If you really gotta have a car in Florence, don't sleep in historic center

I had looked at this map after a previously posting and saw why so many people were getting caught. The thing I don't know is where it's safe to park a car outside of the zoned areas such that we can easily catch public transportation into town. The parking locations shown on this map are, ironically, inside the ZTLs!

Melissa,...the yellow lines indicate the safe transit lanes thru the zones. There is parking available at the train station, two in the green zone that are accessible, and one in the blue zone. There are also many other lots outside th ZTL's.

But, stray off the yellow route and the cameras will get you...every single time.

This afternoon I contacted the City of Florence about the dreaded ZTL situation, and his Honor the Mayor of Florence responded personally, as follows: "The Commune of Florence encourages Rick Steves Helpline travelers to continue driving in Florence. Just stay on da yellow line, no problema."(pssssttt...I think the City needs the money)

Mayor Kent, you are too funny...

I think this is another good argument for dumping rental cars and using the trains instead!

Tim,

this is not a reason to dump a rental car but to use it where it's useful. And no, using a train instead is not the only answer either.

We had a rental car for the entire time we stayed in Tuscany. Used it, for example, to drive from our agritourismo to the bus station of Tavarnelle. There was a large and free parking lot for our two cars (we travelled as a group of 6). Took the bus into Florence and spend the day there before taking the bus back. There aren't too many train tracks in the hilly areas of Tuscany.

If it weren't for the car, we would not have been able to stay at an agriturismo, sampling home made Tuscan wine and olive oil together with the owner, spending time in the pool with the kids.

A car remains by far the best option for exploring the Tuscany hill towns and Tuscany/Umbria country side. However, a car is an expensive headache if you're sleeping in Florence. How do we reconcile these two decision rules? Read on.You avoid having a car and sleeping in Florence at the same time.The way Beatrix used a car (above post) is a good example of one way to do this (not the only way). She had a rental car and did not sleep in Florence, she kept the two separate. If you're just doing Rome, Florence, Venice, you don't need a car--take the train. And if you want to add Siena, while in Florence, take the bus or train from Florence--again, you don't need a car.If you want to explore Tuscany and also want to see Florence, many travelers are (because of the ZTL's): not renting a car for the days they sleep in Florence, only renting the car either before or after the Florence part of their trip. Many are picking up the rental car in a place like Orvieto, exploring Tuscany hill towns, then returning the car to Orvieto, Chiusi, or Siena--then proceeding to Florence by train.And if, for some reason, you have to (1) sleep in Florence and (2) have a rental car, choose a Florence lodging that is well outside the historic core with its ZTLs, in the newer part of Florence that provides easy access to major roads into Tuscany. Make sure, before you book the lodging, that the property provides secure overnight parking, preferably on premises (like here, they actually have a parking lot), and that the property is located for easy access to the road you need to get out of town toward your Tuscany day trip destinations, without requiring you to traverse through the historic core with the ZTL's in order to get to or from your hotel.

Or do what we did and throw money at it. We knew while we were in Florence that we wanted to see Siena and San Gimignano and knew that we did not want to hassle with a rental car or public transportation. So we budgeted for a private driver to take us to those 2 places and it was wonderful.

Blanket statements about whether or not one should drive in Italy are of no value. Those who are happy taking public transportation everywhere and limiting their experiences to the big cities are perfectly within their right to do so. Those who understand it's impossible to really get out into the cool areas of, say, Tuscany, know a rental car is necessary. It's not really possible to stay at an agriturismo without renting a car. Fear of big cities is not a valid reason to avoid a rental car. Information is power...those who have been paying attention to this thread know that driving in or around Florence should be a "search and destroy" mission, the goal being to simply find a parking spot using Kent's fine map here (using a pre-planned route.) If somebody is a fearful driver and/or doesn't really like to drive, that is a valid reason to not rent a car. If somebody can't really label himself or herself a fearful driver but is nervous about the prospect of driving in a foreign country, that may be a reason to not rent a car. Fear of getting a traffic ticket is NOT a reason to dismiss rental cars out of hand.

Trains don't cut it in Tuscany. Not at all.

We had a car and never got fined. We were aware (and somewhat paranoid) about the ZTLs. We kept our eyes open for signs and parked in an underground lot about a mile NNE of town center. We didn't trust our lodging to make arrangements to prevent a ticket so lugged our stuff from the car to the hotel.

If I had to do it over, I would get a place outside of town where I could park my car and catch public transport into town for the sites.

We parked our car in a garage at the main train station in Florence.

Be careful...many people have tried to park at the train station only to find out there is a "one way in one way out and it is surrounded by ZTL's. One wrong turn, and you will receive a ticket or two within a year of returning home. I personally would not even drive that far into Florence.

...and I still follow Rick's plan:

"stay in Sienna, and bus to Florence" When Rick said that "Sienna is magical at night" he was right on the money.

We parked our car at the hotel in Sienna, and day tripped using the awesome bus system between the two cities.

Florence is a great,but attempting to drive there is too much of a hassle!

Same as Connie. Looking at this map of the Florence ZTLs http://www.bella-toscana.com/traffic/firenze_ztl_map_new.jpg, I would not want to bet $150 per wrong turn that I could, every time, avoid the ZTLs that surround the Florence train station on 3 sides. Looking at the map (click once to zoom in), the train station is the Stazione SMN on the left side of the map.Those still considering going for it, rental car-wise, in Florence--there's a reason Florence handed out 457,000 ZTL violations in 2008, and maybe you can help them better than in 2009.

Just throwing something else out there. I'm planning a trip this fall, where I would pick up a car in Pisa and travel in Tuscany for a week, then drop off the car in Florence and stay overnight there one night before leaving. My plan is to use the airports on both ends (Pisa has a ZTL too and I don't want to get caught leaving a car rental place). Yes it is more expensive to pick up and/or drop off at airports, but I'd rather pay an extra $50 or $75 up front and be able to work it into my (tight) budget, and have to take a bus in/out of town to know 100% for sure that I will not be slammed with a big ticket 8 months later or whatever. thanks for the thread, Kent, we need to keep this one on top of the To The Boot section....

Debra: Wise choice IMO. Your choice gives you the peace of mind of not having to wonder, for a year after your trip, whether you're going to get one or more of the $150 fines (or $150 x 6 ZTL violations in one day = $900, it's happened), in the mail as a last souvenir of your Italy trip.

Debra- I think that would work great. Just one word of caution. Be careful to go the speed limit in Italy. The ZTL's get so much coverage, but there are speeding cameras everywhere. They are particularly prolific in the Tuscany area- on backroads and through towns. As long as you go the speed limit you will be fine.