Downtown Palo Alto parking garages and lots

Downtown Palo Alto does not charge for short visits. You will not find parking meters on University Avenue. Instead the city gives you a free window, two or three hours depending on where you park. People who stay longer buy a daily permit. Once you know where the garages are and how the color zones work, parking downtown is easy.

This page lists the city's downtown garages and lots exactly as the city does, then explains the limits, the permits and the chargers. For the citywide picture, including residential streets and Stanford, read our main guide to parking in Palo Alto. The city marks its parking pages as being updated, so check the official links before a long stay.

The city's downtown garages and lots

The city's downtown parking facilities page lists 20 sites. Most carry a letter code that you will see on signs and permits.

The city's own pages are inconsistent in small ways. They call the same garage Webster/Cowper in one place and Cowper/Webster in another. The facility pages do not give street addresses, space counts or hours. The addresses below come from the city's EV charger list:

• Civic Center (City Hall) Garage: under City Hall, 250 Hamilton Avenue. The city places it in the Coral color zone.
• Bryant/Lytton Garage: 445 Bryant Street.
• Webster/Cowper Garage: 520 Webster Street, on the east edge of downtown.
• High Street Garage: 528 High Street, near the Caltrain end of downtown.

Free time limits

The rules on the city's free hourly parking page are short:

• Two hours free in on-street spaces and surface lots.
• Three hours free in garages, except in areas marked for permit holders.
• Posted signs at each site take priority over the general rule.

Garages give you an extra hour over the street. For a long lunch plus a film at the Stanford Theatre, head straight for a garage. Permit-only areas inside garages are signed, often on particular levels. Read the signs before you leave the car.

Color zones

Downtown's core is split into Purple, Coral, Lime and Blue zones. The rule is about re-parking. Once your time runs out, you must move the car out of that color zone. The city says vehicles will be ticketed if they are re-parked in the same zone within the same enforcement day. A different zone is fine.

Green 30 minute spaces, yellow loading zones, white passenger zones and blue disability spaces are exempt from the re-parking rule, though their own limits still apply. Download the zone map from the city's color zone page. Zone lines follow streets, so it is easy to cross one without noticing.

Daily permits for longer stays

For a full day of meetings or sightseeing, buy a daily permit. The city's all day visitor permit page listed the price as $25.70 a day in October 2026. The same permit covers public garages and lots in both downtown and California Avenue. Several individual facility pages still show an older $20 figure, so confirm the price when you buy.

The city lists these places to buy one:

1. Revenue Collections on the ground level of the Civic Center, 250 Hamilton Avenue. The city says it takes cash.
2. The main level of the Bryant/Lytton Garage.
3. The main level of the Cowper/Webster Garage.
4. The main level of the High/Alma South Garage.
5. Level A of the Civic Center Garage.

The city does not list an online or app option for daily permits. A permit is valid only on the date printed. Workers at downtown businesses can buy annual employee permits instead; the city's garage pages listed $990 a year in October 2026, while its facilities page showed a different figure. See the city's employee parking page before buying.

Valet assist at High and Alma

The city describes a valet assist program at the High/Alma garage (Lot R). Two attendants work the third floor from 9 a.m. on weekdays. When permit spaces fill, they park permit holders' cars in the drive aisles and keep the keys so they can move cars during the day. Drivers collect their keys on return. The page does not say whether the program is running in late 2026, so treat it as a possibility rather than a promise. It serves permit holders, not short-term visitors.

EV charging downtown

The city's public chargers are Level 2 ports, mostly in its garages. Downtown, the charger list in October 2026 showed 20 ports in the Webster Street garage, 14 in the Bryant Street garage, 13 under City Hall and 8 in the High Street garage. The city charged $0.35 per kWh and promoted overnight charging from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. with no overstay fees. During the day the garage time limits still apply.

Tesla lists a 19 stall Supercharger in the Bryant and Lytton garage at 445 Bryant Street, open around the clock. Our EV charging guide has the full list.

Busy times

Weekday lunchtime is the crunch, when downtown office workers and diners compete for the same spaces. Friday and Saturday evenings are the other peak, especially near the restaurants on University Avenue and Ramona Street. Big events add pressure too. Downtown festivals and holiday gatherings around King Plaza and City Hall fill the Civic Center Garage first. On those days the garages on the edge of downtown, such as Webster/Cowper or High/Alma, are the better bet. They add a few minutes of walking but spread the load away from the center.

Tips for parking downtown

• Go up. Upper garage levels usually have room when the street is full, especially on Friday evenings.
• Pick by destination. The High Street and High/Alma garages suit the Caltrain end of University Avenue. Webster/Cowper and Bryant/Lytton suit the east side and Professorville.
• Set an alarm. With no meter, nothing reminds you that time is up.
• Mind the train lot. The Caltrain lots at Palo Alto station are separate and always paid, at $5.50 a day in October 2026.
• Accessible parking. Blue spaces need a valid disabled placard or plate. Our accessible travel guide explains the rules.

Planning where to eat? Our downtown guide maps the main streets so you can choose a garage near your table.

Frequently asked questions