Local parking guide

Parking in Edinburgh

What a parking ticket costs in Edinburgh, what it costs to park, who enforces it and how to challenge one.

The City of Edinburgh CouncilCity of EdinburghScotland

Edinburgh set its parking penalty at the same level as Glasgow. That is worth saying carefully: the two largest Scottish councils happen to have chosen the same figure, which is not the same thing as Scotland having a national one. Each council still sets its own, and a third council could set a different amount tomorrow. Where Edinburgh stands apart is the spread inside a single council area. The premium central streets and South Queensferry are priced by the same council, and the table below shows how far apart they sit. And a resident permit costs more if your car runs on diesel: a flat surcharge on top of the ordinary price, waived for blue badge holders. Edinburgh was also the first council in Scotland to enforce the national pavement parking ban, from 29 January 2024, and it adopted a policy of exempting no streets at all. In the first year it issued 8,296 penalty charge notices under it.

The City of Edinburgh Council City of Edinburgh Scotland

£1.50–£9/hourOn-street tariff

Edinburgh publishes its controlled parking zones and permit areas on a zone map rather than as a count, so we do not state a total.

What a ticket costs in Edinburgh

The City of Edinburgh Council sets its own penalty charge, and Scotland has no national band system — so the amount here is not necessarily the amount in the next council's area.

LevelFull chargeIf paid early
Penalty charge £100 £50

Every stage that follows if you do not pay →

Other charges you can get in Edinburgh

Not every notice you get is a parking ticket. These are issued under different powers, and some of them cost more.

ChargeAmountIf paid earlyNotes
Low Emission Zone penalty, first breach £60 £30 Doubles with each further breach — £120, then £240 — capped at £480 for cars and £960 for minibuses, buses, coaches and heavy goods vehicles. The charge returns to £60 if the vehicle has not driven in the zone for 90 or more consecutive days. This structure is set by the Scottish Government and applies to all four Scottish low emission zones, so unlike the parking penalty it is genuinely national.
Diesel surcharge on a residents' permit, 12 months £60 Added on top of the ordinary permit price for a diesel vehicle. Blue badge holders get a free residents' permit and are therefore exempt.
Diesel surcharge on a residents' permit, 6 months £35
Diesel surcharge on a residents' permit, 3 months £17.50
Charge certificate — the penalty after a notice to owner goes unpaid £150 The full charge plus 50 per cent. You then have 14 days to pay.

Paying by phone

The City of Edinburgh Council accepts RingGo. Check the sign in the bay for the location code before you start a session — it is the code, not the street name, that decides what you are charged.

On-street tariffs

AreaPer hourMaximum stayNotes
George Street, St Andrew Square, Charlotte Square, Queen Street, Market Street and St Giles Street £9 Not confirmed Monday to Saturday 8.30am to 6.30pm, and Sunday 12.30pm to 6.30pm. Maximum stays are set on the individual machine rather than published centrally.
Stafford Street and Melville Street area, Morrison Street to Shandwick Place, and the Old Town £8 Not confirmed Same hours as the premium streets.
West End (Palmerston Place area), Moray Place and South Side £6.80 Not confirmed
New Town, Northumberland Street to St Stephen Street, and Royal Crescent £6 Not confirmed Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5.30pm — a shorter charging week than the central zones.
Bruntsfield, Sciennes, St Leonard's, Dumbiedykes, Stockbridge and Dean £4.60 Not confirmed Weekdays 8.30am to 5.30pm.
Extended zones prefixed N or S £4.20 Not confirmed Weekday business hours.
South Queensferry £1.50 Not confirmed Monday to Saturday 9.00am to 5.30pm. Six times cheaper than the city centre, in the same council area.

Who enforces, and where to appeal

The City of Edinburgh Council enforces on-street parking, bus lanes, the pavement parking prohibitions and the Low Emission Zone. Each produces a notice, and the amounts are not the same.

Appeals go to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (General Regulatory Chamber), not to any English tribunal, and only after you have made representations to the council and been rejected.

How to challenge a ticket, step by step →

Related rules

Other cities

Common questions

How much is a parking ticket in Edinburgh?
£100, reduced to £50 if you pay within 14 days. If it goes unpaid after a notice to owner, a charge certificate adds 50 per cent and takes it to £150. Glasgow charges the same, but that is a coincidence of two councils choosing the same figure rather than a national rate — Scottish councils each set their own.
Why does this page not give the resident permit price?
Because Edinburgh publishes its permit charging structures only as downloadable documents, split by zone, and we do not retype figures we cannot check on the page itself. What we can give you is the diesel surcharge, which is published as a plain figure. Use the council's own permit application to get your price — it calculates it for your zone and vehicle.
Do I pay more for a permit because I drive a diesel?
Yes. Edinburgh adds a flat diesel surcharge on top of the ordinary residents' permit price — £60 for twelve months, £35 for six, £17.50 for three. Disabled residents with a blue badge get a free permit and so are not caught by it. Glasgow does something similar but differently: it prices the whole permit by CO₂ band rather than adding a surcharge for one fuel.
Can I park on the pavement in Edinburgh?
No, and Edinburgh means it more than most. It was the first council in Scotland to enforce the national ban, from 29 January 2024, and it exempted no streets at all. In the first year it issued 8,296 tickets for pavement parking, dropped kerbs and double parking combined.
Is the Low Emission Zone a charge to drive in?
No. There is no entry charge. A vehicle that meets the emission standards pays nothing. One that does not gets a £60 penalty, halved within 14 days, doubling with each further breach up to £480 for a car. That structure is set nationally and is the same in all four Scottish low emission zones.
Why is parking so much cheaper in South Queensferry?
Because it is the same council but a very different place — a small waterfront town inside the City of Edinburgh area. At £1.50 an hour it is a sixth of the central rate, and it is a useful reminder that a city tariff is not one number.

Sources

Figures last checked 8 September 2026