With car in small towns

Jukka

New member
How the drive car in small towns ? Can I drive in town or must I leave car outside the town.
For exam san Gimignano
 
Most small towns have closed their historical centers to cars, so you need to find parking outside of the center and walk around. San Gimignano for sure does not allow cars inside the walls! As soon as you arrive into the small towns, look for the "P" signs that indicate where there are parking lots to leave your car. The centers that restrict traffic are called "ZTL", zones that limit traffic. You never want to keep driving into any center that says it has a ZTL (like Florence, Siena, Pisa, Lucca, etc) because you will receive fines later on, no matter where you are. The local government has cameras installed that take photos of all cars and check them against those that have permits to enter the ZTL area and rental car companies give out your info, since they know who the car was rented to at a certain time on a specific date. So you might get a fine months or years after the violation, and it will ruin the memories of your trip. So don't plan on driving in any of the small towns, park outside and walk - some are small and the walks are short!
 
Hi !
Thank you very much for your answer !
What documents are needed if you come to Italy to drive a car? Are there any car accessories that must be in the car when driving in Italy? How tolls are paid, how to choose the right posrti where to drive?
Jukka
 
Where are you driving from? Generally you need an EU driving license or, if not resident in EU, then an international permit that accompanies your own country’s driving license.
As far as accessories, the only requirement are snow chains from November through April.
As for tolls, go into lanes at the toll booths that have blue signs to pay with cash or card - avoid the yellow colored lanes with “Telepass” written on it since those require you have a special box device inside your car that allows you to pay tolls once a month paying direct from your bank account. Only people who drive a lot get those to speed up passage on the toll entry and exit lanes. I always pay with cash for short drives or card on longer drives.
 
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