Parking Near SEA LIFE London Aquarium (County Hall)

SEA LIFE London Aquarium lives inside County Hall on Westminster Bridge Road, sharing the building with the London Dungeon and standing right next to the London Eye. Like almost everything on this stretch of the South Bank, it has no visitor car park, and SEA LIFE's own directions advice is to arrive by public transport. If you are driving anyway (a car full of children, a buggy and a change bag, or London is just one leg of a longer day), this guide is the honest version of your options.

Full disclosure before we start: we operate a car park near County Hall, so we are not neutral. But every fact below is checkable, and we would rather you know exactly what driving in costs before you commit to it.

The closest pre-bookable car park

Our Waterloo car park at 39 York Road, London SE1 7NQ is about a seven-minute walk from SEA LIFE's entrance at County Hall. Walk out of the forecourt, head towards the river, and County Hall is directly ahead of you with the London Eye alongside it.

The details that matter on the day:

• Sat-nav tip: route to SE1 7NN, which lands you at the entrance gate on Leake Street. The official postcode SE1 7NQ can drop you on the wrong side of the block.
• Pre-book online at our Waterloo page. Your number plate is registered when you book, and the ANPR cameras match it to your booking as you arrive: no ticket, no kiosk, nothing to display on the dash.
• Hourly rates start from around £5, with day rates for longer stays. The live price for your exact times shows before you pay.
• Free cancellation up to 24 hours before your booking starts. If the day runs long, you can extend the booking from your account instead of sprinting back to the car.

The walk, with kids and a buggy

Seven minutes is the adult pace. With a four-year-old who has just spotted the river, call it ten.

The route runs at street level on ordinary pavements, with pedestrian crossings rather than stairs or footbridges, so a buggy or a wheelchair can make the same journey without a detour. And the County Hall cluster is compact, which matters with tired children: SEA LIFE and the London Dungeon share the same building, the London Eye is next door, and Shrek's Adventure and the riverside are all within a few minutes of each other on foot.

One practical note from operating a site nearby: because the car is only a seven-minute walk away, going back mid-visit to swap bags or fetch the spare coat is genuinely doable, which is not something most central London parking can offer.

What driving to SEA LIFE really costs

Parking is only part of the bill in central London, and pretending otherwise would not help you:

• Congestion Charge: County Hall sits inside the Congestion Charge zone. The charge is £18 per day at the time of writing (July 2026), with specific operating hours and exemptions, so check your vehicle and travel time on TfL's official checker before you set off.
• ULEZ: most modern petrol cars (roughly 2006 onwards) and diesels (roughly September 2015 onwards) meet the standard and pay nothing. If your vehicle does not, ULEZ is £12.50 per day at the time of writing (July 2026). Same checker, two more minutes to confirm.
• Parking: budget the hourly rate times your stay. Aquarium visits with children rarely run shorter than planned, so book more time than you think you need; cancellation is free up to 24 hours before the start if plans change.

For a family of three or four sharing the car, the maths can genuinely favour driving, especially if your vehicle is ULEZ-compliant and you travel when the Congestion Charge does not apply. Individual train tickets into central London add up faster than most people expect.

When you should not drive

Honesty cuts both ways. If you are travelling alone or as a couple from anywhere with a direct train to Waterloo, take the train: the station is a few minutes' walk from County Hall and you will not beat it door-to-door. Driving earns its keep when you are carrying people, kit, or plans that stretch beyond the South Bank.

There is a middle option too. Our forecourt is a three-minute walk from Waterloo Station, so some visitors drive to us, park once, and mix in a train or Tube leg for the rest of the day. If that shape of day appeals, our Waterloo Station parking guide covers it.

Make a day of it

One booking covers the whole County Hall cluster and the South Bank beyond it: SEA LIFE and the London Dungeon (both about 7 minutes' walk), the London Eye (about 6), BFI IMAX (about 4), the Southbank Centre (about 8), and Westminster Bridge with its Big Ben view (about 12). For the full area picture, including walking routes and what is worth pre-booking, see our London Eye area guide.

One more thing while your car is with us: the same forecourt runs a car wash, and a wash booking includes one hour of parking at the site. An aquarium day needs longer than that, so book parking for the extra time, but adding a wash means coming back to a clean car at the end of a fish-heavy day.