Parking in St Ives
Until this year, you would purchase your ticket on arrival, estimate the time you need to be parked for and return before the ticket expires. However, this is changing to a system where you pay as you exit.
The change is initiated by the council, to provide an area for short stay visitors and shoppers who are looking for ‘accessible, convenient spaces’. The aim is that it will encourage greater support of our local businesses as visitors will be able to come to shop and dine with more relaxed time restraints. Eliminating the need for the panicked half-walk half-run when you’ve only got 3 minutes left on the ticket!
For further information about charges in various locations we would recommend taking a look on Cornwall Council’s website.
Now for a few helpful pointers!
Parking in St Ives
As many of you will know, locating a parking space in this little seaside town can be a daunting prospect. Especially during the summertime, unless of course, you have booked a self-catering cottage in St Ives with parking. But, fear not! We are hoping to give a few guidelines regarding locations, prices and alternative methods for parking in town. For some extra tips and information, we recommend you read our Parking In St Ives page of the St Ives Holiday Guide.
A priority, for most of our visitors, is the distance between car parks and the town centre (or in our case, a beautiful harbour front!) and their holiday cottage in St Ives. Fortunately, there are many options and a few are only a stone’s throw away from the shops and beaches. These are:
The Island Car Park is a Cornwall Council parking area and it has 129 spaces. It sits a minute from Porthmeor beach and approximately just another 5 minutes from the harbourfront. However, due to its location, it is in high demand and spaces cannot always be guaranteed.
The Station Car Park (at St Ives Train Station), is another option for if you’re staying around the harbour area. The capacity of this car park is 106 spaces and it overlooks the picturesque Porthminster beach, it also only has a 5-10-minute walk into the town, with stair and non-stair access.
The other Car Parks in St Ives require a little more planning due to the hilly nature of our beautiful town. These car parks are; Barnoon – TR26 1JF, Park Avenue – TR26 1QE, Trenwith (St Ives Leisure Centre) – TR26 1DDand St Ives Rugby Club- TR26 1ER.
Barnoon Car Park is situated just behind Porthmeor Beach, adjacent to the Tate gallery. It is one of the closer car parks in this section, however, it has a steep decent of steps leading towards the town, with a slightly longer alternative route that requires walking down a moderate hill.
Park Avenue is again considered a little closer to the centre and therefore is in high demand. However, the shortcut into town is a steep set of steps which are not an ideal choice for everybody.
Trenwith Car Park can hold up to 759 cars in the summer, and it’s one of the easiest to access if you are arriving to St Ives by car. There’s a higher chance of securing a parking spot here for either a long or short stay and you don’t need to be put off the longer walk into town as there are frequent busses to and from the car park and the town square.
St Ives Rugby Club car park is approximately a 15-20- minute walk into St Ives and it runs a bus service with buses running up to every 15 minutes in the summer.
St Ives Secure Parking offer a service to alleviate any of your parking concerns with individual spaces available in a gated car park, with 24-hour access and a collection and delivery service.
Payment
Each of these car parks allow you to pay either with the appropriate coins, a phone call (a number should be present at each car park), or via the JustPark App with just a few taps!
If, like many visitors, paying for a different car park every day isn’t the most convenient choice, there are alternatives.
Rover Tickets and Seasonal tickets are also an option for those on longer visits. They allow you to park in several car parks with just the single ticket which can often prove helpful!
In summary, there are many ways to tackle parking your car in St Ives, so much so that it doesn’t have to be a big deal or create unnecessary stress on your holiday. Alternatively, however, if you would rather avoid this all together then you could also look to book a holiday cottage with parking.