Driving in Birmingham — A Clean Air Zone Charge and Driving on the Left
Birmingham, United Kingdom · CAZ
Birmingham — the UK's big, reinvented second city, laced with more canals than Venice and centred on the redeveloped Bullring and Brindleyplace — runs a Clean Air Zone (CAZ) that charges older, non-compliant vehicles a daily fee to enter the centre, with a penalty (around GBP 120) for non-payment. You also drive on the left. Park in a garage or at a station and use the trams and trains; the centre is walkable.
Can your car enter Birmingham?
Birmingham — the UK’s reinvented second city, laced with more canals than Venice around the Bullring and Brindleyplace — runs a Clean Air Zone (CAZ) charging older, non-compliant vehicles a daily fee to enter the centre, with a penalty (around GBP 120) for non-payment. You also drive on the left.
This page covers driving around Birmingham. For the CAZ standards and boundary, see the Birmingham CAZ details.
Check CAZ compliance, drive on the left
The CAZ covers the centre inside the A4540 ring; compliant cars (Euro 6 diesel / Euro 4 petrol) pay nothing, others pay a daily charge or face a ~GBP 120 penalty. Drive on the left, roundabouts clockwise. UK urban limit 30 mph (48 km/h).
Park on the edge, ride in
Use a park-and-ride on the Metro tram or rail and ride into the walkable centre around the Bullring, the canals and the Jewellery Quarter.
When the car helps
Keep it for the Midlands — Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick Castle, the Cotswolds, the Peak District — driven from a park-and-ride.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Birmingham's CAZ covers the city centre within the A4540 ring road and charges older, more polluting vehicles that don't meet the emission standards a daily fee to drive in, camera-enforced. Compliant cars (broadly Euro 6 diesel, Euro 4 petrol) pay nothing. If a chargeable vehicle enters and the daily charge isn't paid, a penalty of around GBP 120 follows. Check your vehicle's status before driving into the centre.
On the left, as throughout the UK. For visitors from mainland Europe or North America this is the main adjustment — roundabouts go clockwise, and Birmingham has plenty of them, including complex multi-lane junctions. Rental cars are right-hand drive. Combined with the Clean Air Zone and city-centre traffic, many visitors park on the edge and use trams and trains rather than driving into the middle.
Use a multi-storey car park in the centre or a park-and-ride at a station or tram stop on the edge and ride in. The West Midlands Metro tram and the local rail network reach the centre, and the core around the Bullring, Brindleyplace and the canals is walkable. Parking on the edge avoids the Clean Air Zone charge if your vehicle isn't compliant.
Birmingham has reinvented its industrial heritage: the canal network around Brindleyplace and Gas Street Basin (the city famously has more miles of canal than Venice), the Bullring shopping centre and Victorian arcades, the Jewellery Quarter, and a strong food and music scene. The centre is compact and walkable, with the canals offering a pleasant car-free way to move between areas.
Not for the city — the trams, trains and a walkable, canal-laced centre cover it, and Birmingham is a major rail hub. A car helps for exploring the wider Midlands — Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick Castle, the Cotswolds, the Peak District — driven out from a park-and-ride rather than used in the Clean Air Zone centre. Remember to drive on the left.
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