Montgomery Square Carpark
Overnight Campervan Parking
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Montgomery Square Carpark
Certified self-contained vehicles only.
Maximum 25 vehicles.
The area designated for camping is indicated by blue line making in the car park. Council enforces the vehicle limit under the Bylaw and a $200 infringement fine can be issued for any breaches.
Normal carpark with nice toilet and shower facilities in the centre of it.
Camping is not permitted from 10pm Friday until 8am Monday as the carpark is home to the local market on the weekend.
This car park is right in the middle of the Nelson CBD and are in the Nelson City Council 24 hour liquor ban area.
Tourists have been issued with $250 fines, and in some cases arrests have been made of those who have breached the ban.
It is a breach of the liquor ban, even if it is a quiet wine with dinner.
Details
| Feature | Value | Info |
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Organisation |
Nelson City CouncilCouncil organisation |
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Location |
South Island ▷ Nelson Region ▷ Nelson |
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Directions To Coordinates |
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Coordinates |
Freedom Camping
Nearby
Reviews
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3.5/5
Ok for a night’s stay.
We had a quiet night on a weekday. 2 free toilets open all night, but they don’t have toilet seat, only the rubber thing around the rim so it feels gross. Lots of restaurants and bar around the area since it’s right in the middle of the city.
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2.5/5
Not that great.
Some vagrants around. One decided to play his boombox as loud as possible at 10pm. Music not too bad, but it got a bit annoying around 12pm. 2flush toilets in a reasonable state. Some shops in the square start opening and setting up from 6:30am. Nice coffee shop.
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4.0/5
Fine on a weekday, free and had good facilities.
Toilets were available, showers and laundry were being repainted (done now). Parking runs out at 8am but you can pay $4 to extend to 10am (1 hr free, 1 hr paid)
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4.0/5
Good for a night or 2 not what you would call “amazing”.
Spots are flat and it’s pretty quiet at night during the week. Bathrooms close and maintained and showers available until about 4pm daily
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4.5/5
It's a great spot to spend the night in a van.
Restrooms are free and clean and you can take a hot shower during the day for $2.00 (5 minutes).
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4.0/5
Good central spot for one night.
Superloo next door (toilets shower etc) but they close at 8pm. Two normal toilets open all night. Pretty noisy early morning. Remember they’re normal car parking spaces so long vans/campervans might struggle to fit
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4.0/5
It’s on a big parking.
It’s perfect if you just want to stay in the city for one night. You can use the toilets and the showers. It was very quiet and there are a lot of campers staying there overnight. ☁️
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4.0/5
Felt safe, street lights on the whole night.
The laundry and shower block closes overnight leaving just two toilets accessible. Only difficulty is you can’t pay to park here all day so we had to park on the edge of town near the sea during the day then move our camper van to this car park in the evening. Handy free spot in the city centre still!
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2.5/5
Feels like a regular parking slot.
Toilets were uncomfortable, but okay. There are only a few parking spaces. And WATCH OUT, you get a fine for parking after 8.30 am.
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4.0/5
Central location with 24/7 toilets and drinking water.
The campervan spots are clearly marked with signs and painted blue lines on the ground. We felt safe while we stayed. It will be a tad noisy in the morning since it is a car park.
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4.0/5
We were a bit unsure about this place initially as it’s a shopping centre carpark in the middle of the city, so we were concerned about noise and safety.
However, it was really quiet and felt safe, there was about 5/6 other campervans there as well. Has 24hr toilets and drinking water and also has free council WiFi! It has showers for $2 between 8am and 5pm which is also great! Just be mindful that between 8am-5pm it is $2 an hour to park, but you get the first hour free, so if you stay there just make sure to use the machine at 8am to get a free hour till 9am and avoid a possible parking fine!!
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4.0/5
Good location and make sure to park in the blue lines.
Paid toilets- 20c.
Shower -2dollars.
Paid toilets are not open during the night but they have 2 free toilets outside which are in very bad condition.
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3.5/5
Ok for a night’s stay.
We had a quiet night on a weekday. 2 free toilets open all night, but they don’t have toilet seat, only the rubber thing around the rim so it feels gross. Lots of restaurants and bar around the area since it’s right in the middle of the city.
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2.5/5
Not that great.
Some vagrants around. One decided to play his boombox as loud as possible at 10pm. Music not too bad, but it got a bit annoying around 12pm. 2flush toilets in a reasonable state. Some shops in the square start opening and setting up from 6:30am. Nice coffee shop.
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4.0/5
Fine on a weekday, free and had good facilities.
Toilets were available, showers and laundry were being repainted (done now). Parking runs out at 8am but you can pay $4 to extend to 10am (1 hr free, 1 hr paid)
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4.0/5
Good for a night or 2 not what you would call “amazing”.
Spots are flat and it’s pretty quiet at night during the week. Bathrooms close and maintained and showers available until about 4pm daily
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4.5/5
It's a great spot to spend the night in a van.
Restrooms are free and clean and you can take a hot shower during the day for $2.00 (5 minutes).
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4.0/5
Good central spot for one night.
Superloo next door (toilets shower etc) but they close at 8pm. Two normal toilets open all night. Pretty noisy early morning. Remember they’re normal car parking spaces so long vans/campervans might struggle to fit
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4.0/5
It’s on a big parking.
It’s perfect if you just want to stay in the city for one night. You can use the toilets and the showers. It was very quiet and there are a lot of campers staying there overnight. ☁️
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4.0/5
Felt safe, street lights on the whole night.
The laundry and shower block closes overnight leaving just two toilets accessible. Only difficulty is you can’t pay to park here all day so we had to park on the edge of town near the sea during the day then move our camper van to this car park in the evening. Handy free spot in the city centre still!
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2.5/5
Feels like a regular parking slot.
