Centennial Park and Moore Park Parking: Free in Centennial Park, Opening Hours, Paid Car Parks and Getting There (Sydney, NSW)

Parking in Centennial Park is free, according to the Centennial Parklands website, checked on Sunday 8 November 2026. Most of it is also untimed, apart from small areas near the major gates that are limited to a maximum of 3 hours. Paid parking is in Moore Park, at the Entertainment Quarter, the Sports Centre and Moore Park Golf, and on Driver Avenue. This guide combines the Parklands’ pages on parking, opening hours, rules and getting there.

Is parking free at Centennial Parklands?

Mostly, yes. The parking page says parking in Centennial Park is free, and that Waverley and Randwick councils provide free on-street parking around the edge of Queens Park. It tells visitors to check the councils’ signs or websites for changes. The paid locations are listed in the table below.

Where	What the Parklands says
Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park	A 2,000-space multi-storey Wilson Parking building with an entrance off Lang Road. Parking for periods under two hours is free
Centennial Parklands Sports Centre	Metered parking
Moore Park Golf	Paid parking every day for patrons of the course or events at the Golf House
Driver Avenue, Moore Park	Metered parking when there is no event at the stadium. Day-to-day metered parking, except on major event days
Centennial Parklands Equestrian Centre	Limited, restricted parking for patrons of the Equestrian Centre only

The page says the parking fees are set through the annual Fees and Charges process and approved by the Minister for the Environment, and that the revenue is kept by the Trust to care for the Parklands. It does not list the metered prices.

What are the rules for parking in Centennial Park?

The Centennial Park parking page says all parking within the park is free and the majority is untimed. The small timed areas, near the major gates, allow a maximum of 3 hours. The page says they were put in place to reduce the number of people who park in the park and commute to the city. It lists these guidelines:

• Park in designated parking areas, filling the front first along the Grand Drive parking bays.
• Watch for the timed zones at specific points, particularly around the main entry gates.
• Never park, or even stop temporarily, in the cycle lane on the left side of Grand Drive.
• Banksia Way, next to the Centennial Homestead, is a shared zone with no general visitor parking.
• Overnight parking is not permitted in Centennial Park and will incur a fine.

The Parklands rules page adds that no vehicle may be left parked after sunset and before sunrise without the Trust’s written permission, and that the Trust can charge a fee to open a gate after sunset to remove a vehicle. It also says parking in Centennial Park may be restricted at certain times of the year because of major events, including events at nearby venues.

What time do the gates open and close?

The opening hours page says Centennial Parklands is open to the public 365 days a year, but vehicle access is generally prohibited in Centennial Park between sunset and sunrise. The rules page gives the vehicle and horse access hours as sunrise to sunset daily, which can vary with daylight saving, and says pedestrians can enter 24 hours a day. The page lists the following times, with the footnotes it prints.

Month	Opens	Closes
October** to April**	6.00am	8.00pm
April* to 30 April	6.00am	6.00pm
May to August	6.30am	5.30pm
September to October*	6.00am	6.00pm

* Outside daylight saving. ** During daylight saving. The page says the Paddington, Woollahra, Randwick and Robertson Road entry gates follow the park opening hours. The rows overlap in April and October, so in November, during daylight saving, the 6.00am to 8.00pm row is the one that applies.

Which gate should I use?

The getting-to-the-parklands page gives these travelling tips for Centennial Park.

Coming from	Use
The city or the west	Robertson Road gates, or Randwick gates
The south or the east	Randwick gates, York Road gates or Woollahra gates

The page says Centennial Park, Moore Park and Queens Park are linked in all directions to the Sydney CBD by an extensive road network, and points drivers to its interactive map.

How do I get there by public transport?

The Parklands say the best way is public transport. The page names Bondi Junction train station, within a 10-minute walk of the northern end of Centennial Park via Grafton Street and Oxford Street. It says bus routes 333, 340, 352, 355, 389 and 440 stop along Oxford Street near the gates, from Bondi Junction or the city. Check the routes on transportnsw.info, because the page does not give a date for them.

