Kendal parking costs uncovered: the cheapest car parks, Sunday bargains and permit traps

Drivers looking for free council parking in Kendal will not find one. Westmorland and Furness Council lists 66 car parks across its directory, including six labelled as free, but none is in Kendal. The cheapest full-day options in the town start at £1.50, with prices varying sharply according to the car park, day and time of arrival.

The figures were checked against the council’s car park pages on 26 August 2026. Most Kendal car parks charge between 8am and 6pm, seven days a week, including bank holidays.

The cheapest places to park all day

Sandes Avenue is the simplest low-cost option: it charges £1.50 all day, every day. The car park has only 20 spaces, however. Kendal Snowsports Club at Canal Head has 45 spaces and charges £1.60 all day, but it accepts card and phone payments only and does not accept permits.

The Canal Head car park is open from 7am to 7pm, seven days a week from Easter Sunday to 15 September. For the rest of the year, it is open on weekdays only.

South Lakeland House offers the biggest saving on Sundays. Its 194-space multi-storey charges 70p for one hour, £1.40 for four hours and £1.50 all day on Sundays and bank holidays. From Monday to Saturday, the same car park costs £2.20 for one hour, £5.20 for four hours and £8.10 all day.

Levels 1 and 2 at South Lakeland House open at 8.30am on Sundays and bank holidays and close at 5.30pm. Level 3 is open all day, every day. The height limit is 1.88 metres.

Two early-bird tariffs can also reduce an £8.10 day to £1.40. At Blackhall Road, the cheaper rate applies when the ticket is bought before 7am. At the Westmorland Shopping Centre, drivers can pay £1.40 all day if they buy a ticket between 7am and 9am.

The Westmorland Shopping Centre is the largest of Kendal’s council-listed options, with 629 spaces. It operates pay-on-exit barriers and has a 1.8-metre height restriction at the entrance. A free cycle hub provides 10 racks, lockers and two changing rooms; keys are available from the parking office on the ground floor.

Standard tariffs and restrictions

South Lakeland House, Blackhall Road, Westmorland Shopping Centre and Library Road on Stricklandgate each charge £2.20 for one hour, £5.20 for four hours and £8.10 all day from Monday to Saturday. Highgate (Bowman) and Parish Church charge £1.80 for one hour, £5.20 for four hours and £8.10 all day.

Parish Church begins charging at 6am, earlier than the other Kendal car parks, and council parking permits are not valid there. Permits are also not accepted at Wainwrights Yard.

Peppercorn Lane is beside a separate car park that is not run by the council. Drivers using the Abbot Hall car park, between Abbot Hall Gallery and the Museum of Lakeland Life, are warned to use the correct payment machine.

Peppercorn Lane, Wainwrights Yard and Dowker Lane have four-hour limits. Brewery Arts Centre charges £5.50 for four hours and £12 for 24 hours. County Hall lists a tariff of £2 for one hour, £5.70 for four hours and £8.50 all day, although a discrepancy exists between that published tariff and the council’s parking order.

County Hall is closed to the public on weekdays. Areas 1 and 2 are for permit holders from Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, while public parking is available there on Saturdays from 8am to 6pm and on Sundays and bank holidays from 1pm to 6pm. Area 5, behind the building, can flood in extreme weather.

Blue Badges, permits and penalties

In most Kendal car parks, Blue Badge holders receive one hour free in addition to the time purchased, but must display a clock disc set to their arrival time. Brewery Arts Centre allows three hours free before its normal tariff applies. County Hall also lists three hours free, subject to a proposed change, while Kendal Snowsports Club offers no Blue Badge concession.

South Lakeland House on Lowther Street is the only Kendal address listed for obtaining a clock disc. The council can also post one if requested by email, and a Civil Enforcement Officer may provide one while on patrol. An unaltered handwritten note showing the arrival time is accepted.

An annual permit covering Kendal and other car parks outside the Lake District National Park costs £591.80 from 1 April 2026. The same price applies to a National Park-only permit, while an all-areas permit costs £658.90. A business permit costs £788.70. Permits are digital, last 12 months from purchase and are bought through MiPermit.

The Westmorland Shopping Centre requires a separate access permit. Council permits do not work at Parish Church, Wainwrights Yard or the Snowsports Club. A three-day pass costs £23.80 and a seven-day pass £46; both must be bought from a pay-and-display machine with a green logo.

Penalty Charge Notices are £70 at the higher rate, reduced to £35 if paid within 14 days. The lower rate is £50, reduced to £25 within 14 days. The higher rate covers offences including yellow-line parking and using a permit bay without a valid permit, while the lower rate includes overstaying, failing to display a ticket and parking in a closed car park.

Motorcycles park free in Kendal’s car parks except at the Westmorland Shopping Centre, which has no motorcycle bays. Oxenholme Lake District station, meanwhile, charges £12.50 a day for its 145 spaces, with weekend parking at £5.50.