Arrochar car park: charges, payment and overnight rules
Charges, payment, overnight rules and the other car parks nearby
Arrochar car park is the council's pay and display car park at Glenloin, run by Argyll and Bute Council. On the 2026/27 tariff it costs £1.20 an hour or £10.30 for the day, charged from 9am to 6pm every day. It has 58 spaces, and sleeping in a vehicle overnight is not allowed.
- Arrochar council car park. Argyll and Bute Council pay and display: £1.20 an hour or £10.30 a day on the 2026/27 tariff, 9am to 6pm every day. 58 spaces.
- Per hour
- £1.20
- All day
- £10.30
- Charged 9am to 6pm
- Daily
- Overnight
- No
How much is Arrochar car park?
It costs £1.20 an hour or £10.30 for a whole day. Those are the 2026/27 figures that Argyll and Bute Council lists for Arrochar Glenloin, and we read them on 13 October 2026. The council's car park list gives the hours as 9am to 6pm, Monday to Sunday, so Sundays are charged too.
Pay at the machine or with the council's app (PayByPhone). Blue Badge holders park free. The council lists 58 spaces and the postcode G83 7AL. It lists no toilets, and Forestry and Land Scotland says the nearest public toilets, shops and cafes are in the village.
Most people park here for the hills. Forestry and Land Scotland describes the car park as the starting point for the Arrochar Alps, and the route up The Cobbler is the best known. Decide how long you will be out before you pay, because the hourly rate adds up over a long day. For the village itself, see the village of Arrochar. If you would rather not drive, public transport to the loch covers the train and the buses.
Arrochar car park and the other places to leave a vehicle
The council car park set beside the nearby alternatives for a vehicle, with the prices and rules each operator publishes. Figures are as they stood on the date shown above, and where we have no value we say so.
| Option | Cost | Hours | Overnight | Notes | Map |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arrochar car park (Glenloin)Argyll and Bute Council, pay and display. | £1.20 per hour; £10.30 per day (2026/27). Blue Badge holders park free. | Every day, 9am to 6pm. | Not allowed, and that includes motorhomes. | 58 spaces. Postcode G83 7AL. Pay at the machine or by app (PayByPhone). Forestry and Land Scotland passes are not accepted here and there are no toilets at the car park. No electric vehicle charging is listed for it by the council. | Open in maps |
| Arrochar Loch Long car park, with chargersShown on a ChargePlace Scotland page, not confirmed by us. | A 2022 page gave 26p per kWh for charging with a £1.80 minimum, parking £1.20 an hour paid on exit, and £30 for overstaying after 2 hours. | Not recorded. | Not recorded. | These figures are four years old. Check the charger and the signs before you rely on them. | |
| Ardgartan car park, Forestry and Land ScotlandForestry and Land Scotland. | Free in the day. Overnight only through Stay the Night at £10, paid by RingGo. | Day parking only otherwise; Stay the Night runs 6pm to 10am for one night. | Self-contained motorhomes and campervans only, in the three marked spaces. Not suitable for large vehicles or caravans. | Public toilets on the site. Nearest postcode G83 7AS, on the A83 towards Inveraray. | |
| Tarbet Pier car park, National Park AuthorityLoch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority. | The tariff published in 2022 was 50p for 30 minutes, £1 for 2 hours, £2 for 4 hours and £4 all day. Check the machine. | Not recorded. | The Authority lists overnight motorhome parking spaces as open. Price not published on the pages we read. | About 1 mile from Arrochar by road. Tarbet parking: charges and motorhome bays has the detail. | |
| Train or busScotRail on the West Highland Line; buses from Glasgow Buchanan Bus Station. | Fares not recorded: check the operators. | Times not recorded: use Traveline Scotland. | Not applicable. | Arrochar & Tarbet station is approximately 1 mile east of the village. Buses to Oban and Campbeltown stop at Arrochar, according to the National Park. |
Only the first row is the council car park. The others are other places to leave a vehicle or other ways to arrive.
