Info needed on Boston's Alewife station garage
 

Does anybody know if the Alewife station garage is generally full during the day? Is a tourist likely to get a spot in there? Thanks!

Since it's at the northern end of the Red Line, it usually fills up quite early on weekdays. But there would be plenty of space any time on weekends or evenings.

I don't know how much this will help as it was three years ago. The situation may have changed and my memory is beginning to fog! But FWIW...We had stayed in Newport, RI the night before. We had tickets for a Thursday afternoon Red Sox game. As our son always wants to be at the ball park when the gates open, I'm guessing we probably got to the parking garage around 10:00 AM or so. We had no trouble finding a spot on the top level.

I'm not absolutely sure it was Alewife. Is there a parking garage at either Braintree or Quincy?

There is are parking garages at the T stop in Braintree and at two of the Quincy stops -- that's why it's easier to park at the southern end of the Red Line than at the north end. Since you were coming from Newport, south of Boston, it's much more likely that you were at one of these garages rather than at Alewife, which is in Cambridge.

Most MBTA lots and garages fill by 7:30-8 am every day - a little later in the summer, sometimes even earlier - and Alewife is no exception. Often by 1 pm or so you can find a space again.

I have never heard of a garage or lot filling on weekends.

Thanks guys.

Thanks, Anonymous! That explains why Alewife didn't seem right! We definitely did park on the southern end.

Can you park your car for a few days at Braintree? What's the cost?

Governator, sorry I can't help you with that. Hope someone who can will respond.

But when I saw that this post had been pulled back up I couldn't resist responding to say that I figured out a couple of weeks ago why Alewife rang a bell back in July. DD and friends always park there when they drive into Boston from their school in western Massachusetts. I know that doesn't mean a thing to anyone else. But it made me feel a little less looney! :D

Parking at the Braintree garage costs $3.50 per day. I don't know whether overnight parking is permitted; since the subway system doesn't run 24 hours, the garages might close. I would contact the MBTA directly, though their web site: www.mbta.com.