Toilets were uncomfortable, but okay. There are only a few parking spaces. And WATCH OUT, you get a fine for parking after 8.30 am.
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4.0/5
Central location with 24/7 toilets and drinking water.
The campervan spots are clearly marked with signs and painted blue lines on the ground. We felt safe while we stayed. It will be a tad noisy in the morning since it is a car park.
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4.0/5
We were a bit unsure about this place initially as it’s a shopping centre carpark in the middle of the city, so we were concerned about noise and safety.
However, it was really quiet and felt safe, there was about 5/6 other campervans there as well. Has 24hr toilets and drinking water and also has free council WiFi! It has showers for $2 between 8am and 5pm which is also great! Just be mindful that between 8am-5pm it is $2 an hour to park, but you get the first hour free, so if you stay there just make sure to use the machine at 8am to get a free hour till 9am and avoid a possible parking fine!!
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4.0/5
Good location and make sure to park in the blue lines.
Paid toilets- 20c.
Shower -2dollars.
Paid toilets are not open during the night but they have 2 free toilets outside which are in very bad condition.
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2.5/5
Nice spot, BUT We have an awful night cause of a junkie, playing music really out loud next to all the campervans, between 23 and 1am, we left to New World parking place.
I think someone called the police later, free wifi and great speed thou. Car parks places means that you have to be prepared for everything.
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3.5/5
A great free spot in central Nelson.
Toilets, drinking water nearby, and free wifi. Moved on to a local reserve around 7am to escape the morning truck deliveries and workers.
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3.5/5
A great free spot in central Nelson.
Toilets, drinking water nearby, and free wifi. Moved on to a local reserve around 7am to escape the morning truck deliveries and workers.
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4.0/5
Large car park with plenty of spaces, gets quite busy but a nice vibe when we were there.
Green grocers and shops nearby. Excellent paid toilet, laundry and shower facilities with friendly staff. Information needs to be updated because you can stay 2 nights !
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5.0/5
Good and clean facilities, fresh drinking water, location in the middle of the town!
Be careful to park in the designated area. From Friday to Sunday it is prohibited to camp there at all!
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3.5/5
Stayed here for one night during the week on a rainy day.
Toilettes and showers as described perfekt. During the night there was no noise, but maybe because of the rain. In the Morning very busy and someone came to control the cars. Good for a stop in the city.
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5.0/5
Nice quiet spot.
Laundry closes at 4:30, showers close at 5pm.
2 toilets always available.
Older lady running the laundry is awesome
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4.0/5
Pretty decent for a car park!
Very quiet on a Monday night. There was a car that pulled in blasting its music but the person just needed to use the toilet then left. Some people briefly singing at around 11pm but other than that I really can’t complain, it is in the centre after all. Very convenient spot with 2 clean toilets open all night plus a water fountain. Also laundry and shower services during the day time at an extra cost. Was only about 7 cars here. Weekends might not be so peaceful...
Also need to leave by 8am, or get a ticket for 1hr free parking until 9am, otherwise you may get fined. Happy camping :)
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0.5/5
The location is great as it is in the centre of the town and provides easy access to everything you might need.
The downside to this, however, is that it is in the centre of the town in a well lit parking lot. At around 10pm a group of young men walked into the parking lot presumably after a bar had closed. They were talking loudly amongst themselves for awhile, but we assumed they were waiting for a ride and waited it out. An hour passed and they were still talking loudly, playing music and drinking. They seemed to wander off for about thirty minutes but returned and continued. This pattern continued for the next couple of hours. Although they did not interfere with the campervans in the lot, it still created a feeling of unease and I did not feel safe in the lot overnight.
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3.5/5
Stayed here one night, didn’t try to use the showers although there were two basic but clean toilets open all night and a water fountain suitable for filling bottles.
They are quite hot on the restrictions- we hadn’t realised that we were supposed to park within the blue lines and got a note on our windscreen in the morning (hopefully have avoided a fine). It is just a car park, but then it’s great to be able to legally stay in the town centre for free and use the surrounding amenities.
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4.0/5
Literally a car park in the middle of town.
Very convenient and the local showers were a bonus. The ladies there were very helpful and vigilant at keeping the showers clean. Only downside at the time was that there was some public maintenance work going on and they had commandeered many of the allocated camping spots but that is only temporary.
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4.0/5
Guter Platz, mögliche Plätze sind mit blauer Linie markiert.
Mitten in Nelson. Parkplatz ist beleuchtet. Toilette war okay. Gegen 19 Uhr den letzten Platz bekommen. Nelson insgesamt nicht so schön.
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4.5/5
Great campspot for 1-2 nights.
Middle of Nelson, everything is nearby: cafe shops, grocery stores, restaurants, etc. 2 free toilets open all night. $2 shower, but line in the morning. We stayed one night, was quiet and we felt safe.
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5.0/5
Nelson is a great town to wander around and make the most of the free city wifi.
Unfortunately you cannot pick this up at the car park but just round the corner you can, all city car park spaces are free at five so we just parked in the centre to use the wifi and then moved to the site. We enjoyed the cinema and a few drinks in a bar before heading to bed for the night.
I really enjoyed staying in Nelson
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2.0/5
Awesome being free but would not recommend staying there on a Saturday night as people all around drinking and yelling but apart from that bathroom is good and clean.
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4.0/5
Free!
Public toilet open all night long , $2 hot shower opening at 8am. In the heart of the city.
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3.5/5
Was strange to be camping in a carpark in the middle of the town centre.
But loads of people there, mainly younger people. Restaurant and takeaways very close and convenient. 2 toilets open 24 hours. Tap in middle of pavement where people were washing up and cleaning teeth. OK for a single night. Had to move on early on Monday morning 8am to avoid parking charges.
