Parking in Jerusalem
The short version: for the city itself you probably do not want a car. Where you do need one, these are the car parks worth knowing and what each is actually for.
Do not attempt to drive to
Inside the Old City walls, Machane Yehuda market, Ben Yehuda Street and Jaffa Road through the centre. The first has no through roads, the second and third are pedestrian, and the fourth is the light rail line. Park at the edge and walk in — everything here is closer on foot than it looks on a map.
Park and ride, and the light rail
Almost everything a visitor wants is a walk from a light rail stop, and at two car parks you can leave the car for nothing at all if you hold a valid travel ticket. A Rav-Kav card, or a single ride bought at the stop, counts.
Mount Herzl · Red LineFree with a travel ticket
552 spaces over four levels, with lifts and escalators straight down to the platform. Free if you show a valid travel ticket for that day.
Givat HaMivtar · Red LineFree with a travel ticket
The largest of them — around 1,000 covered spaces over five levels, at the north-eastern entrance to the city beside Route 1. Free with a valid travel ticket, which makes it the one to aim for if you are driving in from out of town.
Ammunition Hill · Red Line
Right beside the station at the northern entrance to the city. It stopped being free in 2024 — the operator announced ₪30 a day, with the first 15 minutes free.
Tzomet Ora · Red Line
The newest and by far the smallest: 80 spaces, next to the station at the south-western end of the line on the way to Hadassah Ein Kerem. Opened January 2026.
Two more sit on the line without being official park-and-ride sites, so you can park and carry on by tram: כיכר ספרא (City Hall), הלאום (Central Station).
Which stop for where
The Old City and the Western Wall
Damascus Gate
Get off at Damascus Gate and walk in. City Hall is the alternative if you would rather enter through Jaffa Gate.
Mamilla and Jaffa Gate
City Hall
The stop by the municipality building — a short walk to Jaffa Gate, the Mamilla promenade and the Tower of David.
Machane Yehuda market
Machane Yehuda
The stop is on Jaffa Road at the mouth of the market. This is the single worst place in the city to arrive by car.
The city centre and Nachlaot
Jaffa Center or HaDavidka
Jaffa Road is pedestrianised and the tram runs down the middle of it. The two stops are minutes apart.
The First Station and the German Colony
No stop nearby
No light rail stop nearby — one of the few places where a car or a bus genuinely wins. The compound car park is open on Shabbat.
Hutzot HaYotzer and the Sultan's Pool
City Hall
About fifteen minutes downhill from the stop, past Jaffa Gate. On concert nights this beats hunting for a space.
Binyanei HaUma and the government precinct
Central Station
The stop serves the central bus station and the Yitzhak Navon railway station. The Green Line adds a dedicated Binyanei HaUma stop.
The Israel Museum and Givat RamNew
the Green Line stops at Givat Ram
New since 21 August 2026. Change from the Red Line at HaTurim. Also serves the National Library and the Bloomfield Science Museum.
The Botanical GardenNew
the Green Line stops at Givat Ram
New since 21 August 2026, on the same change at HaTurim.
Malha, Teddy Stadium and Malha MallNew
Malha Sports Complex
New since 21 August 2026. The stop serves Teddy Stadium, the Pais Arena and the mall. On match days it is the only way that does not involve a jam.
Yad Vashem and Mount Herzl
Mount Herzl
The stop adjoins the park-and-ride car park, so this is both a place to leave the car and a place to get off.
The Biblical ZooNew
Malha Sports Complex
The Green Line gets you close but not to the gate — from the Malha stops it is a short ride or a long walk. With a pushchair, the car park at the entrance still wins.
The Green Line opened between Malha and HaTurim on 21 August 2026; from the Red Line you change at HaTurim, which is a stop on both. Through running, with no change, is planned for late 2026. Checked 2 September 2026.
