With so many cars registered in the UK, finding a parking space isn’t always easy, especially if you are visiting a new and unfamiliar place, or you want to find somewhere to park for longer than a few hours.
Several places have reserved parking or car parks, such as theatres, shopping centres and office buildings. However, it is tough to find safe and secure parking during busier times such as rush hour or the festive season.
In the UK, parking spaces tend to get filled quickly, causing issues with finding safe and secure spaces. Without a proper parking space for your car, you may waste valuable time, leading to you being late for a work meeting or to other important appointments.
It’s worth noting, too, that there are places, such as public car parks and motorway service stations, where you can be be sent a fine for parking for more than a few hours at a time. There can be a limit on the number of hours that you park, for example, in supermarket car park or train station, too.
When driving from one place to another in the UK, finding and booking adequate parking for your vehicle is vital. If this is neglected, you could risk a car parking fine. This then leads to additional charges which can cause disruptions, loss of money and perhaps damages to your vehicle.
So, let’s look at how to find a parking space on any trip.
Book a parking spot
If you know your destination in advance, you can book a parking space from platforms such as YourParkingSpace and ensure you have a space ready and available for when you arrive.
The user-friendly app allows you to search for the best parking spot in a variety of areas and pay the best price for it in advance.
Doing this relieves a ton of frustration, parking anxiety and helps you to be able to drive stress-free. Most people tend to drive fast in order to get safe parking spaces and end up causing accidents, cutting lanes, speeding and paying unnecessary fines. You should avoid all this by simply pre-booking your parking space in advance.
Pick a convenient row
Picking a row is the oldest trick in the book. When you reach a car park, you may see that all the parking spaces are full. However, if you simply pick a row and wait for a few minutes, there is a good chance you may quickly find parking.
You might need to be patient but it usually is best to simply wait for a space to open up in the row you have chosen and park once a space opens up. You should also keep an eye on your rear-view mirror as there may be a suitable space behind you.
Park nearby
If you’re travelling to an unknown location, there is a chance you may not know the roads well or have an idea about the parking conditions. You can search for car parks on the internet or on-line maps as you approach the area where you have a meeting or where you are meeting friends.
But the car parks might be busy and then you’ll need to drive around the roads looking for parking spaces. Many roads in the UK in towns and cities have resident only parking and th general pubic can’t use these.
Even if you find a parking space on the street, you’ll pebbly need to pay to park there and there will be time limits on how long you can park there. l
The chances are you’ll end up parking further from your destination than you first hoped for and then spend additional time either walking to your venue, or getting a taxi, which could end up adding to the cost of your journey and trip.
Take care with street parking
Parking on the street is another way to find a parking space in an unknown location. When doing this, it is crucial to keep an eye on the parking meter. Most on-street parking in the UK has meter-specific timings. You have to keep refilling the meter, which means you must run back to your spot before the time runs out or face parking tickets and fines.
Thankfully, there are a growing number of parking metres that allow you to pay via an app. But even so, you need to make sure you do not stay in the parking spot longer than is legally allowed.
When finding a parking space on any trip, you should always think about the parking requirements in advance, and if possible, pre-book your space as early as possible for stress-free travel.
