We will be arriving into Rome on a Sunday. Our understanding is that the time limited zones are not effective on a Sunday in Rome and that we should be safe to drive into the centre (near the Pantheon)to drop off some passengers and bags and then for the others to return our rental car. Just wondering if anyone can confirm that this is correct?
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
On Sunday ZTLs don't exist.
However, they were established for a reason. The streets in that area are narrow and many are pedestrian-only. Ease your way in gently and use the gps if you have one.
Depending on how close to the Pantheon you actually are, there are a couple of small parking lots just to the west (second and third streets over ?). Otherwise, except for a quick pause and dump, you might have to drop pax at the closest corner and let them hoof it -- which might complicate getting back together.
It's not going to be unsurmountable, but it's not going to be a snap either.
Posted by
OP
Brisbane, Australia
50 posts
Hi Ed,
Thanks for your reply - we do have a GPS so that should help the navigating challenge. We thought this would be a better option allowing us to return the car at the airport (the only Avis rental car depot open on a Sunday) than trying to park the car overnight in Rome and then negotiate our way to the Borghese depot on a busy Monday with TLZ in operation.
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
Pam,
Pay close attention to facts and opinions, but there might be a better way to skin the skunk.
I KNOW that the ZTLs don't kick in unitl 0630 on Monday.
I THINK that the only way they catch you is with the cameras at the ZTL entry points.
I KNOW that you can drive into an active ZTL to conduct business (ex: return a car, go to a hotel), but the agency with which you do business has to notify the ZTL agency that what you were doing was bonafide.
I THINK that if you park on the street overnight you won't get a ZTL violation the next morning, especially since you'd move the car real early and would thus comply with the previous paragraph. You're probably working within a 0630-0800 window and it seems like there'd be some slop on how fast they expect you to do things.
I have no problem with the security of parking on the street in that part of the city. However, I'd sure read the signs along the street to figure out when unrestriced parking ends (you can hive them out without being able to read Italian (monday = lunedi) since the parking violation Nazis have no sense of humor.
It's a good hour drive from the Pantheon to the FCO airport. About time and cost to get back I have no real idea, but feel it would have to be a train/metro/walk combination (train to Termini, metro to Barberini, and then a half mile walk ?).
What you might do is stash the car for a while on Sunday and find out where a parking garage is (wild guess is twenty-five euros for the night) from the hotel folks. Then, after you know the car place is open on Monday, go move it -- making sure that they notify the fuzz AND that you keep a copy of the time-annotated turn-in receipt until the day you die in case the subject ever rears its head.
Sounds a bit complicated, but is rather simple when you digest it. It sure saves a hell of a lot of time when you could be doing something more enjoyable.