What it costs and how to pay
Check the hours
The council charges from 9am to 6pm, Monday to Sunday. The council lists charges for those hours only, so read the sign for anything else.
Work out your band
The council gives an hourly rate of £1.20 and a day rate of £10.30. A day on the hill is likely to outlast a short stay, so decide before you walk and pay for the whole of it.
Pay at the machine or on the app
The council takes payment at the machine or through its app, which is PayByPhone. Blue Badge holders park free. We found no penalty charge amount in the section of the council's page that we read.
Do not sleep in the vehicle
Overnight stays and motorhome stays are not allowed in this car park. For a motorhome, Forestry and Land Scotland's Stay the Night scheme at Ardgartan costs £10 and is first come, first served. For a tent, pitching a tent in Arrochar lists what we could confirm.
Plan the walk back
The car park is the start for the hills, so allow daylight for the return. For the best months, see weather and daylight by month.
Rules, charging points, toilets and how busy it gets
- Spaces and fill times: the council lists 58 spaces and no source states fill times. The car park is the start of the hill routes, so it is sensible to arrive early on a fine weekend. That is our judgement, not a measured figure.
- Toilets: none at the car park, according to Forestry and Land Scotland. The nearest public toilets are in the village. Ardgartan has public toilets on its site.
- Electric vehicles: the council's list does not mention charging. The only tariff we found is a 2022 ChargePlace Scotland page for a Loch Long car park, so check on arrival.
- Fines: no amount is published in the section we read, so we give none. Pay for the whole of your stay.
- Season tickets: the council sells seasonal permits of 3 to 12 months, priced from £159.80 to £562.40, which suit locals rather than visitors.
- Tariffs change from year to year. We say when we read each figure, and how we check facts explains how.
From the car park: what is close
Everything below starts in or near the village.
- Eating outArrochar places to eat covers what we can confirm from each business's own pages.
- A bed for the nightWhere to stay in Arrochar compares the hotels we could read. The car park does not allow overnight stays, so book a room if you want to stay.
- Tarbet, 1 mile awayThe road to Tarbet is the A83 and then the A82. Where to park in Tarbet has its pier car park and the Tarbet Isle car park.
Eat, stay and park nearby
Over the loch, the east shore has its own car parks. Inversnaid parking: prices and busy times covers the two car parks at the end of the B829, and the waterbus runs from Tarbet.
The car park prices and rules page compares every village side by side.
Questions people ask
How much is Arrochar car park?
£1.20 an hour or £10.30 for the day on the council's 2026/27 tariff, from 9am to 6pm every day.
What time does free parking start on Sunday?
At Arrochar, Sunday is not a free day. The council lists the charged hours as Monday to Sunday, 9am to 6pm, so check the sign for anything outside them. Blue Badge holders park free.
How do you pay at Arrochar car park?
At the machine or through the council's app, PayByPhone.
Where can I park my motorhome in Scotland?
Near Arrochar, the council car park does not allow motorhomes to stay overnight. Forestry and Land Scotland's Stay the Night scheme has three motorhome spaces at Ardgartan, and the National Park lists overnight motorhome spaces at Tarbet Pier. Both are paid.
What is the Forestry and Land Scotland Stay the Night scheme and how does it work?
It lets self-contained motorhomes and campervans park overnight in taking-part car parks. It costs £10 a night at most sites, you pay by RingGo, you cannot reserve, and you stay one night only between 6pm and 10am. Ardgartan takes part.
Can I park overnight at Arrochar?
Not in the council car park. A motorhome can use Ardgartan through Stay the Night at £10.
Are there toilets at Arrochar car park?
Forestry and Land Scotland says there are none at the car park. The nearest public toilets are in the village.
Is there an electric vehicle charger in Arrochar?
A 2022 ChargePlace Scotland page lists a Loch Long car park charger at 26p per kWh. We could not confirm it is current, so check on arrival.
How far is Arrochar station from the village?
Arrochar & Tarbet station is approximately 1 mile east of Arrochar village, according to the National Park.