Edinburgh's Hogmanay is three days of events on top of the city centre's normal traffic, and the road closures are bigger than most visitors expect. Here is how the closures, bay suspensions and the New Year's Day parking holiday actually work, and where to leave the car so it is still there on 1 January.
How the three days unfold
The programme is the same shape every year, with the exact streets and times published by the Council and the organisers in mid-December. Treat the pattern below as the plan, and the Council's own list as the law.
- From around 27 December — Castle Street closes to traffic for the event build (it is usually already closed for the Christmas market by then), and "No Waiting" cones start appearing on the streets that will host the event infrastructure. King's Stables Road gets loading restrictions for Princes Street Gardens.
- 29 December — Torchlight Procession. An evening route through the Old Town and city centre, with rolling closures and bay suspensions along it from the afternoon. The route changes year to year (it has run from the Meadows via George IV Bridge and Johnston Terrace, and from Parliament Square down the Mound to Calton Hill in other years), so check the published route before parking anywhere near it.
- 30 December — Night Afore and the big closures begin. Princes Street (South Charlotte Street to the Mound, and Hanover Street to South St David Street), Frederick Street and Waverley Bridge typically close from 7pm on the 30th until 10am on 1 January. Market Street closes from mid-morning on the 30th.
- 31 December — the Street Party. Princes Street, George Street, Rose Street, Castle Street, Frederick Street, Hanover Street, South St David Street, South St Andrew Street, Waverley Bridge, the Mound, Market Street, North Bridge and Bank Street are all inside the event footprint. Further closures come in on Lothian Road, Shandwick Place and the West End from the evening. Normal zone charges still apply on the streets that are open, until 6:30pm in the central zones.
- 1 January — parking holiday. Pay & display bays, permit bays and single yellow lines are free all day across the city. Closures lift through the morning. Double yellows, disabled bays, bus lanes and the LEZ are enforced as normal.
Where to actually park
Park & Ride is the sensible answer. Ingliston, Hermiston, Straiton, Sheriffhall and Newcraighall are all free to park and outside every closure. Lothian Buses run extended services on Hogmanay night and the tram runs late from Ingliston, but check the festive timetables — last services, not first, are what matter on the 31st. Details in the Park & Ride guide.
The inner zones are free anyway. Zones 5–8 and every N and S zone switch off at 5:30pm on weekdays and are free all weekend. Stockbridge, Bruntsfield, Marchmont and the Southside are a 20–30 minute walk from Princes Street and completely outside the closures. Use the zone directory to pick a street, and the checker to confirm it.
Car parks close to the action fill and their access roads close. Castle Terrace is inside the West End closures on the night of the 31st; St James Quarter and Omni sit at the east end where Leith Street and Waterloo Place have restrictions. If you must use one, book, arrive early, and expect to be held inside until the roads reopen. The Castle Terrace guide covers the booking trick.
What is free, and what isn't
- 25 and 26 December, and 1 January are parking holidays. Bays and single yellows: free. Double yellows, disabled bays, bus lanes, LEZ: enforced.
- 27 to 31 December are ordinary days. Central zones charge Mon–Sat 8:30am–6:30pm and Sunday 12:30–6:30pm; inner zones Mon–Fri 8:30am–5:30pm. Nothing about the festive period changes that.
- 2 January is a Scottish bank holiday but not a parking holiday. Normal charges. This catches people every year.
Check the street before you leave the car
Live status for any of 2,600+ streets, and a list of every free area.
Check a street →Closure streets and times above follow the pattern of recent years; the Council publishes the exact temporary traffic orders each December and they win. If you spot a cone on a street this page calls safe, tell the community.
If this page saved you a parking ticket, you can buy me a coffee — no pressure, it just helps keep the guide free and up to date.