Parking in Florence: Villa Costanza Park and Ride vs Garages

The three main choices compared

Every Firenze Parcheggi car park, including Parterre and the station one, has its entrance and exit outside the ZTL camera gates, according to the company's car park list. That matters, because a wrong turn into the ZTL costs more than any parking fee; our Florence ZTL guide explains the gates.

Villa Costanza park and ride

The car park's own page lists these car prices, repeating every 24 hours:

• first 15 minutes free;
• up to 1 hour €0.50;
• 1–4 hours €2;
• 4–10 hours €5;
• 10–24 hours €7;
• 7-day pass €20, 30-day pass €40.

It is open 24 hours a day, does not take reservations, and allows parking for up to 30 consecutive days. You reach it through the Villa Costanza toll booth on the A1 between the Firenze Scandicci and Firenze Impruneta exits, from the north or the south, without leaving the motorway; afterwards you can rejoin the A1 in either direction. Because you enter and leave through a motorway toll booth, read our autostrada tolls guide for how paying works in a rental car.

The tram into town

The car park is at the start of tram line T1, which runs to Santa Maria Novella station and on to Careggi, according to Feel Florence. The operator gives a ride of about 22 minutes to Santa Maria Novella, with trams every 6–8 minutes.

The GEST timetable has the first tram leaving Villa Costanza at 05:00. The last tram back towards Villa Costanza leaves Careggi at 00:12 from Sunday to Thursday and at 01:41 on Friday and Saturday nights, so check that you can still reach the car after a late dinner.

A tram ticket costs €2.00 per person and is valid for 90 minutes (Autolinee Toscane fares); our bus and tram tickets guide covers contactless payment and validation.

Parterre and the station car park

Parterre is a 24-hour multi-storey car park with 996 spaces on Via del Ponte Rosso, near Piazza della Libertà. The first hour costs €2.00 and is charged in full; after that it is €2.00 an hour, billed by the half hour, with a full-day rate of €15. The maximum vehicle height is 2.05 m. Feel Florence's car and ZTL page places it at the edge of the ZTL, linked to the centre by the C1 minibus.

The station car park is also open 24 hours, with 880 spaces, but charges €4.00 an hour (€3.80 with a bmove account) and has no daily rate. Twenty-four hours there would cost €96.

Which one for your trip

Worked costs for two adults, from the price lists above:

For the three-night case, the 7-day pass at €20 costs less than three 24-hour periods at €7. The table assumes one tram trip each way per person on the day trip and one each way for the stay; extra rides add €2.00 per person each. The Parterre figure assumes the €15 full-day rate covers each 24 hours; the operator does not say whether it is per calendar day, and if it is, a stay spread over four calendar days could cost €60.

• Day trip by car from elsewhere in Tuscany: Villa Costanza. You never leave the motorway, and the tram does the rest.
• Hotel stay with large suitcases: Ask your hotel first. If it is inside the ZTL, you may drive to it to unload and register your plate, then move the car to Parterre or a garage; the ZTL guide gives the rules. Parterre, at the edge of the centre, avoids carrying bags on the tram.
• Several nights, light luggage: Villa Costanza with the weekly pass.
• Only a quick stop at the station: the station car park, by the hour.

A free alternative

Feel Florence lists a free park-and-ride at Ponte a Greve, on Viale Pietro Nenni between the Coop supermarket and the Nenni-Torregalli tram stop on line T1. It also lists tram-served car parks at Via Sansovino and Viale Guidoni, and a car park at Via del Gelsomino served by bus 11. The city's page does not give capacity or hours for them, so treat them as a backup to Villa Costanza.

If you drive on to other Tuscan towns, speed cameras are the other fine that follows a rental car home; see our guide to Italy's Tutor and Autovelox cameras.