ZTL accommodation

D

Dr Kirill

New member
Dear Lourdes,
Parking seems to be endless topic :-) I have honestly read as much as I could within this forum, but did not see an answer on my question, so here it is: I have reserved a room through a hotel booking site and contacted the venue by email, asking about parking (they are located within ZTL). I had asked about some options of which I 'd learnt in this forum. The answer I received told me that, literally -

you may arrive with the car, unload your luggage and then park. The problem is that by coming into this area, a camera will take a picture of your car license plate, resulting in a traffic violation. You can only cancel this ticket by parking in one of the manned garages I mentioned: Bargello or Ponte Vecchio. The unmanned garage of Fortezza fiera does not offer this service and neither do Beccaria or Libertà....

Well, Bargello Garage is up to 50 Euro per day, and I really look for something cheaper, if not free. Do you have any idea, why the answer does not mention an option, well described by you in this forum - that the hotel may "validate" your car in the police for couple hours within the ZTL? May this be because this is not really the hotel, but rather a kind of appartments accommodation ( I am trying to create an excuse for this, otherwise they just seem to be selling me to one of these garages:-)).
Thank you, very much for your response!
 
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Ciao Dr. Kirill,

Yes, parking and the ZTL area in Florence generate a lot of doubts and questions - I have to work on an article that covers all of the basic that would be a good starting point, putting together the most frequently asked one ;).

As far as the ZTL area: you can arrive and enter the ZTL area if you're expected at a hotel, unload luggage, then head back OUTSIDE of the ZTL area to park.
Your car's license plate will obviously be photographed by the automatic gates and be checked against those with permits - since you won't have one, you'll get a ticket.

It is the HOTEL that then communicates your license plate to the police, with date and time, so that it will be taken off the list..... but if you're staying at an apartment, then it is the owner who is not willing (or able) to do this communication. That is why they're recommending to do the next best thing, and to head to a private garage where the garage will be able to do the same that the hotel does.... the parking garages of Beccaria, Liberta', Fortezza Fiera, etc. are public lots, they are not manned. That is why they don't offer that service.

So your options are:
1. go to the private garages IF you want to drive in AND park inside the ZTL.
2. do not drive into the ZTL at all. Park outside at a lot, then take a taxi, bus or walk to your apartment.
3. wait until after 7:30pm to head into the ZTL to drop off luggage. That is when the ZTL area goes "green" and access is open to anyone, regardless of permit. You can also park within the ZTL overnight IF you manage to find a spot... but you need to be back out of the ZTL area by 7am so that you won't be caught inside and get a ticket.

Did I manage to answer your doubts?
 
Thank you so very much!-)

I hope this is the case when the owner is not able to help with the communication to police.... What I am going to do is to park the car for just a couple hours at SMN and to take taxi from there to ZTL, then probably to re-locate the car to some cheaper place for next few days. I am thinking about SMN because I think I would be able to easily get a taxi there (my guess is that I will not have to call for a taxi at SMN since none of us speaks Italian)- please, comment if something sounds stupid)
And thank you so much for all you are doing for us here! I am afraid I will have more questions, but I'll try to post them within the proper sections.
Thank you, once again!
 
Actually, to get to the SMN parking lot you have to be very careful how you get there, as the ZTL area is all around it. Where do you eventually need to get to?
You might not need the taxi.... but if you do, you can also park at the lots located under Piazza Beccaria and under Piazza Ghiberti - there is a taxi stand right on Piazza Beccaria, in front of the Unicredit Bank.

During the day and around the center, most of the taxi stands have taxis there... it is in the evenings that you might get to one and not find a taxi.

If you're staying at the Bargello, the parking garages at Piazza Beccaria are the closest and I'd recommend those from the start!

Feel free to post your other questions here as well!
 
Dear Lourdes,
Thakn you, once again. The whole idea of parking/taxi is becuase we will be on rather long trip therefore some bags/suitcases will be with us. The appartment I have booked at this point is at Via Dei Neri 33. We will come to Florence from Viareggio, and I actually see no difference which parking lot to take for a short term - what I care about is how to move our things/ourselves from a parking lot to taxi, that is why I was thinking about SMN. If you believe that Beccaria is more convenient to drive to then I would sure take your advice.
 
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