Tenby is a walled town on a headland, with the beaches at the bottom of a cliff and almost no spare tarmac inside the gates. Everyone wants a space by the sand. Almost everyone arrives between nine and eleven. It is solvable if you treat the first beach car park you see as a trap rather than a plan.
Pembrokeshire County Council publishes the parks on its Tenby car parks page and the tariffs on the fees and charges list. Figures move. Read the board.
Do not drive into the old town looking for a space. In summer the walled streets are pedestrianised through the middle of the day, and even outside that window they are the wrong hunt. Park once, outside the walls, and walk.
For a town, harbour and Castle Beach day, use the multi-storey on Upper Park Road. For a full day on South Beach, go there early or do not go there at all — that park is the summer trap. North Beach on Gas Lane is the other beach-side park, and it fills. If the seasonal park and ride is running, Salterns and The Green are the grown-up arrival.
Once the car is down, walk. Relocating from South Beach to the harbour by car is how people lose an hour.
Every summer the centre of Tenby is mainly a vehicle-free zone. In 2026 the council’s pedestrianisation scheme ran Monday 6 July to Friday 11 September, daily 11am to 5.30pm. Dates and hours move; the pedestrianisation page is the document to trust, not last year’s blog.
The core — High Street, Tudor Square, Church Street, St Nicholas Lane — is traffic-free in those hours. Western and eastern streets inside the walls have tighter rules and resident permits. You are not those people.
Park outside the walls. Walk in through the Five Arches on South Parade, or down from Upper Park Road. The town walls piece is that walk. The car’s job is over at the barrier.
Outside the scheme, the streets are still narrow, still one-way in places, and still a poor place to hunt a bay. On-street inside the walls is not a visitor plan.
Tenby Multi-Storey, Upper Park Road, SA70 7LT, is the default for a town day. About 712 spaces, a height limit of about 1.98 metres, and a short walk to the walls, Tenby Castle on Castle Hill, the harbour and Castle Beach.
From 1 May 2026 the council put floors 1, 2 and 3 on 24-hour charging. The ground floor stays short-stay, charging 9am to 7pm.
Summer tariffs, 1 March to 31 October, on the May 2026 council notice: 1 hour £1, 2 hours £2, 5 hours £4.50, 10 hours £6, 24 hours £10, weekly £50. Winter is lower. The published fees table and the notice have not always matched. Check the board, or the charges page, rather than a screenshot from last summer.
Dragon Charging has points here.
This is the park for the walled town, Castle Hill, the harbour, Castle Beach, North Beach on foot, and a wet day in the museum.
South Beach on Battery Road, SA70 7EG, sits behind the dunes at the town end of the big beach. It is seasonal — charging 1 March to 31 October on the council table — and it is the park every first-time visitor types in when the destination is sand.
It is also small, and it fills. On a fine Saturday in the holidays it is full before the windbreaks are up. There is no overflow worth circling for. If it is full, do not wait in Battery Road. Use the multi-storey or Salterns and walk, or come back later.
The beach itself is the one with room: two kilometres towards Giltar Point, lifeguards in season, a ramp from the Esplanade. Our beaches guide is the rest of that day. The car park is only the town end. The far end is quieter because most people do not walk that far.
If you are going to South Beach for a full day, arrive early, pay for the day, and leave the car. Relocating to Castle Beach at lunch is a different outing on foot, not a second parking problem.
North Beach on Gas Lane, SA70 8AG, is the other beach-side council park: year-round charging, coaches and motorhomes listed on the tariff, and a walk down to the sand below the walls. It is the photogenic beach — Goskar Rock, pastel houses, the harbour at one end — and it largely disappears at high water. Check a tide table before you carry a picnic down the steps.
It fills on the same mornings South Beach does. Dragon Charging is on Gas Lane. It is a better park for North Beach and the harbour than it is for a South Beach day; the headland is in the way.
Do not treat the lanes above the beach as overflow. They are not.
The Green on Lower Park Road, SA70 7NG, is a seasonal long-stay west of the centre. Motorhomes appear on the tariff. It is a walk into town rather than a doorstep, which is why it still has spaces after the beach parks have gone.
Salterns on Marsh Road, SA70 8DU, is the big seasonal long-stay on the way in: coaches, motorhomes, a longer ticket on the council table. It is the park-and-ride end of town.
The park and ride is a summer provision, not a year-round service. In recent seasons the council has run a free bus from Salterns via The Green to South Parade, with ordinary parking charges at the car parks. Hours, dates and the weekend break move. Confirm on the council before you leave the A477. When it is running, this is the least aggravating arrival for a town day in the holidays. When it is not, Salterns is still a long-stay park with a walk.
Do not use park and ride for a South Beach day if that means a bus to South Parade and then a walk back out to Battery Road. Use the tool that matches the day.
The harbour is permit and short-stay, not tourist overflow. A handful of spaces, a working quay, and a tariff built for people who already have a reason to be there. See Tenby harbour. Park in the multi-storey and walk down.
Tenby station has its own park, run as a station car park — NCP / APCOA, Station Road, SA70 7LA. It is for people catching trains. If you are going to the beach, do not use it as cheap overflow; if you are going to Pembroke for the day, it is the right tool. Confirm on the APCOA Tenby page.
The Croft, above North Beach, is permit parking, not a visitor park. Tenby Leisure Centre is a further council park on the edge, useful when the centre is already a queue. A small pay-and-display sits near the Five Arches; it is not a plan after nine.
On-street around the Esplanade and the terraces is pay-and-display where it is allowed, and residents’ space where it is not. Read the plate.
A walled-town, harbour and Castle Hill day. Multi-storey before nine. You will not need the car again until you leave. Walk the walls, drop to the harbour, climb Castle Hill, take Castle Beach on the falling tide.
A South Beach day. Battery Road early, or the multi-storey and the Esplanade walk. If Battery Road is already a queue, leave. Do not circle.
A North Beach day. Gas Lane, or the multi-storey and the steps. Watch the tide.
A family day at the Dinosaur Park, Folly Farm or Heatherton. Those parks have their own parking, a few kilometres out. Do not leave a car in Tenby and drive back for it at lunch. Our kids guide is the rest of that decision.
Pembroke, Carew, Manorbier. Park here only if you are going by train. Otherwise park at the castle you came for. See day trips.
A wet day. Everyone comes into town. Beach parks empty; the multi-storey fills. Salterns still has room. The rain guide is the indoor list.
The multi-storey height is about 1.98 metres. High-tops, many motorhomes and anything with a box on the roof will not fit. Use Salterns, The Green or North Beach, and read the barrier. Overnight camping in council parks is not the point of them; use a campsite.
Blue Badge bays sit in the main parks. Display the badge and the clock; the ordinary fee still applies unless a specific exemption says otherwise. The streets and the beach steps are not flat. Castle Hill and the harbour are a descent.
Electric charging in town is thin: Dragon Charging at the multi-storey and on Gas Lane. Do not arrive low and expect a row of rapid bays on the Esplanade.
If you can come without a car, do that. The station is a few minutes from the walls. Our without a car piece is the other half of this. Park once at home.