"Parking" Top 5 Page for this destination Driving/Parking Tip by Dabs

Parking rates increased as of 1/1/13, rates have increased annually since 2008 when the city of Chicago leased the meters to an outside contractor

Parking is expensive in Chicago, the most expensive being hotel parking rates. There are a couple of hotels with free parking in River North, Best Western and Howard Johnson, but otherwise you can expect rates in the $30-$40 range in the central hotel zone.

If you are parking for a shorter period of time, you have the option of metered parking which gets more and more expensive the closer to the center you go. Most of the city is $2 per hour from 8AM-9PM. Some parts of the Central Business District are $4 from 8AM-9PM, in the heart of the Loop it's $6.50 in the Loop ALL DAY. Maximum time per meter is 2 hours in most places. Check here for current rates. Actual meters are gone, parking is at pay boxes located somewhere on the block, you put the receipt on your dashboard. No more need for quarters, although the machines take them, you can use credit cards. If you think you've found a free spot, check the whole block, free spots are few and far between. If you overpay and need to park again, you can use the same receipt as long as the rate is the same or lower in the 2nd spot and there is still time on your receipt.

The other option is garage parking which tends to get cheaper once the workers have left for the day, after 3pm and on the weekend. Chicago Best Parking is a good website to check for rates based on your time frame, I've found it to have the correct rates when I've used it and I've saved a bit of money as I've found garages that are easy to overlook if you don't know they are there.

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