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Parking in Whitby, Car Parks, Parking Zones & More

Parking in Whitby can be a challenge, especially at peak times. With our handy Whitby parking guide, you have the best chance of finding a space and avoiding a fine.

Parking in Whitby is an issue you should be well-prepared for. Whitby parking is often confusing for tourists and parking zones can change seasonally. In this article, we explore the various parking options available for your break in Whitby.

Designated Parking Zones in Whitby (W Zone Scratch Cards)

Many bed and breakfasts, hotels and cottages accommodating guests provide free on-street parking scratch cards. These permits allow their guests to park for free in Whitby’s designated W zones. Tourists who are staying in Whitby can park for up to 4 days with a correctly validated scratch card. Please speak to your accommodation before you arrive to see if a free, pre-paid parking scratch card will be provided for you.

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The streets within the Whitby W parking zones include:

  • Argyle Road
  • Back St Hilda’s Terrace
  • Crescent Avenue
  • Havelock Place
  • Hudson Street
  • John Street
  • Well Cl Square
  • West Terrace

The following map highlights the different on-street W parking zones in Whitby.

Whitby W Parking Zones
Map provided by Stay North Yorkshire

Pay and Display Car Parks in Whitby

There are several ‘pay and display’ car parks in Whitby. You can find them here;

Endeavour Wharf Car Parks

There are both short and long stay car parks around the marina and Endeavour Wharf. – Langborne Rd, Whitby YO21 1YW

Church Street Car Park

This is a short or long stay car park with 92 spaces and 3 disabled spaces. – Church St, Whitby YO22 4AS

West Cliff Car Park

This is a short or long stay car park with 424 spaces with 4 disabled bays. – 17 Royal Cres, West Cliff, Whitby YO21 3EG

Whitby Abbey Parking

This is a short or long stay car park with 415 spaces and 6 disabled spaces. – Whitby YO22 4ER

Whitby Park and Ride Scheme

Whitby’s Park and Ride scheme is a great option for getting into the town, it’s affordable and can be a much easier way of getting into town during peak times. Whitby Park and Ride operate daily from Saturday 19 February to Sunday 27 February. It will then start again in April 2022 and operate daily until the end of October 2022. You can purchase tickets on the bus from your driver.

Free On-Street Parking

Some areas in Whitby allow free unlimited parking facilities. But be cautious before leaving your car there. Take care to read any parking restriction signs or any other sign related to parking rules and regulations within that parking in the Whitby area.

There are more parking spaces available on the West Cliff as compared to the East Side. To get to this parking location, you will have to make a left and move onto the B1460 while driving on Gainsborough Road. Doing so will bring you to Whitby’s West Cliff. You will reach a mini-roundabout which the top corner of Pannett Park and Chubb Hill. Take the road leading down to St Hilda’s Terrace heading towards Flowergate, the top half of St Hilda’s Terrace is free 24-hour parking. Its bottom half offers 40-minute parking zones.

If you went down Chubb Hill from the above-mentioned mini roundabout, with the Park once again on the left side, any parking spot that you will find is free 24 hours. The little back streets running parallel to St Hilda’s which lead down to Skinner Street, also offer 24 hours free parking.

Free parking is also available along North Terrace, which starts at the corner of the Royal Hotel running parallel to the beach and heading down towards Sandsend. On the East Side, there are not many parking places available. You might be able to park your car on Church Street as you head into town, but it’s quite a distance from the town’s centre.

37 thoughts on “Parking in Whitby, Car Parks, Parking Zones & More”

  1. Hi we are staying at a holiday cottage in The centre of town in Sept this yearfor a week but they don’t supply parking 4 day scratchcards is it possible to purchase these anywhere ????

    Reply
  2. all SBC car parks that are available to the public that charge, do so through a pay and display machine these car parks are free to park in between the hours of 18.00 and 9.00 as advertised on SBC information sites and even on flags of lamp posts around the town, however what is not advertised and cannot be found on any information website is the pay and display parking on north promenade which is marked out parking, and by all accounts an SBC car parking area do not allow free parking till 19.00 this is not a disc zone area which do start at 19.00 a dirty sting in the tail for many people and the traffic wardens are waiting for people to fall into this trap

    Reply
  3. just stayed in whitby at caravan site so establishment parking etc not applicable . have a blue badge – why do we holders not get reduced rate parking ? co-op has 1 hr free, there are very few on-street spaces which you can only have 3 hrs then must move. this doesn’t encourage the disabled to visit – we have limited mobility so cant get far before we have to vacate the space ! why cant we have lower charges – maybe pay an hour get an hour free ?

