I'll be driving in Tuscany and Umbria in May of '11. Wanting to avoid ZTL areas and tickets in general, does anyone know of a listing of the cities or the areas within cities that have ZTLs? Or, do you just have to pay close attention to signs? I know from previous trips that sometimes it's all I can do to get the directions right to where I'm going, so I'm worried that I'll miss the signs. I appreciate any pointers, thanks!
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32213 posts
Lisa, There may be a "list" of ZTL areas, but I've never seen one. I've noticed that most towns in Italy seem to have ZTL areas, although not all seem to enforce them with automated Cameras in the same way as those in Florence or other large cities. One point to mention is that for driving in Italy, each driver will require the compulsory International Driver's Permit, which is used in conjunction with your home D.L. These are valid for one year, and easily obtained at any AAA office. You'll also need to be concerned with parking regulations, as I've seen "The Boot" used in a few locations in Italy. Cheers!
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19099 posts
This is what one of those signs looks like. Particularly note the red circle.
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
The red circle is the give-away. The red circle means don't do whatever's in the circle (turn left, ride a bike, etc). A plain one means 'don't enter'. The rest of the stuff on Lee's link is elaboration and exceptions. If you don't know what the signs say, DON"T DRIVE. Try telling the fuzz in Redneck, Alabama, that you don't know what "Speed Limit 70' means and see what happens.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32819 posts
Virtually all towns will have a pedestrianized area in the old part and most will have ZTL. As you approach the towns you will see signs indicating parking facilities, sometimes more than one. The rule's pretty simple, park, pay, and enjoy. If you don't stop where they indicate you may find something better (use RS books to say where you can continue to a better one - but not often), but probably not, you will probably find yourself back where you started but you may very well find you are the proud owner of a new baby fine. So that would be drive more, park, pay more, maybe pay much more, enjoy less. Or you may find a present a year after you get home. Advice? Park the car. And don't ignore signs because you don't understand them.
Posted by
DTW
331 posts
HI Lisa, Google ZTL and/or ZTL city name. You can also Google Italian Traffic Signs and find information there. I did this before our trip to northern Italy last September. Driving into Milan we could plainly see the ZTL signs (perhaps it was helped due to my heightened paranoia). In Milan they also have an "Eco Zone". This was also clearly marked and avoided. We had a very good GPS with us but it still tried to take us right through the center of Milan to get to our hotel. We have not received any ticket notices yet and I hope every time the credit card bill comes one is not on there. Driving in the countryside was not an issue but driving in the cities was interesting. I loved it!
Good luck and enjoy your trip.