Best Bham hacks: free parking spots in downtown Birmingham

Does the price of parking in downtown Birmingham have you avoiding the area?  We have done a little investigating to uncover some free parking spots and a few super cheap options too.

• At the Pizitz a Food Hall garage,  1821 2nd Ave N. you can park free for the first 2 hours of parking. Check out the food court if you haven’t yet!

• Park for free in the Birmingham Museum of Art parking lot behind the museum (Corner of Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. and Rev. Abraham Woods Jr. Blvd) but you have to get the parking slip validated inside the museum…so maybe take a quick art stroll or spend a few hours looking at great art, it is an outing worth adding to your downtown itinerary (entrance to the museum is free!)

• On 2nd Ave N. a block from Urban Standard there are ZERO parking meters.

• You can also park in the Publix parking garage at 230 20th St S and run in and grab a pack of gum and a bottle of water to make your parking legit. The store has 130 parking spots dedicated to the Publix on the second and third levels of the building, some street parking and some in the alley. The entrance to the dedicated spots is located on 19th Street South. Maybe incorporate a grocery store trip with your other downtown activities, you know you need to grab a few things and this Publix has everything you might want!

• All around Pizitz and the McWane Center, there is an entire section of street meters are broken and blink EXPIRED. These are open game. You can park there as long as you want and won’t have to worry about a ticket.

UAB One-Day free pass

A free one-day visitor pass is available for their commuter parking lot (Lot 15) at any time. You can order one online, or stop by their office at 608 8th Street South; Monday – Friday, 7:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Parking Tips

Wondering if Birmingham’s parking garages have open spaces? You can pull up the City of Birmingham app on your smartphone, or go to www.bhamgov.org  and click on the parking symbol in the upper right corner of the page. A box will open with real-time parking data for all the garages throughout the city.

The cheapest overnight parking we found in a paid garage or lot-type place was Central Parking’s lot at 1723 3rd Ave N. between 17th and 18th St. N. for under $5.

Legal Holidays-Free Parking at Meters!

Parking at meter spaces on these dates will always be free.

• New Year’s Day
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
• President’s Day
• Good Friday
• Memorial Day
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Columbus Day
• Veteran’s Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• The day after Thanksgiving Day
• Christmas Eve
• Christmas Day
• New Year’s Eve

If you have any tips or secret parking spots around the city let us know!