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ZTL's and Motorcycles..

My wife and I are planning a lengthy tour of Italy by motorcycle next year and are a little concerned by the ZTL zones! Are motorcycles allowed into them or not? I cannot find any definitive information on this? I don't really plan on riding into historic centres (unless deemed nessessary by accommodation?) I will not be going into major cities (except Palermo) but several smaller towns.. Siena, Matera, Orvieto, Assissi, Amalfi, and such like... Any help much appreciated....

Posted by
8889 posts

No, because the sign for a ZTL is a red circle, which means no vehicles, i.e. nothing with wheels.

Example (note the cameras, this is actually Palermo): https://gdsit.cdn-immedia.net/2018/03/ztl-palermo.jpeg

"(unless deemed nessessary by accommodation?)" - you would still need permission first. The cameras don't bother to ask why you are there.

Posted by
26840 posts

Be very, very careful in Palermo. Even as a pedestrian those streets are quite an experience. Let's just say they don't have a lot of traffic signals.

Posted by
15043 posts

You have to read the exception in small print under the sign, and see which vehicles are exempt from the prohibition.
Usually the ZTL sign has in small print the symbols/icon representing the exception to the rule:
Buses, taxi, police, handicapped, sometimes motorcycles.
There are streets which are strictly pedestrians, like Via Calzaiuoli in Florence, where you can’t even walk your moped with the engine off like in this picture.

Posted by
2047 posts

We met a man who lives in Bologna who rides a motorcycle and who said was he’s gotten many ZTL and bus lane tickets. Cameras seem to be most everywhere. It helps to do ZTL research for any cities you’re planning to visit. We researched where to avoid in Palermo before we went, planned our routes and had no trouble. By the way, driving in Palermo was not as horrible as we’d heard.

Posted by
2 posts

Thank you for the replies. I think I will just try and book accommodation outside of the zones and get maps of each town and stay out of the zones altogether!