Florence isn’t a city meant for Cars and our city administration keeps reminding us putting stronger & stronger limitation in driving and parking! We tell all our Clients not to bring the car in Florence, not for just one day, not for the entire stay, not for getting into the Hotel and return in to the car rental, DO NOT TAKE YOUR CAR TO FLORENCE!
Read on to get a better insight of where you can access the city with your car (pretty much nowhere) and where you can park for free (once again nowhere) or by paying (rates start at 2 € per hour doubling every 2 hours…)
Let me introduce you to our complex ZTL or Limited Zone Traffic!
The city is divided into 4 sections (A-B-C-D-E), in every section only resident of that section can enter with their car. Residents of zone A cannot enter in zone B and this for all the combination you’d like to try.
How do police know I’m a tourist and I am only zipping in and out to drop luggage at the Hotel and return the car to the car rental? Will I not get a ticket, will I?
WRONG 🙂 As a merciless guardian to the entrances of any of these colorful zones you’ll find a what so called “Porta Telematica” which is a system camera gate that checks if you are authorized or not to cross in the area. On board of your car you should have then a what so called “Telepass” a special technological piece of equipment that grant you access with a “Beep!” to the city center with no fine.
What are the fines for crossing ZTL without permit?
The camera will shoot a nice pic of your plate and through the rental company that will notify police about who was the driver at that day and hour, after a couple of months later, a fine between 60 € to 120 € will be delivered to your home address, you’ve got to pay it! I’ve seen fines reaching the furthest lands of the world!
Can I then park the car somewhere?
For your own pleasure Florence can be a pretty big hassle when it comes to car parking too. Understanding where to park and between which hours you can park there can drive an Italian crazy, chances will drive crazy you too.
- Blue lines on the ground are pay-per-hour-parking spots all over the city if you are lucky enough to find a paying machine within a km or two from where you want to park you can think of parking there, be ready to spend a day what your Hotel costs per night!
- White lines on the ground are for residents, once again you need to show a special plate you are grant right to park there, otherwise fine.
- Yellow are for handicap drivers DO NOT PARK THERE NEVER, this spots might be free all the time but be sure as soon as you make this mistake the Owner will be there in a nanosecond, you car in that case get towed away.
What about parking in Garages?
Garages in Florence have the same daily price than a nice two star Hotel per night, the monthly fee of Garages in the city centre buy you a month stay in a Studio apartment.
Stay tuned a better article on Parking is coming up shortly.