Chartres 2026: No Crit'Air Needed, Street Parking €3 an Hour
Chartres, France
Chartres has no ZFE and needs no Crit'Air vignette. Street parking costs €3 an hour 08:00-12:00 and 14:00-19:00, with 30 free minutes a day, and free over lunch, overnight and on Sundays.
Chartres asks for no Crit’Air vignette and runs no low-emission zone; the sticker you need for Paris stays irrelevant here. What the city does regulate closely is parking. Visitor street parking costs 3 euros for the first hour on a scale that reaches 50 euros for the 8h30 daily maximum, with 30 free minutes once a day, and it is free from 12:00 to 14:00, from 19:00 to 08:00 and all day Sunday. The cathedral sits on the hilltop; the car parks are on the slopes below it.
Do You Need a Car?
The train from Paris Montparnasse puts you a short walk from the cathedral, so for the cathedral and the old town alone, no. A car earns its keep for the château at Maintenon, the Perche countryside to the west, and the Loire châteaux to the south, or for a Paris to Chartres to Loire loop.
Parking
Surface parking (visitor tariff, Monday to Saturday 08:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 19:00):
| Duration | Price |
|---|---|
| First 30 minutes | Free, once a day |
| 1 hour | 3 euros |
| 2 hours | 6 euros |
| 3 hours | 9 euros |
| 4 hours | 12 euros |
| 5 hours | 15 euros |
| 6 hours | 18 euros |
| 7 hours | 24 euros |
| 8 hours | 36 euros |
| 8h30 (daily maximum) | 50 euros |
Free from 12:00 to 14:00 and 19:00 to 08:00, and on Sundays and public holidays. Pay at the meter by coin or bank card, or with PayByPhone: tariff code 28091 for the free half hour, then 28081.
Disc zones: 1h30 free with a European parking disc, same hours. Too short for the cathedral, fine for a bakery stop.
Underground (Q-Park): Cathédrale on place Châtelet, Cœur de Ville on place des Épars, Hôtel de Ville on rue Mathurin-Régnier, Gare-Colisée on rue du Faubourg-Saint-Jean, République on rue Danièle Casanova; Grand Faubourg is subscription only. The first 15 or 30 minutes are free depending on the car park; tariffs and reservations are on the operator’s site. For the cathedral and the lower town, Cathédrale on place Châtelet is the one.
Overstaying: the post-parking charge (FPS) is up to 50 euros less what you already paid, sent by post; three months to pay, then a 20% surcharge of at least 50 euros.
Electric cars may park free on a charging bay while charging, up to two hours with the disc displayed.
Getting to Chartres
From Paris: the A10 then the A11 are tolled motorways; the toll-free alternative is the N10 through Rambouillet and its forest. Friday evening and Saturday morning are the slow times leaving Paris.
From Versailles: the A10 south-west, or the N10 without tolls.
From Le Mans: the A11 east; the cathedral rises out of the Beauce plain ahead of you as you approach.
The Cathedral and the Lower Town
Notre-Dame de Chartres is the reference Gothic cathedral, with medieval stained glass that survived the Revolution and two world wars, the sculpted Royal Portal on the west front and a crypt among the oldest in France. Allow a couple of hours at least.
Then walk down. The Eure loops around the base of the hill, and rue de la Tannerie and rue aux Juifs run past the old tanneries and mills built over the water, with almost no other visitors. From the Cathédrale car park on place Châtelet the loop takes under an hour at a relaxed pace.
Day Trips by Car
- Maintenon: Renaissance château with the ruined aqueduct in its garden, a short drive north-east
- Rambouillet: château, national forest and market town, on the toll-free road back towards Paris
- Dreux: the Chapelle royale, burial place of the Orléans family
- Le Mans: the 24 Hours circuit and the Plantagenet old town, west on the A11
- The Loire: Amboise and Blois are the natural next stop south
Speed Limits
| Road type | Limit |
|---|---|
| Urban | 50 km/h |
| Rural roads | 80 km/h (90 where a department has restored it on a signed road) |
| Dual carriageway | 110 km/h |
| Motorway (A10, A11) | 130 km/h |
Speeding: 68 euros for up to 20 km/h over, 135 euros from 21 to 40 over, 135 to 750 euros for 41 to 50 over, 1,500 euros and a court appearance beyond 50 over. The Beauce roads are long and straight, and mobile units work the N154 and N10.
