Arriving in Florence on a sunday with a rental car

olgamerc

New member
We are renting a car at Pisa airport on Saturday June 21 and after an overnight stay and touring Pisa and Lucca we will head to Florence on sunday evening. Our rental apartment is on Borgo San Lorenzo and we will use the car again on Monday to go to Siena and San Gimignano before finally returning the car in Florence that night.

After much reading about the ZTL and consulting our apartment owners, I'm still not clear on whether or not the ZTL is open to everybody on sunday evening around 7pm. We are planning on only accessing it to drop our luggage by the Mercato San Lorenzo and walking it to our apartment within the pedestrian area. The driver will then go try to park the car overnight by Piazzale Michelangelo and bus back to the apartment.

Is this a feasible plan? Will we be able to access without a permit for a little while? Or should we just park it overnight at the Mercato San Lorenzo parking? We are trying to save a bit of money here and there.

Thank you!

Olga
 
Ciao Olga,

Starting this past April 4 and valid until the first Sunday of October 2014, the hours for ZTL area have been extended for specific hours on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturday nights, between 11pm and 3am - so maybe that is why it isn't clear whether you can enter or not when you arrive.

So if you arrive on Sunday in Florence, you shouldn't have a problem - you can drop off passengers and then the car is parked outside the city center, you will be ok. The San Lorenzo parking is expensive, so yes, another location would be more ideal.

I'm not aware yet of any special event going up at the Piazzale that day or weekend so the driver should be ok in going up there to park... if he were to find problems with it being full or closed, there is parking in the streets below the piazzale as well as long the long boulevard that goes up from Piazza Ferrucci.

Will you be in Florence on the 24th? It is a city holiday, so parades, calcio storico in Pza. Santa Croce and fireworks at night from the Piazzale (that's why it will certainly be closed Tuesday the 24th).
 
Thank you, Lourdes.

That's great, that's one less thing to worry about. Yes, we will be there on the 24th., but we will return the car monday evening, so from then on just 5 wonderful days to enjoy the city on foot!

Thank you for the great, helpful forum and website.
 
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