Christmas Travel

Looking for the perfect festive destination this Christmas? Discover Plymouth, Britain’s Ocean City, where the holiday season sparkles with lights, family-friendly attractions, Christmas shopping, and magical events for all ages. Getting to Plymouth is simple and convenient, with excellent road and rail connections, ample car parks with affordable parking, and reliable public transport links that make exploring the city easy – so you can relax and enjoy the festive celebrations.

   

Car Parking

There are over 50 car parks and more than 5,200 parking spaces in Plymouth. 19 of these car parks are situated in and around the city centre, varying from short term and long term stays.

Their are spaces in each car park for disabled badge holders. Standard charges apply.

The council owned car parks located in the city can be seen below.

         

Drake Circus

There are 1,270 parking spaces in Drake Circus including bays for disabled drivers and parents with children situated on Levels 1, 2 and 3. Please note that disabled spaces are for blue badge holders only and you must display your badge, and standard tariff applies. There is a 2m height restriction for the car park.

There are six electric vehicle charging points on Level 2 (outer) at Drake Circus. The charge is currently 49p per KWHR.

The Drake Circus parking system is cashless, this means that all of the pay machines in the car park accept payment via card or Apple Pay only, and you are not able to pay by cash.

Drake Circus car park is open at the following times:

• Monday to Saturday: 7am to 11pm
• Sunday: 8am to 11pm

The car park's tariffs are:

• Up to 2 hours: £4.00
• 2-3 hours: £5.00
• 3-4 hours: £6.00
• 4-6 hours: £7.00
• 6-24 hours: £18.00

Customers can park overnight for £7 when arriving after 5pm and leaving before 10am the following day.

      

Drake Circus The Barcode 

The Barcode parking system is cashless, meaning all pay machines accept card and Apple Pay payments only. Cash payments are not accepted.

There are more than 400 parking spaces at The Barcode, including bays for disabled drivers and parents with children. Please note that disabled spaces are for Blue Badge holders only and must display a valid badge. Standard parking charges apply. There is a 2m height restriction for the car park.

There are six electric vehicle charging points located on the Upper (Yellow) level of The Barcode car park. Charging is currently 49p per kWh.

The Barcode car park is open at the following times:

• Monday to Wednesday: 5.30am to midnight
• Thursday and Friday: 5.30am to 1am
• Saturday: 5.30am to 2am
• Sunday: 5.30am to midnight

The car park's tariffs are:

• Up to 2 hours: £3.50
• 2-3 hours: £4.50
• 3-4 hours: £5.50
• 4-5 hours: £6.30
• 5-6 hours: £7.30
• 6-24 hours: £15.00

Customers can park for £3.50 when arriving after 5pm and leaving before the car park closes.

     

Royal William Yard

Parking at Royal Willam Yard operated on a Pay on Display system, managed by SIP Car Parks. You can pay by phone or at machines on site that accept coins, cards and contactless payments. You can also make your payments in advance by going to SIP Car Parks website.

• 1 hour: £1.50 (Motorbike £0.75)
• 2 hours: £2.50 (Motorbike £1.25)
• 3 hours: £3.50 (Motorbike £1.75)
• 4 hours: £4.50 (Motorbike £2.25)
• 5 hours: £5.50 (Motorbike £2.75)   
• 12 hours: £10.00 (Motorbike £5.00)   
• 24 hours: £15.00 (Motorbike £7.50)    

You can also pay using their Paybyphone parking app. If you wish to extend your stay (for example if you are enjoying your meal or you fancy shopping a little longer) you can use the app to extend your parking. Register for an account online and their location code is: 59542.

Disabled Users

Disabled users are required to pay and display inline with the terms of parking above but in addition are required to be displaying a blue badge while in use of a disabled bay.

Additional Car Parks

Another option for parking nearby at weekends is Stonehouse Creek car park. Around a 10 minute walk from Royal William Yard, this car park is open to the public at weekends. It has 294-spaces and operates a pay and display facility at a charge of £1 an hour with a maximum stay of five hours.

         

Public Transport

Plymouth Citybus

Plymouth Citybus 2026 information is coming soon. Please check back later for updates.

      

GWR

As usual train services will finish earlier on Christmas Eve and no GWR trains will run on Christmas Day or Boxing Day.

From Christmas Day to Sunday 3 January, Great Western Railway (GWR) will not be able to run any train services to/from London Paddington station.

Read more about GWR Christmas Travel.

Customers are encouraged to check their journey plans ahead of the timetable change and to reserve seats for the busy Christmas period. Journey planners have been updated with Christmas and New Year information, and Advance fares are now available at GWR.com.

    

Park and Ride

There are 3 park and ride sites in Plymouth.

• Coypool Park & Ride, served by the service 200 which departs the City Centre from stop US1 on Union Street. There will be free travel on the Service 200 every Thursday evening (from 3.30pm departure from Coypool unitl 8.35pm departure from City Centre) and Sunday (9am until 5pm) for those heading into the city centre. View the timetable.
• George Junction Park & Ride, served by the 61 which departs the City Centre from stop US1 on Union Street, service 34 also runs along Outland Road and this departs the City Centre from stop A2 on Royal Parade.
• Milehouse Park & Ride, served by a number of services, including service 1/1A which departs the City Centre from stop US2 on Union Street and the 42/C which departs the City Centre from stop C2 on Charles Street.

Stagecoach South West

Stagecoach South West's 2026 information is coming soon. Please check back later for updates.