stour Street B18 7 AJ – 1.2 miles
- Summer Lane B19 3TH – 1 mile
- Bracebridge Street B6 4NE – 1.4 miles
- Moorsom Street B6 4NG – 1.3 miles
- Miller Street B6 4NF – 1.4 miles
- Allesley Street B6 4NF – 1.3 miles
- Frankfort Street B19 2YH – 1.3 miles
- Forster Street B7 4JD – 1.1 miles
- Haden Street B12 9DB – 1.5 miles
Overnight parking (after 7:30pm)
Birmingham council have a lot of permit holder parking schemes, so free parking options are extremely limited in the centre. You can park at the following locations for free between the hours of 19:30 – 08:00 only. Make sure you are time conscious to avoid parking tickets.
- Thorp Street B5 4AT – 0.2 miles
- Hurst Street B5 6NU – 0.3 miles
- Holiday Street B1 1SZ – 0.5 miles
Park and Ride Services (Tram and Railway Station)
- Hawthorns Park & Ride B71 4LQ – northwest of Birmingham
- Galton Bridge Station Park and Ride B66 1LW – northwest of Birmingham
- Lee Longlands B15 1AZ – central of Birmingham
- Selly Oak Station B29 6DP – south of Birmingham
- Acocks Green Station Car Park B27 6NQ – east of Birmingham
- Yardley Wood B28 0BY – south of Birmingham
- Kings Norton Station Car Park B38 8SN – south of Birmingham
- Chester Road Station Car Park B74 5JP – northeast of Birmingham
- Lea Hall Station Car Park B33 8JU – east of Birmingham
- Sandwell & Dudley Station Car Park B70 7JB – west of Birmingham
- Olton Shoppers Car Park B92 7AR – southeast of Birmingham
- Rowley Regis B65 0QN – west of Birmingham
- Wylde Green Station B73 5LA – north of Birmingham
- Northfield Station Car Park B31 2QJ – south of Birmingham
- Tame Bridge Parkway Station WS10 0LD – northwest of Birmingham
- Marston Green Station Car Park B37 7DL – east of Birmingham
- Whitlocks End Station B90 1PW – south of Birmingham
- Old Hill Station B64 6RJ – west of Birmingham
- Dudley Port Station Car Park DY4 7PP – northwest of Birmingham
Cheapest Paid Car Parks in the City Centre
If you want to get straight into the middle of the city, and don’t fancy walking, or simply don’t need to save money on finding free parking, we have compiled a fully comprehensive list of paid car parks. This also gives you the peace of mind of having some extra security in case you have valuables in the car.
- Caroline Street Car Park B3 1UF – £1.00 for 2 hours
- China town parking B5 4TT – £1.50 for 2 hours
- Bath St Parking B4 6HL – £1.50 for 2 hours
- Henrietta St Car Park B19 3PS – £1.50 for 2 hours
- Northwood Street Car Park B3 1TH – £2.00 for 2 hours
- Holliday St ParkingB1 1SJ – £2.00 for 2 hours
- Livery Street Car Park B3 1TE – £2.00 for 2 hours
- Vesey street car park B4 6JU – £2.00 for 2 hours
- Dudley Street Car Park B5 4RU – £3.60 for 2 hours
Cheapest Paid Car Parks in the Suburbs
Here’s a list of the very cheapest paid parking options in Birmingham. In case you’re worried about leaving your car on some random street; these options are for you.
- Church Road Car Park B24 9BA – £1.10 for 2 hours
- Baker Street Car Park B21 9LP – £1.10 for 2 hours
- York Street Car Park B17 0HG – £1.10 for 2 hours
- Kings Heath, High Street car park B14 7JT – £1.10 for 2 hours
- Duchess Road Car Park B16 8JD – £1.10 for 2 hours
- Moseley Village Car Park B13 8HJ – £1.10 for 2 hours
- Herbert Austin Car Park B31 2NG – £1.10 for 2 hours
- Bewdley Avenue Car Park B12 8XA – £1.10 for 2 hours
- South Parade B72 1QY – £1.40 for 2 hours
- Hob Moor Rd Parking B26 1AY – £1.10 for 2 hours
- Duke Street Car Park B72 1QE – £1.40 for 2 hours
Free and Paid Parking Near Popular Birmingham Locations
Free & paid parking near New Street Railways Station (City Center) and Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
