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Beware: Restricted Travel Zones ZTL

I know this topic has been covered before but it's still worth talking about. In the big Italian cities like Rome and Florence there are these restricted areas around the city centres called ZTLs. The signage for such zones is minimal and apparently these zones can change without some notice. So even if you've seen a reference to them in your tour book, that information may be out of date.
If, in your rental car, you drive into these areas, even for a few moments, a camera will pick up your licence plate and in time, even over a year, you'll be in for some hefty charges. You'll first get a notice from your car rental company telling you that the police have tracked down your vehicle and that the rental company is charging your credit card some 30 euros for each time they've given your address to the police, as the one who was renting the car at the time of the offence. Then, up until one year or more, you'll get a notice from the municipal police telling you that you committed this great sin and that a fine of 100 euros or more has been levied on you and if you don't pay it right away or try to fight/appeal it and lose, the fine will be at least doubled. The obvious response, out of fear of losing the fight, or the fear of showing up on an "arrest on sight" list on a future visit, or the possibility that they'll get the rental company to pay and the company takes it off your credit card, is to pay it at this lower price and just be frustrated - which is what I did, twice, once for Rome and once for Florence.
Is this a great way to deal with well-meaning but ignorant tourists? Well, there are some who will say that these are the country's laws and it's up to us to learn them and obey them. These are clearly the same people who, back home in North America, routinely turn themselves in to the local police to confess when they accidentally exceed the speed limit on our motorways.
I am pretty sure that locals in Italy are quite savvy about these ZTLs and learn to live with, or perhaps around, these rules. I would wager that the bulk of the fines levied from these ZTLs come from the hapless tourists who inadvertently veer into such zones and are not, really, the people the ZTLs are trying to keep out of the various city centres anyway.
I have written our Italian embassy here in Canada to ask for their response to my concerns this ZTL situation as they apply to tourists but have yet not received a reply.
So my advice? Read up and find out about these ZTLs if you're renting a car and planning to visit any of the bigger cities in Italy. Stay outside the ZTLs and walk in or take public transportation to the centres. The cities are super, the country is great, the people are generally very friendly, and the weather is nice. Don't taint your visit with these exorbitant ZTL fines.

Posted by
1829 posts

I agree the signage could be better and the fact that the majority of the fine money is likely from tourists.
But the ZTL law is arguably more of a hassle to a local that lives in a neighboring area though than any tourist could be inconvenienced.

Imagine if you were a salesman and a law passed that you could no longer drive your car into the town next door to you where you have clients?

Furthermore the existence of the ZTL is what makes those cities so great as a tourist.
Imagine downtown Florence filled with cars, traffic, exhaust fumes, etc... ; still think it would such a super city to visit?
To me car free zones are an area where Europe is way ahead of North America on.

Posted by
28436 posts

"...the hapless tourists who inadvertently veer into such zones and are not, really, the people the ZTLs are trying to keep out of the various city centres anyway."

This I disagree with. The point of the ZTLs is to keep everyone out who doesn't live there or have some locally-justified reason for being there. I traveled in Italy back before ZTLs were so prevalent. Gorgeous city squares were full of parked cars. It doesn't matter whose cars they were; I'm glad they're all gone.

I'm sorry that some travelers get hit with sizable fines after returning home, but I am puzzled as to why anyone would set off on a driving vacation in a different country without reading the appropriate section of a current guidebook, as it is clear that a fair number of tourists do.

Posted by
34215 posts

I am sorry you are poorer for your journey.

But I disagree that signage is minimal.

Here is a photo of the entry to one in Florence. Please say what is minimal about an entire sign column dedicated to the prohibition.
http://cdn1.discovertuscany.com/img/florence/transportation/ztl-5.JPG?auto=compress,enhance,format&w=

It is in English, too.

Here's another example:- https://www.autosieger.de/images/articleimages/pool/italienztl17_700.jpg

Posted by
16200 posts

I disagree that signage is minimal.

