parking at Florence

Read some of the many posts on this topic posted earlier this year. Take the bus or train. Do not attempt to drive into Florence. Extremely confusing with one way streets and all,AND the old interiour, which you are in or near when at the train station, is restricted. Your car must be permitted in advance. They take pictures of your plates and you will get ticketed if car is not permitted.

Ditto on the above. Do not drive into Florence with the intention of parking. You won't be happy.

thank you for the info.

agreed w/ the above..PLUS:
frieze is relativly SMALL; most venues, places of interest, etc. are close to each other..was there 3 days, and the walk is a true part of the city; one look around at all the traffic , and i was saying "no WAY would i want to have to DRIVE thru this madness!"
HINT: to REALLY appreciate the place, get up and out by 7 am..it is delightful: no tourists, u can actually see the sights with out clawing over all the ppl. u get to see the locals setting up everything, cool temp. delightful.

If you want to park in Florence, park south of the river at the Porta Romana (in Rick's Italy book). Its relatively inexpensive and right next to the Boboli gardens.

We parked at the Train station and it was fine but be aware that it will take awhile to actually find a spot. Cars are sippose to go in one direction but reading the signs are confusing.Make sure you have to correct ticket when you go to pay. We were given 2 as the first time the ticket didn't work and we needed a second one. Of course we left the wrong one in the car.

Thank you all for the info. I will probably take the train from Siena. I believe we will get to Florence just as fast as driving.

We stayed in Siena 4 nights in May, had a rental car for our 3 weeks in Italy, and prefered driving to trains or busses. We drove easily from Siena to Florence, parking at Piazzale Michelangelo for free, and walking right down into town. Easy. Not sure why a train is even necessary.

Thank you, Polly. I'll Google the parking location you have suggested.

Thank you Kent and Polly. I found the site in Rick Steves' book; just south of Arno River...not too far from David.

We did not report our entry into the city to anyone and parked at the train station. We did not get a ticket which would have beemn billed to the rental car firm. I am not sure about your question. It cost nothing to drive into the city except for the gas you use. The parking is expensive (by the hour but could be as much as 25E but worth getting rid of the car. You pay when you leave but be sure to pay before you go get your car. There is info on SLOW TRAVE.com about parking in Florence adn driving in Italy that is eexceptionally helpful. It explains clearly how to use the parking facility, what signs mean and what they actually look like.

We drove right into Florence without a problem ... parked for 20 euro at 'Centro' garage off San Lorenzo Market. We just followed the P signs - worked out fine - we arrived at 9:00 am left by 7:00 pm. Yes, it was crowded & took 10-15 minutes to find the parking but it was no big deal. We just got back last week. Depending where you're from & if you never drive in cities (we work in Boston, MA) it may seem like too much for you to drive straight in. I guess it depends on your time frame and what you want to do. Worked fine for us. We also drove right to Venice & into Rome (parked at underground parking at Borghese) and also didn't think that it was such a big deal. Tolls are a little pricey & we were there while the locals were on holiday so maybe that's why it was a breeze but we like the freedom of the car and stopping here and there on the way back to our place in Tuscany etc...I don't know about 'reporting' the visit, we didn't know about that and didn't do that. oops!

Gan, we visited Florence a few weeks ago. We drove right in to the train station parking garage. Arrived about 1.p.m. or so, no waiting or lines. Did quite a bit of driving around Florence prior to choosing the train station. I couldn't find any convenient parking near the popular tourist center and the train station parking garage came as a welcome relief. I think we paid about 23 euros for 8 hours. We didn't "report" our visit to anyone. On the subject of driving in Florence (or Rome or Paris), if you think you'll do just fine or you think it will be overly stressful, you're right.

About reporting your vehicle: I spoke with the Italian Tourist Board, who told me a fine will be added to your rental car if you drive into the "ring road" around Florence, after much research we determined the ring road to circle the oldest, tourist section of town. I wanted to avoid that fine like the plague; so I parked one day in a pay lot on the north side of town called Piazza Liberta, which took us through bad traffic and difficult city streets, then we waited for taxis for 30 minutes - none came by; the buses were not going our way either; we ended up walking a long ways to the main tourist/museum area. Parking, as I suggested before, at Michelangelo is a free public lot with an easy downhill and across the Arno stroll. We did this the next day, and hopped a cheap public bus back at the end of the day. It was perfect!

Thank you for the valuable info.