How you can beat the seaside parking rip-offs
Seaside parking & ticket prices worth digging up
FAMILIES driving out for a day at the beach are being charged up to £30 to park there, a Daily Mirror investigation has found.
The priciest resort is Brighton, which charges the top rate – making it one of Europe’s most expensive destinations for parking.
Next is Bournemouth at £18 – still more than millionaires’ playgrounds Monaco and Sorrento on Italy’s Amalfi Coast, charging £15.18 and £17.88 respectively.
Margate and Southend both charge £12, Blackpool £10 and Whitley Bay £9.60.
Cheaper public car parks in our favourite bucket-and-spade resorts tend to involve a longer walk or taxi ride to the beach.
But day-trippers can find a better spot for nearly 80% less by booking online with sites such as Yourparkingspace or Just Park.
If you’re going to Brighton, which attracts 9.1 million visitors a year, you can dodge the £30 charge at the Brighton Centre on Russell Street with an £8 spot on Kings Road, less than half a mile away on the seafront.
Southend had the cheapest online rate at £2.50 per day, giving drivers a saving of 79%.
Simon Williams of the RAC said: “Once upon a time going to the beach was a cheap day out. Now unfortunately sky-high parking charges means day-trippers and holidaymakers don’t just have the weather to worry about, they also have to be extremely shrewd about where they park so as not to burn holes in their pockets.
“Plan ahead by doing your research in advance so that parking charges don’t come as a nasty surprise.”
The Local Government Association said public parking fees have to “strike a balance” to benefit both visitors and residents.