A new change just went into effect - making it even more prohibitive to drive in the center, adding pedestrian streets, and changing street directions and bus routes - More here: http://www.florence-journal.com/florence/2011/06/new-traffic-patterns-in-the-center-of-florence.html
Posted by
Portlandia
3313 posts
Anthony - It looks like the Borgo Ognissanti is outside of the ZTLs (it's behind the map legend). That's where several rental car agency offices are located. Is this correct? The dang maps are always hard to read.
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
Anthony: Thank you for the on this. Just one more reason not to try to drive a rental car into or near the historic center of Florence.
Posted by
Austin, TX
41 posts
But wait!!! Our hotel assured us if we give them our license plate earlier that day, we can drive in just to drop off the luggage. I think they may even offer a parking garage?
We must keep out car to day-trip from Florence. What to do?????
Posted by
Tilburg, Netherlands
2829 posts
That news report is exaggerated. This PDF from the official website from Comune di Firenze shows the same map. Rules remain the same: your hotel can give you authorization to access the ZTL, if it is located within one. The new pedestrian streets are not many, most already exist, and only two of them would cause a bit of a detour, but it is easy to maneuver around and one of them didn't have any hotels with garage that I know of. The ZTL area was not expanded dramatically, just a few quarters. Which is a bad policy IMO, but I'll save that from this board. ZTLs usually mean "touristicalization" of downtown in big cities, driving non-touristic business away to the suburbs and with them making the central areas mostly for low-waged labors, immigrants and tourists only. In any case: hotels can authorize the entrance on a ZTL (only the entrance is controlled, you can exit it at any time) up to 2 hours prior the time you crossed its borders.
Posted by
Tilburg, Netherlands
2829 posts
Maria, Most hotels don't have a parking garage. The best solution is to require a pass to access the ZTL so you can unload all your belonging, then drive off the ZLT and park the car in a garage/car park within walking distance of the hotel. Ask your hotel: it knows where is the nearest car park and maybe even how much are the fees.
Posted by
OP
Florence
362 posts
As Andre says the "Rules remain the same" There are just some more pedonale - but this does not affect any of the other prior rules about driving in the ZTL, etc. which have been hashe out here and other places countless times. The bigger change is the direction of the streets, etc. There are already many reports of traffic accidents in the last day and this morning...