The page also says the L2 Randwick Line light rail runs between Circular Quay and Randwick via Central and Chalmers Street from 5am until 1am on weekdays and weekends, and that it gets you within a short walk of the southern end of Centennial Park.

Can I cycle to the Parklands?

Yes. The Parklands describe themselves as cycle friendly, with shared pathways and dedicated cycle lanes, including the Oxford Street Cycleway alongside the Sydney Water reservoirs in Centennial Park. There are bike racks near Centennial Parklands Dining and the children’s Learners Cycleway. A 3.8 km cycling and rollerblading track follows the perimeter of Grand Drive.

The rules page says cyclists must observe the 30 km/h speed limit, wear helmets and follow one-way traffic directions. They must not ride in packs of more than 16 or closer than 3 metres, and bicycle racing is prohibited unless the Trust approves it. Adult cyclists and rollerbladers are not allowed on the Learner’s Cycleway, and rollerbladers are not permitted on the Grand Drive footpath.

What changes on event days at Moore Park?

The Moore Park parking page says public transport remains the easiest way to travel to events there. Moore Park is serviced by the Moore Park Light Rail Station on the L2 and L3 lines, and the page describes an easy walk from Central via Devonshire Street and the Tibby Cotter Bridge, about 25 minutes according to the getting-there page. The major event bus terminal may also provide additional services.

The page says the precinct can attract more than 80,000 patrons at one time. During major stadium events or festivals, these temporary car parks may be activated.

Temporary car park	Where to enter
Lower Kippax	Opposite Allianz Stadium at the northern end of Driver Avenue, from Moore Park Road
Showgrounds Field	Corner of Lang Road and Driver Avenue, via Driver Avenue from Lang Road
Moore Park Golf	Via Cleveland Street

Parking fees apply to these event areas. The page recommends arriving earlier or delaying your departure and having a drink or a meal at the Entertainment Quarter, because there is often very heavy traffic around Moore Park on major event days. For road closures it points to livetraffic.com. Some events offer integrated ticketing, where public transport or parking may be included in the ticket price, and the ticket agency will say whether it applies.

Is there a long-term plan to remove grass parking?

The Moore Park parking page says the Moore Park Masterplan 2040 will see the progressive removal of on-grass parking at Moore Park, although temporary event-day grass parking is sometimes provided to ease pressure on surrounding streets. It also repeats a Venues NSW notice, dated June 2024, about temporary non-event-day parking at Moore Park East for visitors to the Sporting Club of Sydney, while a new car park was built. The page says on-grass parking at Moore Park East would be removed once the new car park is operational in 2026. The page does not say whether that has happened, so check the signs on arrival.

What else do the rules say about picnics, barbecues and alcohol?

The rules page says there are unlimited picnic spots and free barbecue sites in Centennial Park, Moore Park and Queens Park, used on a first-in basis and not reservable without the Trust’s permission, although some picnic sites can be booked. You can bring portable barbecues with legs, except during a total fire ban, but barbecues that sit on the grass are strictly prohibited. Lighting fires and discharging fireworks are prohibited. Alcohol is allowed in most of the Parklands, but the Trust can declare alcohol-free zones, and rangers can fine visitors who break the rules.

Sources

• Centennial Parklands — Parking (checked 8 November 2026)
• Centennial Parklands — Centennial Park parking
• Centennial Parklands — Moore Park parking
• Centennial Parklands — Getting to the Parklands
• Centennial Parklands — Opening hours
• Centennial Parklands — Rules and regulations

Featured image: Duck Pond, Centennial Park (photo: FlyingKoala / CC BY 4.0) (text added)

OZ Local Updates is an independent local guide and is not affiliated with the Centennial Park and Moore Park Trust or the NSW Government. Parking rules can change for events, so check the signs on arrival.