Last Sunday, I had to drive down to Orchard.
Let's face it.
Orchard is a nightmare for drivers.
Finding a place to park is a pain.
And when you see your parking fee, you'll feel even more pain.
But if you are left with no choice but to drive there, this article is here to help you find the cheapest place to park.
In short, we've covered:
The Real Cheapest Places to Park in Orchard [In a nutshell]
Of course, Orchard is a long road, you can expect to just park at these carparks and walk everywhere right?
I mean if you want to do that, you would have taken a bus or MRT…
So, let’s take a look at cheap parking alternatives around ‘landmarks’ in Orchard below.
But first, I'd want to highlight this...
The issue with finding the “Cheapest Car Parks in Orchard”
Fearing the worst, I tried to do my homework before heading down.
I googled for the cheapest place to park in Orchard. If you do so too, you'll get the same few resources.
Most of them point to:
Cheapest places...with ERP parking system.
BUT!
Don't be fooled.
If you ask the experienced drivers, they'll never recommend these places. They are just too expensive.
The problem with most of these parking guides online is that they only scrape data from carpark operators that release their rates.
The Real Cheapest Places to Park in Orchard
Instead, if you are willing to walk a little, there are coupon parking options that are way cheaper.
And now with the Parking.sg app, we don't need to rush back to tear new parking coupon also. (p.s. this is not a sponsored post)
So here's the real deal;
Cheapest place to park near Orchard Ion
If you want to be tourist for the day, or need to bring a non-Singaporean friend to Orchard Ion, park here:
Everyday before 5pm
Claymore Hill (A on the map) or Claymore Road (B on the map) are the cheapest place to park near Orchard Ion.
Weekdays after 5pm
If you will be parking for more than 2.5 hours, it’s cheaper to park in Orchard Ion at $3 per entry from 5pm to 11.59pm.
Weekends and Public Holidays after 5pm
If you will be parking for more than 3.5 hours, it’s cheaper to park in Orchard Ion at $3.74 per entry from 5pm to 11.59pm.
Cheapest Parking Rates to Park Near Orchard Ion:
Cheapest place to park near Far East Plaza
Say you want to go Far East Plaza to shop, or to Goodwood Park Hotel to eat durian puffs or maybe...to take some OOTD shots, here are cheaper parking alternatives:
Weekdays & Sat before 5pm
Cairnhill Road (A in the map) is the cheapest place to park…but it’s about 11 mins walk away.
The second cheapest place to park is Anthony Road (B on the map), about 9 mins walk away.
Weekdays & Sat after 5 pm
If you are planning to shop around for 3 hours or more, it’s actually cheaper to park at Far East Plaza.
Sunday and Public Holidays
If you are planning to shop around for 3 hours or more, it’s cheaper to park at Far East Plaza.
Cheapest place to park near Ngee Ann City
Lunch Hours (12 pm to 2pm), Dinner Hours (5pm to 7pm)
Parking charges in Ngee Ann City at these timing spikes up. So if you are there during the lunch/dinner hours, it cheaper to park outside.
Grange Road (A on map) is the most expensive out of the coupon parking options. But it is cheaper to park at Grange Road rather than in Ngee Ann City during the peak hours.
The rest are pretty similar. See table below for details.
Weekdays before 5pm
It is slightly cheaper to park in Ngee Ann City outside of the 12pm to 2pm lunch peak. (difference of only 2cents per 30mins)
Weekdays after 7pm
If you are planning to hang around for 3.5 hours or more, it’s more worthwhile to park in Ngee Ann City due to the per entry charge.
Weekends and Public Holidays Before 5pm
Parking is cheaper outside. Walk abit la. If not just take the train to Ngee Ann City on the weekends.
Also note that the parking charges surge during lunch and dinner hours. Business too good.
Weekends and Public Holidays After 7pm
Same as weekdays after 7pm.
Cheapest place to park near Orchard Central
Weekdays before 6pm
If you are parking for less than 30 mins, its cheaper to park at the labelled parking areas.
If you plan to stay for more than an hour, park in Orchard Central.
Again, Grange Road (C on map) is the most expensive out of the coupon parking options. The rest are pretty similar. See table below for details.
Weekdays after 6pm and Weekends / Public Holidays
If you are planning to shop around for 3 hours or more, it’s actually cheaper to park at Orchard Central.
There’s free valet parking too!
Overnight Parking
If you can’t sleep at night and decide to head down to Don Don Donki to shop, then…here are your options:
Weekday & Sat, 12 am to 2 am:
- Less than 30 mins, cheaper to park at the labelled parking areas.
- more than an hour, park in Orchard Central.
Weekday & Sat, 2 am onwards:
- Less than 3 hours, cheaper to park outside
- More than 3 hours, park in Orchard Central.
No valet parking after 11pm, because the drivers need to sleep.
Cheapest place to park near Plaza Singapura
Weekdays & Weekends and Public Holidays Before 6pm
This was surprising. It is actually cheaper to park at Plaza Singapura.
Weekends and Public Holidays After 6pm
If you are planning to hang around for more than 2.5 hours, park inside Plaza Singapura.
No wonder PS’s carpark always so full. Oh, and its really narrow…
How I estimated the walking timing
I used the findings published here to estimate the walking timing.
Singaporeans walk really fast! It is said that we take about 11 seconds to cover 18 meters.
I rounded up the timing to 15 seconds instead.
It’s an easier number to work with. And don’t walk so fast la, chill.
How to Find The Cheapest Parking Options Near You
+ Source of Data used in this article
Looking for parking outside of town?
Use the URA Parking Rates map to find the cheapest parking option near you. The only information it lacks is the availability of lots in coupon parking areas.
This is how you can find parking options:
Step 1: Go to URA Space. Click the menu dropdown at the top left corner (see yellow circle):
Step 2: Click on 'Car Parks'. Select 'Parking Rates & Availability':
Step 3: Type in your location in the search bar:
Step 4: Select the closest carpark to your location. *Some carparks might not be indicated in the system.
For example, the JTC carpark at our office isn't shown on the map:
Step 5: You can get the details of your selected carpark from the sidebar:
Call out to experienced drivers
If you have better lobang, please share in the comment below!
