Motorcoach traffic and parking

Regulations for motorcoaches travelling, loading and parking.

Motorcoach traffic and parking are strictly regulated in Paris.
Details of rules and formalities, useful links, and list of Parisian coach operators.

Article updated on 4 October 2024

Coach traffic in Paris

All vehicles travelling in the Greater Paris area (within the A86 ring road) must display a Crit’Air (air criteria) sticker number 1, 2 or 3.

Diesel engine coaches registered before 1 October 2009, Euro standards 0 – 1 – 2 – 3 – 4, are banned from the perimeter 7/7 days from 8am until 8pm.

The calendar of coach restrictions is as follow:

1 January 2025: diesel engine coaches with Euro standard 5, registered between 2009 and 2013, and petrol engine coaches with Euro standards 3 and 4, registered from 2001 to 30 September 2009.

At a later date (to be announced), all diesel engine coaches as well as petrol engine coaches with Euro standard 5, registered between 2009 and 2013 and later on all petrol engine coaches as well as gas and hybrid engine coaches with Euro standard 6, registered from 1 January 2014.

Coach parking in Paris

Stopping to drop off and pick up passengers

Coaches are allowed to stop in Paris. This is free and requires no authorization, providing coaches stop only for the time strictly necessary to drop off or pick up passengers, with or without the loading/unloading of luggage. The engine must be switched off.

There are 56 on-street designated places for coaches to pick up/drop off passengers. In addition, there are delivery areas as well as places within the immediate vicinity of hotels and sports and cultural venues to pick up/drop off passengers.

Parking

Parking charges apply to all coaches in Paris 24/24 and 7/7 and the coach parking pass 'PASS Autocar' is obligatory.

Paris is divided into 2 fare zones:

Central zone (Z1): extending from the 1st to the 11th arrondissement and Place de l’Étoile.
Peripheral zone (Z2): extending from the 12th to the 20th arrondissement.

The duration of the parking time depends on the zone:

Central zone: 2 / 3 / 4 / 6 hours
Peripheral zone: 4 / 6 / 12 / 24 hours

Parking is prohibited outside the 468 parking spaces made available to professionals, of which 236 are in the Central zone.

The biggest coach parks are:

Bercy (80 parking spaces)
Carrousel du Louvre (71 parking spaces)
Cours la Reine (bottom of Champs-Élysées) (56 parking spaces)
Pershing (37 parking spaces) - temporarly closed
Avenue Joseph-Bouvard (bottom of Eiffel Tower) (35 parking spaces)
Douaumont (27 parking spaces)

### The 'PASS Autocar'

The PASS Autocar is a coach parking pass that must be used by all coaches parking in Paris. It allows coaches to park in coach parks and in designated parking spaces.
During the authorized period, coaches can move from one authorized parking area to another on in the zone chosen.

Parking charges

The PASS Autocar is available for subscribers and occasional users.
It is preferable to pre-pay the PASS Autocar online.
The Subscriber PASS Autocar is available from the purchase of 200 units, valid 9 months.
Units cost from €1.02 to €1.35.

The charge depends on the type of PASS, the duration, the parking zone, and (for subscribers) the motorisation of the vehicle - from Euro 4 to Euro 6 and clean vehicles (electric, NGV, LNG).

*Example of charges:
2 hours parking in the Central zone, or 4 hours in the Peripheral zone: from €15 (clean vehicles) to €90 (Euro 4 coaches) for subscribers, from €109.50 (online purchase) to €121.50 (payment onsite) for occasional users.

Traffic and parking in tourist zones

A municipal decree of 8 January 2019 regulates the travelling, stopping and parking of vehicles in tourist zones.

It gives details of: streets in Paris in which tourist coaches are banned from travelling, places where the dropping-off and picking-up of passengers are authorized and parking spaces.

Read the decree [in French]