The UK Arena Parking Index -
Which entertainment arenas in the UK provide the best parking facilities?
From live music to stand-up comedy, attending an arena event can be a thrilling experience.
But when it comes to traffic congestion or finding somewhere to park, driving to and from such shows can be a headache.
That's why we’ve created an exclusive Select Car Leasing UK Arena Parking Index to determine the best entertainment arenas to visit if you're a motorist.
The subjective index analyses some of the UK’s biggest arenas by capacity and ranks them on numerous factors - such as the number of parking spaces and disabled bays available either at a dedicated car park or partnership parking, the average cost of parking, the number of spaces available within walking distance to the venue, each city’s safety index, and much more.
We then came up with an overall score out of 100 - so where will your favourite venue sit in our run-down?
Which entertainment arenas are the best to park your car?
Some arenas perform better than others when it comes to both the ease and cost of parking. And the First Direct Arena in Leeds ranks as the best indoor arena for parking, according to our unique score.
First Direct Arena in Leeds ranks as the best UK indoor arena for parking
Claiming first place with an overall score of 68.3/100 is First Direct Arena in Leeds. Boasting a capacity of 13,781, the indoor arena doesn’t provide any parking onsite but offers 7,500 parking spaces for eventgoers to take advantage of within a 15-minute walk of the arena.
Based on the capacity of the venue and the number of parking spaces available to those attending, the venue’s parking facilities can accommodate a whopping 54.42% of attendees.
Spectators visiting the First Direct Arena can have peace of mind that parking isn’t going to break the bank either as the average cost of parking across the nearest car parks totals £8.32.
Additionally, Q-Park, one of the parking operators close by, offers First Direct Arena visitors exclusive discounted parking at several car parks within Leeds ranging from 5% to 20% off.
Furthermore, Leeds itself has a safety index of 56.10 meaning eventgoers can relax at the gig knowing their vehicles are securely parked in a safe area.
M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool cruises into second place
With an overall score of 52/100, M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool secures second place in our raking of the indoor arenas with the best parking facilities.
There's a dedicated car park with 1,450 spaces available and with a relatively cost-effective average price of £11.60. There are also lots of five-star reviews on Tripadvisor that specifically mention the parking facilities.
Motorpoint Arena Nottingham parks up in third place
Claiming third place is Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena with an overall score of 51.1/100. With a capacity of 10,000, the arena is the biggest live entertainment venue in the East Midlands.
Although the arena doesn’t have a dedicated car park, eventgoers travelling to their next gig by car can have peace of mind when it comes to parking, thanks to the partnership between the venue and Victoria Centre.
The Victoria Centre offers 1,488 spaces at an attractive rate of £5.50, making parking easy and cheap. This means that 14.88% of spectators can be accommodated in the Victoria Centre car park alone. The arena has accumulated 43 positive reviews on Tripadvisor that specifically comment on the parking facilities that highlight how close it is to the venue and easy to find.
Completing the top five are the SSE Arena in Belfast, which claims fourth place with an overall score of 46.3/100, and Manchester’s AO Arena, which has the fifth-best parking facilities with an overall score of 42.7/100.
Which entertainment arenas are the best for disabled parking?
Cardiff’s Utilita Arena drives into first place for providing the highest number of disabled parking spaces. Although the arena itself doesn’t have a dedicated car park, it is surrounded by an abundance of public car parks that boast an impressive 176 accessible spaces in total.
Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham appears as the second most accommodating indoor arena for disabled parking, with 110 bays available at their partnership car park.
Claiming third place for its disabled parking offering is Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena. The venue offers 79 accessible bays within its dedicated car park, highlighting that accessibility is an important consideration for the venue.
Which entertainment arenas have the best parking options within walking distance of the venue?
You might not be able to grab a parking spot in the venue's official car park - and there might not even be a dedicated arena car park.
But what about the five nearest car parks to each arena?
Manchester’s AO Arena comes out on top of list for having the highest number of parking spaces within walking distance to the venue, with an impressive 3,839 spaces available nearby. The average cost for 24 hour parking at these locations is £26.89.
M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool tailgates behind in second place, with 3,793 spaces available at nearby car parks. For revellers looking to park their vehicles while they enjoy some time exploring the city before a gig, they should be aware that the average cost of 24-hour parking across these five locations comes out at £20.39.
Next up is Belfast’s SSE Arena in third place, with 3,386 car parking spaces on offer within walking distance to the venue. For those interested in 24-hour parking in a bid to avoid the fear that their parking will expire while still enjoying a show, they should be prepared to pay roughly £24.
Methodology:
The UK Arena Parking Index was conducted by Select Car Leasing to determine which entertainment arenas across the UK have the best parking options.
The team initially created a seedlist of the nation's biggest arenas by capacity, before ranking them on the following factors:
- Does the arena have dedicated parking/partnerships?
- Number of car parking spaces available at the dedicated car park
- Percent of dedicated parking spaces vs. venue capacity
- Number of disabled spaces
- Average cost of parking at the arena's dedicated car park
- Number of spaces available at the 5 closest car parks to the arena
- Average cost of parking at nearby car parks for 24 hours
- Does the arena offer park & ride options?
- Number of park & ride spaces that are available
- Safety index of the city
- Number of 5-star TripAdvisor reviews for the arena
- Number of 5-star reviews for the arena on Tripadvisor that mention parking
The team then used a normalised ranking function to give each factor a score out of 10 to contribute to each arena's overall score out of 100.
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