    Reply
    • Because Anna, Scarborough council are a set of greedy parasites,they employ extra staff in Whitby to patrol and get the hapless driver to pay, regarding blue badge l don’t think that council know they exist.

      Reply
    • Whitby is the ‘cash cow’ for Scarborough! No logical reason for anything unless it benefits Scarborough!
      We have 27 fish and chip shops, no takeaway servces and huge council tax charges even higher than the posh areas of London! Does anybody care?

      Reply
      • It’s a joke.
        The swing bridge can be manually opened. The cranking handle is in a locked cupboard in the bridge hut. The key for the cupboard is kept in Scarborough..

        Reply
  4. Hi, we are staying in the centre of Whitby next week (mid sept) from Monday to Friday, can you recommend a car park or advice with parking.
    Thanks.

    Reply
    • Hi Ann. Thank you for your comment. We tend to use the car park at the Abbey and walk in to town. This is easy if you travel light and don’t mind the steps. Alternatively, the park and ride is popular if you don’t plan to use your car often during your stay, this would be best. Finally, there are permits available for you to park on most streets – ask your accommodation provider for details. Have a great trip!

      Reply
  5. We often visit Whitby for a day and find it strange that the free parking on westcliff finishes at the end of March and yet the park & ride doesn’t start until Easter which is often mid to late April, also the park and ride (when operating) closes at 6.00pm not leaving time for ‘tea time’ fish and chips as you need to start queuing for the bus at around 5.00pm to avoid long queues at peak times.

    Reply
  6. Hi we are staying at captain cooks haven soon. Do any of the car parks do a weekly ticket?? If so how much and where do you get it from ? Thanks

    Reply
  7. Hi we are staying I Whitby this next weekend 15- 17th November the cottage has no parking available can you please advise the best place for us to park, the cottage is near the market square/clock tower

    Reply
  8. All the car parks and parking areas state ‘no sleeping in vehicles overnight’, I have searched and cannot find any information on what the penalty for this infringement is likely to be. Can anyone help please?

    Reply
  9. Might be worth noting that disabled badge holders can park without time limit on any disc zone on street bay.
    Also park for free and no time limit in pay and display on street bays.

    Reply
  10. Disabled badge scheme does not apply on private lands, so if you do go to a private car park or park on private land that is being enforced by a private car park management company, be aware that they will issue you with a £100 “Parking Charge Notice”, this happened to my gran a few years ago and she paid the PCN. Always look for the signs.

    Reply
  11. A few years ago we bought a parking pass from the tourist office, which was valid for four days and covered all SBC car parks. Is this still available?

    Reply
  12. Can you advise what parking is available for disabled blue badge holders. We are visiting on Saturday and normally park near the Royal hotel but not sure of time limits and cost as not been since Covid. Thanks Sandra Dodds

    Reply
  13. its about time local mp,s do something about these confused parking rules and the parking fines of £100 £60 payed within 14 days i have been caught out

    Reply
  14. Hi
    Does anyone know the parking situation on church Street as I can see bays that say 40mins but as you drive out no signs or bays

    Reply
  15. I have a newly established off street parking in Ruswarp that I would like to rent out on a long or short term basis how do I go about this and how much do I charge

    Reply
  16. I am staying in Whitby and using a parking scratch card. My current card is about to expire, do I have any grace when changing to a new card ?

    Reply
  17. Hello
    Its now seven days since I posted the query on paying for car parking which still remains unanswered. This is bad for an organisation that is supposed to be attracting business and trade to the town. Or is it that you do not want visitors and their trade to help the town prosper?

    Reply
    • Hello. Unfortunately, we do not respond to queries sent via blog comments. We are not the official Whitby council website, so cannot offer any direct correspondence regarding each car park, as each will be different. All I can say, is that most will accept debit/credit cards, most still use cash and most council car parks will use RingGo, which allows you to pay via an app or telephone.

