Disabled parking in Italy with US placard

You will need to get a placard from an Italian doctor. This is a standard requirement for US citizens and contractors in Italy (and every other EU country I know of.) They do not recognize foreign plates.

I haven't tried it before, but my brain tells me that taxis should be able to go into at least CERTAIN ZTLs, right? That might be easier to deal with than figuring out a way to get INTO the ZTL and THEN find parking as well.....train station to hotel, and then private tours and transfers to smaller cities without the disability assistance at the train stations.....

The information you need is here

https://disabledmotoring.fia.com/country/italy/

ZTLs are enforced by cameras. Tickets are issued to all cars with license plates not registered in the "City White List". Each jurisdiction has a procedure to register a disabled person's car in the White List, however one needs the license plate number to do so. I presume that you won't have that until you pick up your rental car.

I don't know if the disabled status in the US would be honored by the local jurisdiction in Italy (possibly yes), but placing a placard on the dashboard would not be sufficient, because the ZTL cameras take a photo only of the license plate, hence the necessity to have the license plate number registered in the White List.

In any case the best option might be to have accommodations outside the ZTL (parking is also very scarce, even for disabled persons and many streets are off limits to all except pedestrians), and take a taxi or bus into the city when necessary from the accommodations to the sights. From what you write your husband appears to be able to get into a taxi or bus.

For example, in Florence there is a procedure for disabled people certified by other municipalities to register for temporary ZTL access; it is explained at https://www.serviziallastrada.it/servizi-al-cittadino/autorizzazioni-disabili/residenti-fuori-comune (in Italian, you can try to translate it with google). The thing is geared to Italians from other cities, but you could ask the email if it will work with a foreign certification. I am afraid this procedure is to be repeated for every municipality and you need to know your rental licence plate number.

Regarding hotels, are you sure that staying inside the ZTLs is a good idea if you husband is disabled? How does he handle stairs?

Thank you all so much for the detailed information! This is very helpful for planning our trip.

Hello,
You do realize you will need an International Driver's Permit as well which you can obtain at any Triple AAA office. And just to let you know, bring your husbands Disabled Letter from the Social Security Administration stating he is disabled (white out any financial information and his Medicare number) and that will get you free admission or discounted at various tourist sites (and sometimes his "companion" as well. Europe in general is extremely accommodating to Disabled persons and very generous in allowing them to visit many tourist sites for free. For The Colosseum you put in the day and time you want tickets and then choose Free According to Regulation, 1 for Disabled person and 1 for person accompanying the disabled person.

https://ticketing.colosseo.it/en/eventi/24h-colosseo-foro-romano-palatino/?t=2025-08-30T10%3A15%3A00Z

Same for The Pantheon- only use Official site link below-many online say they are Official site, but they are a third-party website.
https://pantheonrome.it/tickets/reserve/

A "US placard" is issued by a state, not the federal government, and does not necessarily cover other states in the US.

Demi Hale, thanks so much for this information! We do have our IDPs and will definitely bring the letter from the Veterans Administration.

We got hit with a ZTL ticket once until the hotel registered the plate on their white list.

That sounds like a sort of key statement to me. If hotels within the ZTL have a whitelist they can allocate arbitrary plates to, it would make sense to get on that as soon as picking the car up. That's something I'd be looking into anyway.

The US placard for parking will be a bust I think. I wouldn't expect Italian police or traffic wardens to recognise anything other than the Italian equivalent.

I just sent you a private message on our experience with a US handicap placard.

Becky, this is an open form where others exchange experiences and often benefit people who have not posted a question or a response. I am sure other would be interested in your experience.

If hotels within the ZTL have a whitelist they can allocate arbitrary plates to

At least for Florence, it is not like you think. Hotels can add your plates to the white list, but as long as I remember it is not free, and anyway it should be only for strict timeframes for unloading when you arrive and loading when you leave. The access does not involve a parking permit.

Again for Florence, on the servizi alla strada website you can buy ZTL access permits, going from midnight to midnight; it is 5 euros a day for access only, and 15 euros for access and parking, actually a bit more since a few weeks. It should be done in advance, no retroactive permits; if you are not the owner of the car, you have to send the hire contract and the car docs as well. Do not assume you can find a parking even if authorized and do not assume you can find your way in the maze of one way streets; if you enter a bus lane, and you will do if you do not know them, no ZTL permit saves you from a fine anyway. No more than ten day accesses in a month and sixty day accesses in a year for any given plate number. To tell it frankly, the temporary access permits are not really geared to tourists but to the poor Florentines that may have to bring something bulky somewhere or to lug around their old people...

The best option is to find accommodations outside ZTLs and rely on taxicabs (or buses, if doable). Too much of a hassle to get permits for every municipality. And driving (and finding any type of parking) in several areas of the historical centers is not for the faint of heart. Those ancient streets are narrow and mostly a maze of one way streets. When you experience driving in ancient Italian cities you will soon realize that you are not in Kansas anymore, to paraphrase a famous line of the Wizard of Oz.

there is an FIA International Transport Forum webpage with information about international disabled travel in Italy.

https://disabledmotoring.fia.com/country/italy/

by the way - remember that the OP travelled 3 months ago - the otherwise dormant thread was just reawakened by a new poster today

At least for Florence, it is not like you think. Hotels can add your plates to the white list, but as long as I remember it is not free, and anyway it should be only for strict timeframes for unloading when you arrive and loading when you leave. The access does not involve a parking permit

No, that's pretty much what I thought. :)

I wouldn't have assumed it was free, or even cheap, or that parking was somehow included.

As Nigel has so helpfully pointed out, this is an old thread revived by what I'm not actually convinced is a real person now I pay more attention to the username. My bad for not noticing that earlier.

I wonder what the OP did?