Cardiff city centre has several large car parks, and the right one depends on what you’re actually doing, not just which is nearest. Shoppers want St David’s Centre. Anyone visiting the National Museum should use its own car park behind the building, which is cheaper than it looks if you know the flat rate. Anyone heading to a show at the Wales Millennium Centre or an evening in Cardiff Bay wants Q-Park Cardiff Bay or the Mermaid Quay car park instead, a mile from St David’s. Picking the wrong one usually just means a longer walk, but it can also mean paying a shopping-centre tariff to see a dinosaur, or missing the flat museum rate entirely.

Cardiff Parking at a Glance

Car park	Best for	Spaces	Cheapest short stay
St David’s Centre (Mary Ann Street)	Shopping, St David’s Hall, city centre	2,000	From about £2.70 (1 hour, weekday)
National Museum Cardiff (Museum Avenue)	The museum only	Not published	Flat £6.50 for the day
Q-Park Cardiff Bay (Pierhead Street)	Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay evenings	1,239	Check current Q-Park tariff
Mermaid Quay (Cardiff Bay)	Mermaid Quay shops and restaurants	680	From £2.60 (1 hour)

St David’s Centre Parking

Where: The main multi-storey, officially St David’s Dewi Sant Car Park, is on Mary Ann Street, postcode CF10 2EN. It has 2,000 spaces across six levels, each named after a Welsh river, with around 105 to 140 Blue Badge spaces depending on the source, on level P3. It’s open 24 hours, every day. A second, separate car park with 550 spaces sits underneath John Lewis, with its own hours: 6.30am to 12.30am, not 24 hours, so don’t leave a car there overnight expecting the same access as the main multi-storey.

Access after midnight: After 12.30am, the Mary Ann Street multi-storey is reached via the Bridge Street Square entrance rather than through the shopping centre itself, since the Hayes Arcade route closes at that point.

Prices: Third-party sources broadly agree on the shape of the tariff, if not always the exact figures, which appear to be updated periodically. As a guide: around £2.70 to £3 for the first hour on weekdays, rising in stages to roughly £20 to £30 for 12 to 24 hours; weekend rates run slightly higher. Given how often car park tariffs change, check the live price on stdavidscardiff.com or at the machines before you commit, rather than relying on any figure quoted here or elsewhere.

Good for: St David’s shopping centre itself, St David’s Hall concerts and events, and, at 5 to 10 minutes’ walk, the wider city centre including the castle and the Hayes.

National Museum Cardiff Parking

Where: A dedicated visitor car park sits directly behind the museum, off Museum Avenue in Cathays Park, reached from Park Place. This is separate from the small Cardiff Council car park elsewhere on Museum Avenue, which serves the wider civic centre rather than the museum specifically.

Price: According to the museum’s own visitor information, parking costs a flat £6.50 for the day, whether you stay an hour or the whole afternoon. Pay stations accept card only, including Apple Pay and Google Pay, but not American Express, and no cash.

Blue Badge holders park free. Take your badge to the museum shop for an exit token rather than expecting the barrier to recognise it automatically. Separate on-street disabled parking is also available directly in front of the museum, on Gorsedd Gardens Road.

Why this matters: Because entry to the National Museum itself is free, this car park is effectively the only real cost of a visit. Third-party pre-booking apps list nearby private spaces at similar or higher prices, so the museum’s own flat £6.50 is usually the simplest and most competitive option if you’re going specifically to the museum.

Wales Millennium Centre Parking

The Wales Millennium Centre has no car park of its own; it points visitors to two facilities in Cardiff Bay instead.

Q-Park Cardiff Bay: On Pierhead Street, postcode CF10 4PH, directly opposite the Millennium Centre, about a 4-minute walk. It’s the largest option in the Bay, with 1,239 spaces and 74 disabled spaces, open 24 hours. Q-Park doesn’t publish a fixed online tariff for this site, and third-party reviewers describe it as reasonably priced, particularly for evening shows; book through Q-Park’s own website for a current price and any online discount before you travel, rather than assuming a walk-up rate.

Mermaid Quay multi-storey: A short walk further round the waterfront, recently upgraded to 680 spaces across four floors, with accessible bays, parent-and-child spaces and EV charging. Its published tariff: £2.60 for up to an hour, £3.80 for up to two, £6.50 for up to four, and £24 for up to 24 hours.

On-street disabled parking: 12 free Blue Badge spaces line Bute Place, six close to the Millennium Centre itself and six opposite, by the Red Dragon Centre.

Good for: Wales Millennium Centre shows, Mermaid Quay’s restaurants and bars, the Red Dragon Centre, and a Cardiff Bay evening generally. It’s roughly a mile from St David’s Centre and the station, so don’t park here expecting a quick walk to the castle.

Choosing the Right Car Park

Shopping or the castle: St David’s Centre.

Just the National Museum: Its own Museum Avenue car park, flat £6.50, or free with a Blue Badge.

A show or evening in the Bay: Q-Park Cardiff Bay or Mermaid Quay, not St David’s.

Doing more than one of these in a day: There’s no single car park within easy walking distance of both the city centre and the Bay; the two areas are roughly a mile apart. Either plan a route that treats them as two separate stops with two separate parking sessions, or park once and use the train (Cardiff Central to Cardiff Bay, usually with a change at Queen Street) or a Cardiff Bus service between the two.

Prices last checked: September 2026, from each car park’s own published tariff where available; St David’s Centre and Q-Park Cardiff Bay figures are drawn partly from third-party sources, so confirm the live price before you travel.
Opening hours last checked: September 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much is parking at St David’s Centre in Cardiff?

Around £2.70 to £3 for the first hour on weekdays, rising to roughly £20 to £30 for 12 to 24 hours, with slightly higher weekend rates. Check the live tariff on stdavidscardiff.com, since prices are updated periodically.

How much is parking at the National Museum Cardiff?

A flat £6.50 for the day, however long you stay, paid by card only at the museum’s own car park behind the building on Museum Avenue. Blue Badge holders park free with a token from the museum shop.

Where do you park for the Wales Millennium Centre?

Q-Park Cardiff Bay on Pierhead Street, directly opposite the venue, or the Mermaid Quay multi-storey a short walk away. The Millennium Centre has no car park of its own.

Can I park once for both the city centre and Cardiff Bay?

Not comfortably on foot; the two areas are roughly a mile apart. Park near whichever you’re visiting first, then use the train or a Cardiff Bus service to reach the other rather than walking between them.

Is the John Lewis car park at St David’s open 24 hours?

No. Unlike the main St David’s Dewi Sant multi-storey, which is open 24 hours, the separate John Lewis car park closes overnight, from around 12.30am to 6.30am.

Arriving by train? See our guides to Cardiff Central Station and London to Cardiff by train. Browse more Plan Your Trip guides, or visit the Wales hub.