Parking in Florence

Leave the car in San Gimigniano and take public transportation. Or, drive to a town with a train station and train in. Driving and parking in Florence is extremely difficult and expensive. They have limited traffic zones with video surveillance and you receive a ticket in the mail after you have returned home.

Buon viaggio,

RB

Parking in Florence is a piece of cake. Paid public parking abounds in lots and on the steets. Cost is around 1.50 euro an hour or 15 euros for all day. Look for a box on a pole that takes coins. Feed it until you have the hours you want, push the button, and toss the receipt on your dashboard. Much cheaper than parking way the hell and gone, riding public transportation, etc. You can park withing a few hundred yards (10 minute walk) of the center of things.

Infringement avoidance is equally easy. READ THE SIGNS!

If there's a speed limit, obey it.

If it says 'do not enter', 'no vehicular traffic', or 'one way' don't go there. You probably wouldn't anyway since the character of the street changes so much that you'd notice it and probably decide not to try to drive there anyway. Learn the international signs, that's it.

Only completely oblivious folks get involved in the ZTL issue. A lot of people talk/whine/post about the "dreaded ZTLs" who have never driven there.

(from post immediately above) "A lot of people talk/whine/post about the "dreaded ZTLs" who have never driven there."

The Original Poster asks how to avoid the ZTL's; the above remarks don't answer the question and tend to mislead the OP into thinking the Florence ZTL is not a problem, when it certainly has been for many reporting in here.

Here's a website with maps and some factual information relating to the original poster's question about how to avoid the Florence ZTL's:

https://ztl.comune.fi.it/tzi/index.jsp

I have driven there (or at least I was in the car with my husband when he drove there.) The sooner you can park the car and use public transportation the better. It was pretty wild (and as I've said before, we have driven in Manhattan, DC, LA,etc). I know it seems "wasteful" to use public transportation when you are already renting a car, but that is what we did. We stayed in Greve-In-Chianti and took a bus in. If you really want to drive, I would still park outside the "old town" part (where most of the ZTL zones are) and ride a city bus around. When we went in 2003 (before ZTL's) we parked right by the train station. My husband said he would never drive in FLorence again, hence taking the bus in 2008. Have a great trip. (PS Other than staying out of larger cities, we loved driving in Italy)

ED,

The OP asked about "how to avoid driving infringements" so I think it's prudent to provide information on the ZTL areas.

The easiest way to avoid tickets would be to park nearby and take public transit into Florence. However, for those that choose to drive there, the Map provided by Kent clearly shows the different ZTL areas. Having accurate information is important in avoiding problems.

Cheers!

I think it's quite misleading to play down the ZTL problem I'll add some details the benefit of Pam and any other person who is new to driving in Italy. My experience was in Vicenza, but I think it's applicable to any town. Years ago, we drove right into Vicenza, so we thought to do the same recently. However, from reading this site, I knew to be alert for the signs. Sure enough, within a block of entering the walled area, there was a warning sign. It was high up on a post; and I may not have noticed it if I hadn't been watching for it. I had just seconds to change my route and get out of the old city. It's rather difficult to be driving in unfamiliar territory, looking for street signs, which in Italy may be quirkily located, and be reading signs in a foreign language, also quirkily located. Most of the cities do have parking outside the historic centers. The best idea is to find out where these are beforehand. Also, the routes to parking are usually fairly well-marked with large, blue and white "P" signs.

My husband and I usually park at the lot just inside the Porta Romana. This keeps you out of the traffic in Florence proper. It is also convenient for visiting the sights in the Oltrarno and is not too far from the Ponte Vecchio. However, it is a good hike over the Arno and on to the museums, churches, etc., in that part of Florence. If you're in good shape for walking, there should be no problem.

We found an underground parking lot about one mile (maybe a little less) almost due north of the old center. We were able to get in and out of there without incurring any ZTL infractions (watching carefully for signs the whole way).

If I knew then what I know now:

Signs indicating the name of the road you're on are almost non-existant. Although we had a map, trying to transition from a highway map to a city map was nearly impossible because we had to guess where we were actually at. Doing it over, I would have had a GPS without a doubt (we bought one when we came home from the trip).

Hotels in Florence are some of the most expensive in Italy, the food isn't particularly wonderful (not horrible but not the best you'll taste in Italy) and the place is extremely difficult to drive in. Doing it over, with a car, I would find a place with free parking and convenient public transportation outside the center rather than incur the hassle and expense of staying in the center.

Along that line, I wouldn't use Florence as a base for exploring nearby areas. I would choose cheaper accomodations in other towns rather than pay the premium to stay in Florence.

