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If you are coming to Plovdiv by car to join Free Plovdiv Tour for the first time, you should know that most of the city center is a pedestrian area. So where can you leave your car? Parking in the city under the hills can be an adventure if you are not used to it. Read on to learn everything you need to know about it — so you can focus on the fun and park your car in Plovdiv like a pro.
Blue Zone in Plovdiv (Синя зона)
Blue Zone sign – whenever you see this keep in mind that you CAN park your car even though the sign starts with an image that you can’t.
One of the easiest ways to park is in the “Blue Zone”. This means that you can park on the streets but you have to pay. Almost the entire city center is a Blue zone. In some countries “Blue Zone” means restrictions for the EURO eco category. This is not the case in Plovdiv – all cars are allowed. A convenient feature of this parking method is that once you get your ticket you can move your car within the Blue Zone until your ticket (paper or SMS) expires.
You can park for a fee of 2 BGN/hour in these areas from Monday to Saturday from 8:30 to 18:30. Outside of these hours, as well as Sundays and national holidays, parking is allowed for free.
How to pay for Blue Zone?
If you’ve found a place to park your car in the Blue Zone, there are 2 ways you can pay:
Parking machine (Parkomat)
It is convenient, but there are several important things you should be aware of:
- The machines take coins only, and you have to put in exact change.
- Tickets cost 2 BGN for 1 hour, but you can also pay 1 lev for just 30 min.
- There aren’t machinese on all the Blue zone streets. Here is a map of all parkomat locations where you can buy tickets.
The first time you use them they may be a bit confusing. Luckily the parkomats feature instructions in English, which you can see above the screen.
An important step of getting your parking receipt is to type in the license plate number of your car. So, especially if you are driving a rent-a-car, make sure that you note that or take a picture of it – it will be needed. Since the fee you paid is associated with your car’s registration, you do not need to put the receipt on your dashboard, but can instead take it with you.
If you find that you are far away from your car and your parking is about to end, just find the nearest parkomat and you can extend your time. There is currently no limit on the maximum amount of time you can park in Plovdiv’s Blue zone.
Via SMS (only local providers)
If you have a SIM card from a local mobile services provider, you can also pay for parking by sending a message with the registry license plate number. Here is what you should know about that option:
- You should sent the SMS to this number: 1332
- The car registry plate should be written in numerals and LATIN letters.
- It costs 2.00BGN for 1 hour plus the standard fee for an SMS. For most providers this amounds to a total of about 2.40 BGN.
- There is NO 30 min. option.
- After the hour expires you can send a new message.
- If you know in advance that you want to park for more than one hour, you can send several consecutive messages – you don’t need to wait for the parking time to end.
Green Zone in Plovdiv (Зелена зона) – Parking NOT allowed
Now the Green Zone is a totally different story. The Green Zone in Sofia is similar to Blue zone parking – it just has a different hourly fee. But in Plovdiv, it shows you special neighbourhoods where you CANNOT park your car unless you have a permit as a person who is living in this place. Kapana District and Old town are mostly Green Zone areas.
Paid parking lots
These are regular parking lots with or without physical guard, indoors and outdoors, with or without video control. There are a number of these in the city center. They are slightly more expensive, but usually, you can easily find a spot there. Keep in mind that in Bulgaria you cannot park your LPG or CNG car in the underground parking.
One of the most curious options in this category is the high-tech automatic multi-level parking near “Stochna gara”. This is the first fully automated parking lot in Plovdiv and can fit 15 cars. Check out how it works in the video below!
We have created a google map for you with some of the most convenient parking lots near the city center in Plovdiv. When you click on each pin you will find information about working hours, payment method and the cost for the stay. Keep in mind that prices and working times may periodically change.
Free parking
If you are staying in Air BnB somewhere a bit further from the city center or if you are here for just a day trip on Sunday or some of our National holidays, if you want to park the car from 17:30 for the night until 8:30 in the next business morning all streets are free. Look around for restriction signs and everything is going to be OK. Keep in mind that there are many signs for parking spots reserved for banks, shops, restaurants, delivery services, etc. If you park in front of someone’s garage (even if it doesn’t really seem to be in use) you might be really disappointed to find that it’s just this someone planning to paint the door/fence next summer but the garage is in use all the time and your car might get towed away.
If you have reached this far you are already armed with some serious knowledge and skills about parking your car in Plovdiv.
And if this still seems too hard for you using public transportation or biking are nice options for avoiding the parking adventures. Also, keep in mind that Plovdiv is not that big – most accommodation places are within walking distance from the city center and the weather here is usually really nice for walks.
Author: Free Plovdiv Tour Guide – Velislav Godzhunov
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