The problem is that North American countries have not adopted the international sign below, which, throughout Europe, means “no motor vehicles permitted”.
https://goo.gl/images/UnhXkY

The above sign is at the entrance of every ZTL.
Florence, as Nigel pointed out, as gone as far as adding at every ZTL entry point, written signage in English and a street light which turns red when the ZTL is in effect (during the day) or green when it’s open to all (nights and Sunday).

Posted by
6862 posts

ZTLs are a fact of life - not just in Italy but now spreading far and wide (my home town of Seattle is planning to turn its entire downtown into one big ZTL - of course, as with all annoyances here, you'll be able to buy your way in at sky-high prices if you do it in advance, but the impact on hapless tourists will be no different). ZTLs in Italy are an inconvenience and I agree the signage could be better, but after one nasty encounter with them I bet visitors don't make the same mistake twice.

I believe you would be wasting your time raging at these. Better to hone your skills at anticipating them, navigating around them, and dealing with them as fact of life. After my last trip to Italy, I certainly learned my lesson.

Posted by
3812 posts

This is the "minimal" signage "that could be better":

http://www.ctsnotizie.it/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Ztl-Pa.jpg

Some guy from Canada that can't see such a Xmas tree is exactly the kind of guy that ZTLs want to stay out.

I would wager

And you'd loose, driving tourists from Countries who do not use/know international signs are a small % compared to tourists from more civilized countries. And both are few compared to Italians driving in Florence.

Posted by
6862 posts

This is the "minimal" signage "that could be better"...

But the signs are in Italian! How can you expect anyone to be able to understand them?

[/sarcasm]

Posted by
1813 posts

I think Italian ZTL signage is quite good, and a huge improvement from the early years of ZTLs. Some cities have also added English. You didn't notice the signage because you're not accustomed to it, since it's not your country or your language. You have ZTL equivalents all around you in Canada, but they are so familiar you forget about them. Restriction such as pedestrian zones, authorized vehicles only, no left turn 8 to 10 am, residents only, high occupancy lane are all forms of ZTLs. Don't hold your breathe waiting for the Italian embassy to respond.

Posted by
1297 posts

Yeah, ZTL SchmedTL. What on earth makes you think that ZTLs are directed at tourists. They are directed at EVERY VEHICLE that enters the zone. It may come a surprise, but Italians are known to hire cars in Italy, in the same way that US citizens have been known to hire cars in the USA. It catches Italians too.

Posted by
3522 posts

This is exactly why I don't drive in Europe. I prefer to let someone who is familiar with the area do the driving or someone with the proper clearance (tour or city bus, taxi, etc.). This also allows me to look more closely at the sights as they pass since I don't have to focus on road signs.

You haven't received a response from the embassy? You won't . They are busy helping people with real problems.

Ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking the law. So since we don't know the laws, you suggest we simply ignore them and the fines that accompany breaking them? Laws are not written to punish tourists, tourists are not exempt from the laws. The signs for ZTL are also in English. Does your country go out of their way to post road signs in languages that are not officially recognized?

Maybe you should also let someone else do the driving.

Posted by
34215 posts

Jake (the OP) has been around this Forum almost exactly 6 years - first post the 14th of September, 2012.

Jake, haven't you noticed the hundreds of discussions on here about the ZTLs over the 6 years?

You said you knew it had been discussed before - yet you went and did it. I do feel sorry for you, but please say how you managed to get into trouble, ... twice.

Posted by
5837 posts

One of the joys of European travel are the car free/pedestrian only zones. The other joy is transportation other than private cars that work and are resonably priced (intercity trains and coaches), urban transit and pedestrian friendly environments. And my most memorable holidays were village to village walking tours and hut to hut skis.

I don't take busman's holidays to Europe when someone else can take the controls while I enjoy the scenery. So I vote yes to car free zones. My prefered hotel locations are in or at the edge of car free zones.