The car parks
- Safra SquareFor City Hall, Jaffa Gate and the Old City.22 ₪ an hour, billed by the minute, daily cap 132 ₪; evening flat 30 ₪ (in after 17:00, out by 07:00). Yerushalmi card: 11 ₪ an hour, cap 66. The sign at the lot prevails.
- KartaFor Jaffa Gate, Mamilla and the Tower of David.Sun–Thu 20 ₪ an hour (15 in the Central Park app), daily 80 (65 in the app). Fri–Sat 20 ₪ an hour, 10–15 in the app; daily 100. Billed by the minute; the sign at the entrance prevails. Closed on Yom Kippur.
- MamillaFor Mamilla Mall, Jaffa Gate and the Old City.First hour free; from the second hour 12 ₪ an hour (3 ₪ per 15 minutes); from the fourth hour or a full day 48 ₪ (operator's page, read 8.11.2026; the sign at the entrance prevails).
- HaUmaFor Binyanei HaUma, Cinema City, Yitzhak Navon station and the central bus station.Tariff per the sign at the entrance (not published online). Cinema City customers get up to four hours free by validating the ticket in the cinema lobby.
- Beit Ha'amFor the city centre and Nachlaot.22 ₪ an hour, billed by the minute, daily cap 132 ₪; evening flat 30 ₪ (in after 17:00, out by 07:00). Yerushalmi card 10 ₪ an hour. The sign at the lot prevails.
- Machane Yehuda MarketFor the market and the Alliance compound.Tariff not published (a private lot in the municipality's list); check the sign or call.
- ShukanyonFor the western end of Machane Yehuda market.Tariff not published; check the sign.
- First StationFor the First Station compound, Zappa and the Bell Garden.25 ₪ for the first hour, then 5 ₪ per quarter hour, capped at 150 ₪ a day. Card payment — not American Express and not Diners.
- Bell GardenFor the Bell Garden, the German Colony and the First Station.Blue-and-white tariff: 12.40 ₪ an hour (Jerusalem residents first hour free, then 6.90), daily cap 37.20 ₪ (residents 20.70), valid to 31.12.2026. Charged in enforcement hours only (Sun–Thu from 08:00, Fri 08:00–13:00); free outside them and on Shabbat. Pay with Pango or Cellopark.
- Mount ZionFor Mount Zion, Zion Gate and the Old City's southern edge.Tariff not published; check the sign.
- King DavidFor the King David Hotel, Yemin Moshe and the promenade.Tariff not published; check the sign.
- Music SquareFor Nahalat Shiva and the city centre.
- Keren HaYesodFor Talbiya, the Bell Garden and the First Station.Tariff not published; check the sign.
- Jerusalem Towers (Yamit)For Nahalat Shiva and the city centre.0.48 ₪ a minute (about 29 ₪ an hour); daily 160 ₪; afternoon and Fri–Sat flat 30 ₪. Subject to the sign at the entrance.
- Jerusalem TheatreFor the Jerusalem Theatre and Sherover Hall in Talbiya.36 ₪ a day until midnight (from 4.12.2025); first 10 minutes free.
- Israel MuseumFor the Israel Museum and the Bible Lands Museum.Parking for museum visitors, limited spaces; show your ticket or a shop/restaurant receipt at the exit. No tariff published.
- Botanical GardenFor the Botanical Garden in Givat Ram.The garden publishes no parking tariff; ask at the entrance.
- Biblical ZooFor the Biblical Zoo and the Israel Aquarium.The zoo publishes no parking tariff; several lots around the zoo, disabled spaces by the entrance.
- Technology ParkFor Malha and the technology park.Concession terms (municipal dataset, 8.2025): up to 19 ₪ an hour, evening up to 20 ₪, first 10 minutes free. Free to fans on past Beitar match days; the 18.10.2026 arrangement moved that to the Halom lot.
- Teddy StadiumFor Teddy Stadium, the Arena and Malha Mall.From 1.9.2026 the Teddy lot is paid blue-and-white parking (Sun–Thu 07:00–23:00, Fri 07:00–13:00). On big match days the police close the area; the 18.10.2026 arrangement: free parking at Halom plus the Green Line light rail and shuttles from Har Herzl.