      Reply
    • Hi Nicky, I’m not too sure. Plenty of people seem to do so and the popular app ‘Park 4 Night’ suggests you can do. You can refer to this article for more information.

      Reply
  18. Blue badge parking should be free in disabled marked bays. Anyone parking there without a blue badge gets towed away.
    But some councils (including Scarborough) do not want to put on extra Wardens. They take the easy money way out with slapping tickets on cars and make a fortune.
    What is the point of Blue Badges if they do not mean anything?

    Reply
  19. Hi, we’re stopping at Victoria Place, in Whitby for 3 nights. Can you please recommend where we can park overnight.

    Thanks

    Reply
  20. I’ve discovered today, thanks to Google and a pal of mine, what the “W” means for people parking in the town… but what does the “W” actually stand for?

    I asked two locals passing by today after I had parked on Argyle Road what it meant and was told I had to have a scratch card to park there so I moved. Then I thought afterwards, ‘Why put a three hour limit on the sign if it means you can park there for four days with a scratch card?’ Something I discovered when I got home and looked it up.

    Three hours is the limit for people without a scratch card and it would have been perfectly legal for me to park there. But I didn’t have time for this logic to sink in as I was in a hurry. So I moved.

    Nothing anywhere to explain what the “W” stands for.

    Do they just expect visitors to say, “Oh… a “W”. Clearly that means I need a scratch card form my hotel and I’ll be OK to park here for four days.”

    Or for locals to say, “A “W”? That obviously doesn’t apply to me”.

    I just can’t think what the “W” stands for. Unless it’s for the person who thought putting a “W” on the signs would be logical and easy to understand.

    As in ‘ a perfect w*****’.

    “How are you going to get the message across to people who want to park what is acceptable and what isn’t?”

    “I’m going to put a “W” on all the parking signs.”

    “A “W”? Wow! What a terrific idea.”

    Reply
  21. Hi, we are thinking of staying in Whitby for four days in the middle of October. The cottage we are looking at is in the centre of Whitby. My son is disabled, we have a blue badge, will we be able to park in the centre for a long stay/ overnight etc.?

    Reply
    • Hi Rachel. It really depends on which side of town your cottage is. The older, East side of town, has limited parking if your stopping on Church Street or the surrounding yards/streets. This side of town is also heavily cobbled, so if you required wheelchair use, might not be the most suitable. The West Cliff side of town, where the Whalebones are located, does have on-street parking close to the B&B’s and hotels.

      There are a number of designated disabled on-street parking spaces in Whitby for Blue Badge holders. These include Windsor Terrace, St Ann’s Staith, Pier Road, North Terrace and Kyber Pass.

      Disabled badge holders are able to park:

      Without time limit in any of the on-street pay and display bays.
      Without time limit in any of the signed disc zones.
      Within signed and marked disabled bays. Please note that some disabled bays within the area have a time limit and it is the motorist’s responsibility to ensure they have checked the signs in the area for any time limits which may be in force. Where the disabled bay is time restricted, the driver must display the disabled badge and a clock to indicate their time of arrival.

      On double yellow lines for a maximum 3-hour period. The vehicle must not be causing an obstruction to other road users. Please check that there is no loading restriction in place before you leave your vehicle. The blue badge and clock must be displayed to indicate your time of arrival.

      At all times a valid disabled badge and when necessary, a clock must be clearly displayed within the vehicle, or the motorist could be liable to being issued with a Penalty Charge Notice.

      Please note that some of these are local restrictions which are in place. The national restrictions relating to the use of the Disabled Badge are also in force, for further information on these restrictions please consult the Blue Badge Handbook, which is provided when a blue disabled badge is issued.

      Please note: disabled badge holders are not exempt from parking charges within any of the council’s off street pay and display car parks in the borough.

      (Information taken from Shoreline Cottages)

      Reply
  22. Seen on a Facebook Whitby group that if you pay at one car park for 24 hours but move car parks through the day (we park at Abby sleep there then move to a car park near town) that you don’t have to pay again as you have 24 hours somewhere else is this true coming back Saturday and it would save us some money lol

    Reply

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