Surviving the parking

“Within a walking distance of 400 metres for residential and 800 metres for other functions, there is always plenty of room to park on campus,” concluded the Gemeente Delft in a report dated January 2016 following research commissioned by TU Delft in cooperation with the municipality. As you’d expect, there are peak periods. The BK and Aula car parks fill up quickly, and are often overcrowded. There are quieter spots where you’ll generally have a better chance of finding a spot, such as behind EWI and at Sports and Culture. TU Delft evaluates the parking situation on campus annually.

City centre garages
There are three multi-story garages on the perimeter of the city open 24 hours a day. Zuidpoort has 900 spaces and convenient access to shops, the cinema and theatre. Phoenix garage has 202 spaces, and you can exit directly onto Oude Delft near the old church and town hall. The Markt garage has 344 spaces, and it’s a short walk over the Koepoort bridge to the main market square. You pay on return to your vehicle. The hourly rate is €2.90, or you can purchase a day pass which may work out cheaper. Cash or card payments are accepted. At Kampveld garage you can rent a space with a monthly or yearly subscription.

City centre on-street parking
There is additional public parking at Paardenmarkt (210 spaces), Gasthuisplaats (160 spaces) and a handful on the Voorstraat. These cost €3.00 per hour. Payment is only by card or mobile phone, by logging your number plate. There’s no pay and display anymore. All of the other on-street parking is reserved for residents and businesses. The only exception is if you want a day permit, in which case for €29.00 you can use a spot usually reserved for permit holders. A large part of the city is vehicle free, and monitored by a new vehicle registration camera system. There’s clear signage in English and Dutch to warn you as you approach this zone. If you need to access the zone, a day permit for loading/unloading can be obtained, for moving house for example.

Disabled parking
All car parks in the city have spots available for those with disabled badges, but they’re not all free, so it’s best to check beforehand.

Train station
Nijverheidsplein has 200 spaces near the train station, a ten minute walk from the centre. It’s cheaper than the central options with an hourly rate of €2.40, or €6.00 for a day pass. It’s free before 12 pm and on Sundays. Once the train zone construction project is complete, 600 underground parking spaces will be available.

Outside the city centre
On Papsouwselaan by the Aldi supermarket, and at De Hoven shopping centre, there are paid car parks. At the hospital, on-street parking is for permit holders only, you must use their paid car park. IKEA and Woonboulevard Leeuwenstein offer free parking. On the streets elsewhere is a mix of paid, free and permit parking for residents. Be careful about checking the signage, certain times of the day parking is free, and other times it’s paid or permit only. Residents can get visitor permits which allow them to log visiting vehicles online, to a maximum of 408 hours annually. Further afield all parking is free, you can check the boundaries at delft.nl/parkeren.

Penalties
Parking wardens are quick and strict. Don’t risk a fine of €60.00 plus administration costs and the original parking fee. To make life simple, you can pay via your mobile phone. “In Delft that’s possible everywhere,” according to the Gemeente website. “Safe and easy.”