Parking in Murree: Where to Park Near Mall Road

Murree parking is short because the town has room for about 5,000 cars and on a busy holiday ten times that number arrive. Mall Road is closed to vehicles, GPO Chowk at its end is a no-parking zone, and on peak days parking is banned within 200 metres of the four main junctions. The workable plan is to book a hotel with its own parking, or to arrive before mid-morning, leave the car in a designated car park on one of the approach roads, and walk.

This guide covers how much space there really is, where you can and cannot leave a car, what you are likely to be charged, how the holiday and snow traffic plans change things, and when to give up on the car altogether.

How bad is parking in Murree?

The numbers explain it. On Independence Day 2025 more than 53,000 tourist vehicles entered Murree in a single day, according to the city traffic police, who put the town's parking capacity at 5,000 cars. Because most people stayed only a few hours, between 6,000 and 9,000 cars were in town at any one time, still well over what it can hold.

Murree is a ridge-top town laid out long before cars. Its roads are narrow and two-way, there is very little flat ground, and the centre has been pedestrianised. Parking plazas have been announced more than once. In January 2022, after the snowstorm in which visitors died in their stranded cars, the Punjab government ordered two, at Sunny Bank and Jhika Gali, to be linked to Mall Road by shuttle. In 2023 the divisional commissioner again asked for proposals for two plazas. We found no report that either has opened, so do not plan on one.

Where can you park?

Not on Mall Road and not at GPO Chowk. What is left falls into three groups.

• Hotel parking. The surest space in Murree is one that comes with your room. Many hotels on the approach roads, and some near the centre, have their own car parks or a share in one. Ask three questions when you book: is parking included, is it at the hotel or somewhere else, and can the car stay after check-out while you walk Mall Road? Our where to stay in Murree guide groups hotels by distance from Mall Road.
• Designated public parking. The traffic police tell visitors to use designated parking places only, and these are on the approach roads, not in the centre. No list is published, so follow the wardens. The later you arrive the further out you will be sent: from Sunny Bank Chowk, for example, GPO Chowk is about 2.8 km by road.
• Roadside spaces. Possible in places on ordinary days. The traffic police tell visitors every season not to stop on the roadside for photographs and not to double park, because every road here carries traffic in both directions and one badly placed car blocks it.

What does parking cost?

We could not find an officially published tariff for Murree's car parks, so treat every figure with caution. Rates of about PKR 200 for a car by day and about PKR 300 overnight were being quoted in 2026. Charges are set locally, collected in cash, and have changed several times.

Overcharging is an old complaint. Dawn has reported hotel agents and touts taking PKR 100 to 300 from visitors as a "parking fee" even for a place at the side of the road, and in one busy season visitors were charged PKR 600 to 800 for three or four hours. To protect yourself:

1. Use a car park with a signboard showing the rate, and pay that.
2. Ask for the printed receipt and check it shows the date.
3. Refuse anyone who waves you into a roadside gap and then asks for money.
4. Keep small notes, since attendants rarely have change.

Budget separately for the road. The National Highway Authority raised the toll on the Islamabad to Murree and Muzaffarabad dual carriageway to PKR 300 each way for cars from 10 July 2026, up from PKR 200. It is a road toll, not an entry tax on Murree.

Traffic plans on holidays

On Eid, Independence Day, New Year and long weekends the traffic police publish a plan a day or two ahead, and it overrides everything above. The plan for 14 August 2025 is typical:

• Mall Road closed to all traffic.
• One-way running on Viewforth Road, Bank Road, Hall Road, Kuldana Road and Imtiaz Shaheed Road.
• No parking within 200 metres of GPO Chowk, Jhika Gali Chowk, Kuldana Chowk and Sunny Bank Chowk, with GPO Chowk a parking-free zone.
• Buses and other large vehicles stopped at Bururi, Bansra Gali and Lower Topa, and heavy traffic banned from 6 am to 2 am.
• Families only on Mall Road and at GPO Chowk for three days, 12 to 14 August, under Section 144.
• Checks at the entry points: driving licences were inspected, and motorcyclists without helmets were turned back.
• More than 200 traffic officers on duty, with the town divided into five sectors.

For you, that means two things. A group of men travelling without family may not be let onto Mall Road at all on those days. And the car will be stopped further out than usual, so wear shoes you can walk a hill in and carry water for children.

Parking in snow season

After the deaths of January 2022 the administration began capping the number of cars allowed in during heavy snow. The cap has been reported at 8,000 vehicles, with entry barred from 5 pm to 5 am, and in another season at 18,000; it is set each winter, so check the current figure. When it is reached, cars are turned back at the entry points, hotel booking or not.

In snow the district sets up facilitation centres at points including Lower Topa, Jhika Gali, GPO, Kashmir Point, Kuldana, Sunny Bank and Bhurban, and the helpline is staffed all night. Do not leave a car on the roadside in falling snow: parked and abandoned cars are what stop the ploughs. Our Murree snowfall guide and Murree in winter cover the rest.

Should you take the car at all?

For a summer weekend day trip, think twice. The drive from Islamabad is only about 55 km, but on a Saturday the last few kilometres and the search for a space can take longer than the expressway. Three alternatives work better:

• Go on a weekday, when car parks have space until late morning.
• Stay a night at a hotel with parking and arrive before 10 am, or after the day visitors leave in the evening.
• Leave the car in Islamabad and go by public transport, which saves the search altogether.

Families with small children or elderly parents are the exception. For them a car is worth the trouble, provided the hotel has a space and is near enough to Mall Road to walk. Our Islamabad to Murree guide covers the road and the buses, and Murree travel tips has more on getting about on foot.

Frequently asked questions