Posted by
16200 posts

Florence ZTL fun facts.

In 2017 over 277,000 vehicles were fined for entering the Florence ZTL illegally (760 a day!).

About 17% were residents of the city of Florence without a ZTL resident permit.
Over 1/3 of them were Italian residents from cities other than Florence.
Almost half of them were foreign visitors.

Although foreigners get fined the most, they complied with payment the least. The authorities were able to collect less than 40% of ZTL fines issued to foreign residents in 2017.

The Mayor of Florence, Mr. Nardella, would like to thank all of those who contributed to the City’s budget by paying the fines.

Posted by
28436 posts

The parking places on major arteries near the monuments and museums in my hometown become travel lanes during rush hour. Lots of tourists use those spots and don't realize they need to move their cars before the evening commute begins. The signs are right there, but folks don't look.

We don't fool around with traffic tickets. We boot the cars and drag them to the other side of the sidewalk initially, then to an impound lot. So the driver gets the boot fee plus the towing fee and probably also an impound fee, not to mention losing the time required to go retrieve the car.

Posted by
2829 posts

I think the major ambiguity arise from the fact that cars can and do drive through ZTL varchi - the ones authorized to do so -, which might entice drivers who mostly mimmic behavior of other drivers to follow through.

Signage could be improved and, most importantly, standardized, so that a ZTL sign becomes more easily identified. This being said, signs are there, at every entrance, and I don't really think ZTLs are some 'gotcha' scheme, they serve legitimate purposes of controlling traffic within old city areas. If you look at pictures of Roma, Firenze, Bologna, Milan in the late 1970s, you'd see many of the public spaces people now love to walk or linger at used as surface parking lots.

Waze (the Google-controlled navigation app) has ZTL alerts for most cities. I believe other GPS-navigation products also have such features (on paid versions).

ZTLs, by the way, are widespread and not restricted to major cities. In most smaller touristic towns with a clearly segregated medieval core (i.e., some avenue/local road takes the place of former walls), there will be some ZTL inside the old walled city, with parking facilities right outside at walking distance.

I think most foreign-driver issued fines in Italy are not for ZTL violation, but for speeding.

Posted by
1758 posts

If you cannot identify a no access sign, you should not be driving at all. You could even kill persons by driving a car where it should not be (it happened to a relative of mine, and it was not a nice thing).

Posted by
32396 posts

ZTL's are one of the things to consider when driving in Italy, but there's also speeding tickets, driving in bus lanes, etc. Using trains or other public transit avoids these, although there are some "caveats" to be aware of with transit too.

Posted by
396 posts

I agree with Mark. I don't drive in Italy. I take the train, the bus or a taxi. My first trip to Italy, I did rent a car. Between trying to find a place to park it and paying the parking fee and the high cost of petrol, I decided it wasn't worth it. I am much less stressed to let "others" do the driving.

Posted by
2213 posts

So my advice? Read up and find out about these ZTLs if you're renting a car and planning to visit any of the bigger cities in Italy. Stay outside the ZTLs and walk in or take public transportation to the centres.

This is exactly what we did. We stayed in the Tuscan countryside and rode the commuter bus into Florence. The bonus was visiting with locals on their way to work. We also turned in our car and took a free shuttle into Rome the day before we flew home. We did drive to Siena, but had no problem at all avoiding the ZTL. You'd have to be blind to miss the signage.

It's not just Italy where we avoid driving in big cities. When we went to Scotland, we stayed in bedroom communities outside Glasgow and Edinburgh. When we went to London and Paris, there was no need to rent a car. Public transportation was cheap and effective.

You can have the best of both worlds by renting a car but avoiding driving in big cities. There's no way we could have visited the wonderful hinterlands of Scotland and Italy without a car. I was glad I didn't have to deal with a car in the city. The commute was far cheaper than the parking would have cost.