Hello Pauline, I am Janet and you told me all about Saturnia a few weeks ago. We are leaving Wednesday evening for Italy and I have one question --
do you remember a good place to park a car in Florence? I will be driving there from the West (Lucca) and don't want to get stuck in the city center.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kim,

Janet emailed me the question and I told her I would post it here in case someone has first hand experience. I heard on the AOL boards that there is a good parking lot in the train station, which is west of Florence - the direction she will be coming from Lucca. I heard it was a multi-level, pay parking lot. She would just follow the signs to the train station. Am I right?

We have friends who parked there in the late afternoon during the early Spring. They had no problem- I do wonder about finding space there in Summer. We will be needing to park there to get my sister to the train. In any case-Here's a map I found of parking garages in the city. http://www.firenzeparcheggi.it/f_pres.htm
Amy

Yes the Santa Maria Novella (train station lot) is soon after one enters the city. Sorry, you will have to enter the city for this lot, it's not to bad, just take a deep breath and try not to notice the 200 Vespa's surrounding you. It is really well marked so you should have no trouble. We parked there quite a few times in august and had no trouble finding a spot. Just remember to pay before you go back to your car. It's a good location as far as being fairly central to just about everything, just be a little aware of your surroundings since a few gypsies might try to lighten your load around this area. Have a great time.

Amy - thanks for the parking lot link. I am adding it to my parking page. This link takes you right to the map page: http://www.firenzeparcheggi.it/f_parcheggi.htm

Liz - since you mention gypsies, we have a new travel notes about pickpockets written by Phyllis from NY who has written several travel notes for us: http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/notes/phyllis_pickpockets.htm

I would still like the next person who goes to Florence to take detailed notes for this parking lot. Let me know if you just follow the signs for the train station and how big is the lot and can you miss it? Maybe a sample parking fee. And a few details about how you pay - some of those self service payment machines are difficult.

Thanks!!

Aside from the large parking garage under the train station, another place to park is the pay lot adjacent to Porto Romano. For those entering the city from the Firenze Certosa area, you'll be coming down the hill toward the city center. At the bottom of the hill there is a small circle.
You'll see the Porta Romana straight ahead of you. Just to the left is the entrance to an outdoor parking area. The further along you go, once into the area, the closer you are
to the city center. You can either walk into town from there or take a taxi or public transportation.

Martin Wenick
Italian Vacation Villas

The best parking in Florence is at the rail station, which has a garage of several levels underground. It may take lots of driving around inside to find a vacant space, so do allow time!

Just a brief thanks to Martin for the Porte Romano recomendation. We parked there today, and it was a 15 minute drive from Tarvanelle. The walk into town was 15 minutes (to Pitti). Circle at Porte Romano into the lot only mildly terrifying. Downside- very expensive (around $50)for the full day. Convenience was worth it. We're going to try the lot at the train station Sunday, so we'll update next week.

Amy!! You are posting from Italy!! How is the house! How is the vacation? That is one expensive parking lot. I am going to add it to my parking in Florence information, and will add your note about the price. I have never had to pay that much parking - even in the crowded Cinque Terre.

Still, it is Florence!!

Amy, you must have made a lire to dollar conversion error on the parking lot price - I sure hope so!! Martin from Italian Vacation Villas just emailed the following to me (he was having trouble getting on the message board):

"I've gone onto the web site for Firenze Parcheggi where the Porta Romana is one of the places described. For daily rates they list 2000 lire for the first hour and 3000 for each additional hour. For 24 hours the maximum you could come up with would be 71,000 lire which is about $32 these days. And these rates accord with what I recall the prices to be when we parked there earlier this year and last fall. The web site for parking in Florence is www.firenzeparcheggi.it It is in Italian but is a reasonably simple site to manipulate. People should click on "parcheggi" and a map of Florence comes up with the various parking sites. Next you click on the site in which you are interested and a list of rates comes on the screen."

Amy, if you saved your parking receipt, have a look at it again and give us the price in lire. If anyone else is going to Florence and can check this out, let us know. This is a well situated parking lot and should be great to use - if it is reasonably priced.

Here are the rates from the web site:

===== ITALIAN =====
TARIFFA ORARIA:
Lire 2.000 la prima e la seconda ora - Lire 3.000 le ore successive

ABBONAMENTI:
MENSILE (24 ore su 24) Lit. 200.000
SETTIMANALE (24 ore su 24) Lit. 70.000
GIORNALIERO (24 ore su 24) Lit. 18.000
MENSILE DIURNO (7,30 - 19,30) o (8,30 - 20,30)
GIORNALIERO NOTTURNO (19,00 - 9,00) Lit. 10.000
MENSILE NOTTURNO (19,00 - 9,00) Lit. 100.000
TARIFFA TURISTICA Lit. 18.000
===================
===== ENGLISH =====
HOURLY RATE:
2000 lire first and second hour, 3000 lire every subsequent hour ($1 first and second hour, $1.50 every subsequent hour)

PASSES:
MONTHLY (24 hours)
WEEKLY (24 hours)
DAILY (24 hours)
MONTHLY during the day (not overnight)
DAILY nights only
MONTHLY nights only
TOURIST RATE 18,000 lire ($9)
===================

But the tourist rate is listed under the passes section. Does this mean you can buy a day pass for $9?? Anyway, parking for 10 hours would be 28,000 lire - $14.

So lets hope Amy was confusing the parking price with what she paid for some leather gloves - otherwise some "extras" are being tacked on.

I just updated the web site page on Florence parking with the info from this thread. Thanks everyone!! http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/drive/parking_florence.htm