• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Italian Blog

Unconventional Italy

  • Home
  • Art & Culture
  • Eat & Drink
  • Places
    • North Italy
      • Liguria
      • Lombardia
      • Piemonte
      • Valle d’Aosta
      • Veneto
    • Central Italy
      • Lazio
      • Toscana
    • South Italy
      • Basilicata
      • Campania
      • Sicilia
  • Travel Tips
  • Save Money
  • About
Home » How to » How to park in Italian cities

How to park in Italian cities

15 October 2020 by Lori Leave a Comment

You have rented a car and are travelling from a city to another. When it comes to parking your car, you might be confused on how to pay, and eventually IF you have to. Maybe you have considered to park in a private garage. This is a good idea, especially in art cities, where it is easier to meet a politician at work than an available parking spot. But in many cases, you want to be closer to an attraction or want to save money leaving the car where you do not have to pay. So, understanding how public parking areas work here, might be useful.

Parking
My super cool Panda correctly parked.

Where can you park?

The first thing you need to know is whether you can park in a certain district or not. Many cities try to avoid the excess of traffic in their historic centre by restricting the affluence with the so called ZTL, Zona a traffico limitato, restricted traffic area.

When you rent a car, you are generally allowed to enter these areas, but check in advance as there are cameras limiting these areas and it is easy to get fined.

Ok, once you have understood if you can enter a certain area, it is time to check if, how and how much you have to pay. First, look at the street and check the line limiting the parking space.

No line or white line

If you find no street sign that doesn’t allow to park there, and there is no line drown on the road, then you can park for free. I found one of these spots when I went to Matera last August. It was really closed to the Sassi and I saved a lot of money that day. I was very lucky, so try it especially when you are visiting a city in the less busy periods.

However, you always have to park a few meters away from the beginning of the walking path and never: near traffic lights, next to pedestrian passage or crossing, under a tunnel, near curves and bumps, above sidewalks and cycle paths.

Yellow line

The yellow line
The yellow line

The yellow line limits the parking place to people with disabilities. In order to park there, you need a special sticker that declares the disability and leave it in a visible part of the dashboard.

Handicap placard

Yellow lines are also dedicated to shops which need a space for trucks when delivering goods. These spaces are generally limited to working hour and in the evening it is tolerated to park there. But again, check the road signs.

Blu line

Spaces limited with a blue line are those where you have to pay an hourly ticket. Prices differ from city to city (Milan and Turin are much more expensive than Rome, for example) and from area to area. In order to understand the correct rate, check the closest sign to the parking place you are about to leave your car.

street sign
In this area, you pay 1.30 euros per hour to park

How to pay

There are several ways to pay. In some cities, you can pay via smart phone or but a parking ticket at a Newsagent’s or Tobacconist’s, a shop that exibit a black T on the front and generally sells stamps, cigarettes and everything regulated under the Monopoly laws.

Tobacconist
Italian Tobacconist’s

Or, if you cannot find one in the nearby, look for an automatic machine. It looks like this

Automatic machine
Automatic machine

Insert the coins, press ok and you’ll get a ticket to place on your dashboard. In some cities, these machines require also the plate number, in Italian Targa. So when you read “inserire targa” you have to dial the plate number.

Ticket
Ticket with date and parking expiring hour

It is generally tolerated to arrive 15′ after the expiring hour, but try not to do it. It is really easy to get a fine. And make sure the ticket is well visible on the dashboard. I once got one because my ticket was not visible on the dashboard. And you do not want to waste money on a fine, do you?

You may also like:

  • Parco Dora: from post industrial site to amazing urban parkParco Dora: from post industrial site to amazing urban park
  • How to visit Italy during Covid-19: regions divided by coloursHow to visit Italy during Covid-19: regions divided by colours
  • Vico Equense: 5 places to eat in the Naples gulfVico Equense: 5 places to eat in the Naples gulf

Filed Under: All Categories, How to, Travel Tips Tagged With: Italia, italy, park, visit italy

Previous Post: « Visit the Sorrento Coast on a budget
Next Post: Shopping in Turin: the market of Piazza Benefica »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Click on the map to see the related posts

Follow us!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Subscribe the newsletter and Get the Beta version of the shopping file with factory outlets and shops at discounted prices!

Please check your incoming mail or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Hi, my name is Lori. I'm 100% Italian. In this blog I will share secret places to visit, tips on how to save money visiting my country and how to experience the Bel Paese just like an Italian. Read More…

Footer

Links & disclosure on this site

All links on this site are published at my editorial discretion. Requests for links alongside samples will be refused, and links alongside brand mentions are not guaranteed, or may be for brand affiliate programes. Where payment or product has been received links will be attributed nofollow and full disclosure will be made. Requests to edit links may result in the content being removed completely.

GDPR Compliance

Copyright © 2023 · Foodie Pro & The Genesis Framework