I am looking for suggestions for parking in Florence while we visit the City Center. We are only passing through on our way to Pisa and we have all of our luggage inside our rental car. Can someone give us some suggestions?
Posted by
Firenze, Italy
1765 posts
Unless the car is registered to a resident, there is no free parking in Florence. Nowhere around the center, nowhere even at a distance from the center. Your best move is leaving the car in a parking silo: those at Parterre (piazza della Libertà) and by Porta a Prato are the best bets as have daily rates. The parking silo under the railway station is the most convenient but quite expensive (3 euro per hour, no daily rate). Also the lot just inside the city walls - you drive in at Porta Romana, you drive out at Piazza Tasso - is convenient, if you are careful not to enter the ZTL by mistake. Being in the open air, it is a bit less likely that your car is tampered with. I would try not to leave anything in plain sight inside the car but I would not be too worried about the luggage.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16212 posts
Where are you coming from?
In addition to the parking locations mentioned by lachera there is also one on Piazza Beccaria and one on Largo Annigoni (both underground).
There is even a brand new one on the A1 freeway called Villa Costanza. It has a new freeway exit devoted just for that parking lot. It's farther from the center, but if you are just swinging by while on the A1, it would be convenient. The line 1 tramway starts at that parking lot and takes you to the SMN train station downtown.
No matter where you park, don't leave luggage in plain sight. And take all valuables with you. Don't leave anything in the car that you wouldn't mind to be donated to the local gypsy community. If you have stuff that you don't want to take with you, but that you don't want to be stolen either, take it out of the suitcase and hide it in the spare tire compartment or under the engine hood. A prospective thief, will pull out the bag, but is unlikely to search inside the engine (that's where I hide my valuables when I go to the gym). If you hide stuff in the engine area, it's a good idea to remember it and take it out before you start the engine on your way out.
Posted by
824 posts
Dianna,
Florence is a straightforward and relatively short train ride from Pisa. I would recommend checking in to your accommodations in Pisa and doing a day trip to Florence so you can have your luggage secured in your lodging and to avoid issues with Florence's notoriously confusing ZTL.