Fuel
| Fuel | Official average price |
|---|---|
| Petrol | €2.23/L · about $2.49 |
| Diesel | €2.35/L · about $2.62 |
Figure dated 19 October 2026, from the EU Weekly Oil Bulletin. It is an average, so the board at a given pump can differ.
Supermarket forecourts line the ring road if you want to fill up before the motorway.
Required Equipment
Warning triangle and reflective vest are compulsory in France; keep the vest within reach of the driver’s seat. Blood alcohol limit 0.05%.
Emergency Numbers
| Service | Number |
|---|---|
| SAMU (medical) | 15 |
| Police | 17 |
| Fire (Pompiers) | 18 |
| General emergency (EU) | 112 |
Sources
- Ville de Chartres, stationnement (tariffs, free periods, disc zones, Q-Park list, FPS)
- Low-emission zones: site emission-zone data (no ZFE record for Chartres; Paris zone page)
- Speed limits, speeding fines, toll-free routes nationales, equipment and fuel prices: site country and toll data
Related Guides
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Winter tyres in France — 2026–27 season
Winter tyres are required in France whenever conditions are wintry — 1 Nov - 31 Mar (mountain law, designated departments).
- Tread minimum: 1.6 mm — France sets no separate winter figure.
- Accepted marking: 3PMSF on all four tyres, or snow chains / snow socks carried for two drive wheels; M+S alone no longer accepted (34 departments, signed communes only)
- Studded tyres: restricted
- Penalty: No sanction in force as of 17 Feb 2026 (penalty decree not yet published). Ignoring a B26 chain sign: 2nd-class fine, up to EUR 150. The obligation is enforceable only where B58/B59 signs are installed.
In French the rule is pneus hiver, and snow chains are chaînes à neige — that is the wording on signs, in hire-car paperwork and on any penalty notice.
Checked against national legislation, 20 Sep 2026 · Full France tyre law · Compare all countries
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Chartres operates no ZFE and asks for no Crit'Air vignette; the French zones are in the large agglomerations. If you are driving out from Paris, remember that the Paris zone does require a Crit'Air sticker inside the city.
Visitors pay from 08:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 19:00, Monday to Saturday: 3 euros for the first hour, 6 for two, 9 for three, 12 for four, 15 for five, 18 for six, 24 for seven, 36 for eight and 50 for the 8h30 daily maximum, with the first 30 minutes free once a day. Parking is free from 12:00 to 14:00, from 19:00 to 08:00, and all day on Sundays and public holidays. Pay at the meter by coin or bank card, or with PayByPhone (tariff code 28091 for the free half hour, then 28081).
The city lists Q-Park garages at the edge of the centre: Cathédrale on place Châtelet, Cœur de Ville on place des Épars, Hôtel de Ville on rue Mathurin-Régnier, Gare-Colisée on rue du Faubourg-Saint-Jean and République on rue Danièle Casanova. The first 15 or 30 minutes are free depending on the car park; tariffs and reservations are on the operator's site. Cathédrale on place Châtelet is the one for the cathedral and the lower town.
Disc zones give 1h30 free, Monday to Saturday 08:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 19:00, with a European parking disc on the dashboard; too short for a proper visit, fine for a quick stop. Electric cars may park free on a charging bay while charging, up to two hours with the disc displayed.
Chartres uses the post-parking charge (forfait post-stationnement) instead of a fine: up to 50 euros, less whatever you already paid, sent by post, with three months to pay before a 20% surcharge of at least 50 euros is added.
Yes. The A10 and A11 motorways are tolled; the N10 through Rambouillet is a route nationale and toll-free, slower through the villages but pleasant through the Forêt de Rambouillet. French rural roads are 80 km/h unless a department has restored 90 on a signed road, dual carriageways 110, motorways 130.
Allow at least a couple of hours for the cathedral and its stained glass, then the lower town along the Eure, where the old tanneries and mills on rue de la Tannerie see almost no tourists. A full day works from Paris; the train from Montparnasse is the alternative and the cathedral is a short walk from the station.
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