Parking in Italy: no-nonsense, essential guide with all you need to know as a tourist

All you need to know about parking in Italy as a visitor: where to park, how to pay, what parking signs you need to know.

If you are planning on driving in Italy, chances are you have been reading articles about parking in Italy and are now breaking out in worry about what parking your car is going to be like.

I understand! The web does an incredible job at terrifying people about Italian roads and parking but I promise: it is not as complicated as it may seem!

Parking in Italy of course comes with specific rules of the road you need to know and parking signs that are likely different form the ones you have back home but once you know a few important things about it, you’ll be good to go!

Today, I want to share these essential things you need to know about parking in Italy in what I hope is a short and to the point guide that will help you get a a car and park with confidence.

Disclaimer: like all things legal, only refer to official sources, in this case Codice della Strada. This article is just a practical guide with practical tips: make sure you familiarize yourself with local driving law from official sources before you drive.

Parking in Italy TL:DR

In general, in Italy, you can park in:

Parcheggi: designate parking areas that can be open air or covered (parcheggio scoperto / parcheggio coperto). These are usually ticketed, either pay and display or with a ticket you collect when entering and pay before leaving – which is which depends on the individual place

On street: parking spaces on street are marked by colored lines. Blue line = paid; Yellow = disabled (with permit visibly displayed in the car; White = free (sometimes with a time limit)

You may need cash: if parking on street, it is common to need cash to operate the machine, usually a handful of euro (no copper coins usually, aim for 20c, 50c, 1 and 2 euro coins)

Good to know: In most towns, car access to the historic and central area is limited to residents and permit holders only; in these cases, parking areas are immediately outside of the city and you can go in on foot (small towns) or by public transport (big cities, park and ride). Parking areas are well indicated by P signs as you approach each town.

Does it sound too simple to be true? It is and isn’t, as we will see below, but truly, if you know nothing else but the rules above, you’ll cover most situations!

Parking / no parking signs you need to know

When looking for parking in Italy it is paramount to look for signs that state whether you can / cannot park in a certain area.

Parking / no parking signs come in many varieties and since this falls into legal territory, it is outside of the scope of this website to go fully into it.

However, there are two or three signs that are useful to know and that may not be as self explanatory as others:

Divieto di sosta: do not park

Divieto di fermata: do not stop (not even briefly), therefore also do not park

These signs are round, with a blue background, a red outer circle and one or two red bars across as if to ‘cross out’ the opportunity to park.

In addition, you may also have panels showing a tow truck in operation, to reinforce the message.

Street signs in Italy often convey more than one message and this is when they may seem confusing. For instance, you can have a sing that says no parking in specific hours, no parking on certain days, no parking unless you have permit etc.

Despite this, once you know what the main non parking / do not stop signs are, you usually have the gist of the situation and should be able to avoid parking where you can’t.

Parking lots in Italy

Parking lots in Italy are very much like anywhere else, in the sense that they come in the form of open air areas or single story/multi story indoor ones.

Open air ones are called parcheggio, parcheggio scoperto, area di sosta. These are indicated by a street sign with a large P on it.

Covered ones are called: parcheggio coperto. These are indicated by large P signs with a small ‘roof’ on top.

Open air parking can be free or more usually ticketed: each operates differently so in some cases it is pay and display and you pay at the start, while in other cases you get a ticket upon entering and pay at the end.

Parking areas can be manned or unmanned but even in manned ones it is good practice not to leave valuables in the car. This is not specific to Italy, we have no special concerns here about cars being broken into, but it is nonetheless safer.

On street parking in Italy

If parking on street in Italy you need to first figure out if the road allows it.

The first thing to check are ‘no parking signs’ – these come in several forms, such as a big P crossed our by a large red line or a triangular sign with a tow-truck

You also want to check for divieto di sosta and divieto di fermata, which means these are roads you are not allowed to stop in, usually to avoid bottlenecks.

once you are good to go in terms of signs, you want to look at the color of the lines:

Yellow = reserved to the disabled. These spots are specific to permit holders so if you think qualify for one, it is worth contacting the municipality in advance to see if you can get hold of a temporary one.

Blue = paid parking, usually pay and display

White = free parking. In some cases, free parking comes with a time limit. In this case, use your time disk to show time of arrival or, if you don’t have one, just write on a piece of paper day and time of parking and out it on the dashboard so that parking attendants can see it.

On street parking in Italy is often parallel parking.

If there are no lines at all and no signs stating otherwise, you can usually park.

Pay and display parking in Italy

Pay and display parking machines in Italy are reasonably self explanatory except for one thing: they want you car reg plate!

In order to get your ticket, you need to input your car reg or the machine won’t do it: I usually keep a photo of the reg plate on my phone for this very reason.

Machines accepting cards are becoming more and more common but are not yet everywhere; having cash on you is recommended. Coins accepted are usually 10c coins and up: coppers (1, 2 and 5c) are usually not.

Safety in Italy’s parking areas

There is no general rule when it comes to the safety of parking in Italy as this depends on the lot, place, time of day etc.

In general, it is good practice not to leave anything visible in the car and not show that you have things in the boot. If you just park your car and there is no visible signs of valuables in it, you’re usually ok.

If you leave luggage in the car, i sometimes take the extra precaution of reversing into the parking space so that it is not possible to open the trunk. I don’t do this just in Italy, it is my standard practice anywhere, but it can be a good one to know for extra peace of mind!

Parking on Italy’s Amalfi Coast and Cinque Terre

The areas of Amalfi Coast and Cinque Terre follow very much the same parking rules as anywhere else (not town center access by car; parking outside the town, usually paid, etc) but they come with an extra issue: crowds.

These ares receive too much tourism for the space available and this means that finding parking here is exceptionally hard in the busy season, as the spaces available simply are not sufficient for the demand.

In both these areas, i recommend to avoid driving entirely: if you do come here with a car, my recommendation is to find accommodation with free parking and not use the car to explore locally. If you do, try get to towns as early as possible to beat even early arrivals or be prepared to potentially have to park very far out or not even in the town, if its a busy day.

Parking in Italy’s big cities

Italian big cities usually have city centers that are closed to non city center residents and this means that arriving by cars to them require finding a parking solution outside of the center.

The exact details change from city to city but if driving into big center like Florence, Rome, Bologna etc the best way is to look for accommodation outside of the with parking and then explore by public transport to look for a ‘park and ride’ parking in your city of choice.

What about those tiny streets? How do I park there?

One of the biggest worries I hear from people traveling to Italy are the ‘tiny streets’ in medieval centers. Indeed, we do have some towns in Italy with small streets so it is possible you find yourself on roads that are much smaller that those you are used to; however, as we saw above, in the vast majority of cases, small towns with historic centers are closed to cars and therefore you won’t have to deal with anywhere to narrow.

If you do, which again it is possible, just go slow and, if you need to stop or even just slow down a lot to figure the situation out, use your hazard lights.

If you put them on, people will know to slow down/ stop themselves and that you are having difficulties and you’ll have time to make a plan of action.

Parking tickets in Italy

Getting a parking ticket can happen and in that case it is best to deal with it straight away as they don’t give up and will keep chasing you also once back home.

The easiest way to pay is usually in the local tabaccaio shop.

Is parking in Italy as wild as they say?

Parking is certain places in Italy can indeed be described as wild. In places like Rome and Naples, just to mention a couple of the most obvious, you’ll see cars parked in ways that are unexpected to say the least.

However, don’t worry: follow the P signs and dot NOT do what locals do and you’ll be ok!

Parking i Italy: essential no nonsense guide for visitors – pin this!