- Yes PlanetFor the Yes Planet cinema complex.Municipal concession terms: up to 19 ₪ an hour, evening up to 20 ₪, first 10 minutes free. Actual tariff not published.
- Ammunition HillFor Ammunition Hill and the northern city centre.30 ₪ a day, first 15 minutes free (municipal dataset, August 2025). Not a free park-and-ride.
- Mount HerzlFor Mount Herzl and Yad Vashem.Free for anyone who rides public transport that day and shows a Rav-Kav or ticket at the exit; otherwise charged (57 ₪ a day on the municipality's page as read 4.9.2026; not shown today).
- AgronFor Independence Park, the city centre and Mamilla.22 ₪ an hour, billed by the minute, daily cap 132 ₪; evening flat 30 ₪ (in after 17:00, out by 07:00). Yerushalmi card 10 ₪ an hour. The sign at the lot prevails.
- Tzomet OraFor park and ride for the Red Line at the south-western entrance to the city.Tariff not published yet (the lot opened 21.1.2026); check the sign.
- Nahal TzofimFor park and ride for the Red Line at the north-eastern entrance, by Givat HaMivtar.Free with a same-day public transport ticket shown at the exit; otherwise charged (57 ₪ a day as read 4.9.2026).
- Azrieli JerusalemFor the Azrieli centre, the central bus station and Yitzhak Navon station.0.30 ₪ a minute, capped at 7 ₪ for the first three hours; from the fourth hour 0.30 ₪ a minute; full day 90 ₪.
- HaShivaFor Nahalat Shiva, between Jaffa Street and Hillel.Tariff not published; check the sign.
- YMCA (Three Arches Hotel)For the King David Hotel, Yemin Moshe and Mamilla.Tariff not published by the operator; check the sign.
- Museum of ToleranceFor the Museum of Tolerance, Independence Park and Hillel Street.Paid lot at Hillel 33 per the museum; tariff not published.
- OrionFor Shamai Street, Nahalat Shiva and the city centre.0.48 ₪ a minute (about 29 ₪ an hour); daily 135 ₪; afternoon flat 35 ₪; Shabbat and holidays 35 ₪ a day. Subject to the sign at the entrance.
- Migdal Ha'ir (City Tower)For the Triangle, Ben Yehuda and King George streets.Tariff not published (a private lot in the municipality's list); check the sign.
Tariffs are shown as the operator publishes them, in Hebrew, so they can be checked against the board at the entrance. They change without notice.
Common questions
Should I rent a car in Jerusalem?
For the city itself, usually not. The Old City has no car access to speak of, the centre and the market are pedestrianised or gridlocked, and the light rail plus buses reach almost everything a visitor wants. A car earns its keep for day trips — the Dead Sea, Masada, the Galilee — and is a liability the rest of the time.
Where do I park for the Old City?
Karta and Mamilla are the closest to Jaffa Gate and both are underground. Safra Square is a short walk further and often cheaper. Mount Zion serves the southern gates. Do not try to drive inside the walls.
Can I park outside the centre and take the tram in?
Yes, and it is the cheapest way in. Nahal Tzofim at the north-eastern entrance (about 1,000 covered spaces) and Mount Herzl in the south-west (552 spaces) are both park-and-ride sites attached to a Red Line stop, and both are free if you show a valid travel ticket for that day. Ammunition Hill is also on the line but has charged since 2024.
Is parking free on Shabbat?
Street parking is generally not charged from Friday afternoon through Saturday, but most municipal car parks close entirely for Shabbat, and the ones that stay open are the exception. Check before you leave a car anywhere you need it back from.
What do the blue and white kerb markings mean?
Blue and white means paid street parking, usually through an app rather than a meter, and usually with a time limit. Red and white means no parking at all — including for a moment. Grey or unmarked is generally free, and generally already full.
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