Thanks so much for all your thoughts. We will be using a Navman GPS which will reduce some of the stress driving - not sure if the GPS indicates traffic zones? I have really appreciated getting a few names of places where people have found parking. Thanks again.

We drove through Italy for 2 weeks and had good luck using Rick Steves' suggestions for parking in Pisa and Siena. Easy to find, safely outside the ZTLs and not too expensive. However, when it came to Florence our host of the agriturismo we stayed at strongly suggested to drive no further than to the bus station in Tavernelle. It had a big and free parking lot and we took the bus into Florence from there.

This was a pretty safe and inexpensive option. However, it made for a very short day in Florence. We were scared to miss the last bus so decided to take one earlier which ended our day in Florence at 6 pm. If we weren't stuck to the bus schedule we could have spent 3-4 more hours in the city. And thus been able to see the Duomo which at that day was closed to the public till 4.30 pm due to several church functions. And already at 4 pm the line-ups were horrendous ....

So in hindsight I think we could have risked it to follow RS parking suggestion.

Steve,

I know our GPS (tomtom) beeped every time we got near to a speeding camera in Italy. Not sure about any ZTL warnings as we never got anywhere close to them.

There has not been a post here from anyone stating that their GPS warned them they were approaching ZTL cameras in Florence.

Oh, my. You've just touched a nerve. Are you staying in San Gimignano? That's probably my favorite little town in Tuscany. Even the views approaching it and from outside the gates are inspiring. To answer your question, don't fret about driving to Florence. I over-worried about this myself before we spent 3 wks. in Italy in '08. As mentioned above, driving and parking in Florence is pretty easy, really. Just keep your eye out for the ZTL signs. It's really not THAT hard. And, you'll get a feel for those locations fairly quickly, anyway. Florence is not unlike any other city centre in Europe. BTW- I recommend the Vernaccia di San Gimignano wine. Delicious. You'll be stalking it when you return home. Nice thing is, it's available. Cheers!

In 2002 we were coming from San Gim. and parked near the train station but this was before the ztl's. We really just lucked out and followed signs and drove right to the train s. pkg garage. Last summer we trained in and it was less stressful.

"In 2002"

Yep, that was before they started enforcing the ZTL's with a hundred automatic cameras. These days you don't want to try driving a rental car anywhere in the historic center; the ZTL's, basically, surround the train station. Just take a taxi to the train. Or if you're going to Siena, take the bus.

I've managed to avoid a ticket but be under no misapprehension that driving in and around Florence is easy. It most certainly is not. I remember one evening using my GPS to route me from Fiesole to North Florence and the route was so complicated and involved going right through the city center I was convinced that my GPS was wrong. I looked the next day and it had selected the only reasonable route, and this was before the dreaded zones.

I used to park easily and safely at the station in Florence, but no more.

Advice, follow RS guidelines, or train or bus it. You will be glad you did.

And as for San G you will really enjoy it if you stay there. The day trippers will be gone by late afternoon and it will be wonderful.

@ Ed. Don't downplay the ZTL's in Florence. There are plenty of people who get zapped by them. I HAVE driven there, and I was a nervous wreck trying to keep my eye on where I was going while trying not to miss a ZTL sign. I even took a "virtual drive" with Google Earth "Street View" to prepare myself. A car is not necessary in Florence, nor is one necessary to get there, unless of course you want to see the countryside along the way. Having said this, I have rented while in Florence and did so for the purpose of driving the countryside. I rented from the airport to avoid ZTL entanglements.

Pam, you will be OK driving in Florence as long as you stay outside the "ring road" surrounding the central historic district. A map of the ZTL will give you an idea of areas to avoid. You may find it more convenient to park at the airport and take a taxi from there. It is right next to the Autostrada.

As a resident I can understand both sides of the ZTL issue - but personally I think the dread of it is a little over rated. With any planning, it is very simple to drive to a garage like Sant'Ambrogio and park the car. Or up at the Piazzale Michelangelo. With either of these options, you would have to be very lost to enter the ZTL zone. Also don't forget that the ZTL is OFF on Sundays and after 7:30 PM most nights.

The city just also started some new lights for the ZTL entrances - I will post a photo soon.

Thank you Anthony for that information.

Hi
Thanks for your replies. I think that parking at the Piazzale Michelangelo will be perfect for us as we plan to watch the lights come on over Florence from up there in the evening - I imagine that sun set will be late in the evening (around 9pm)at the beginning of July when we will be in Florence? Would you know if there are any restrictions on how long we could park there as we will be planning on arriving around 10am and leaving late around 10pm - also is payment via paystation with credit card or will we need plenty coins/cash. Thanks also for the tip that the ZTL is OFF on Sundays and after 7:30 PM most nights.
Thanks Pam