Driving to Utrecht can be a difficult task and be quite costly. Parking costs a hefty €4.10/hour and its  hard to find a parking spot in or near the old town. Don't park without paying unless you want to pay a huge fine. If your coming from out of town, parking at one of the four Park and Ride places is your best option. If you're determined to drive into the Old Town then look for a parking garage. There are no less than 15 in Utrecht and 12 of those are located in and around the centre. The rates vary from €2 - 3/hour. You can find them easily by following the blue signs, which will also tell you how many free spaces are available. Parkeergarage Paardenveld, within walking distance of the Hoog Catharijne shopping mall, is probably your best option. It's not only open 24hrs, it also offers competitive rates and 384 parking places. A parking spot may be difficult to find on nights with late opening hours (Thursdays) and at the weekend.

Parking
Parking in the streets of the centre is a bit harder. A number of the parking spots are reserved for licence-holders and rates are rather high. Parking within the old city centre will cost €4.10/hour 07:00 - 01:00. Rates in the area just around the centre are slightly less horrific: somewhere between €2.10 and €2.50/hour. In the parking garage you pay when you leave, but if you park your car in the streets you must first buy a ticket at one of the ticket machines nearby and display it on your dashboard. Parking police are very active in Utrecht, so be sure to keep track of how long you're gone.

The future?
In the distant future traffic will change considerably in Utrecht. Utrecht will get wider motorways and a complete ring road. This ought to improve the traffic flow considerably by 2020. The most important improvement includes the major widening of the A27 between the intersections Lunetten and Rijnsweerd. From 2016, this road will be widened from 2x4 to 2x7 lanes. In order to complete the ring road around Utrecht, the N230 will receive a major upgrade to a motorway and become the connection between the A27 and the A2.