This is rotten luck but the best course is probably to pay up and forget about it.

Moving on, tell us about the "coolest oltrarno neighborhood," as it sounds great!

I can't agree Tarquin, that it is rotten luck the OP knew or was aware of the sign and although they exited the area there was still a violation. I just hope this is a lesson to others and the OP pays up as I'm sure they will.

I've often wondered what would happen if you went directly to the police station and explained the problem. It might not make an ounce of difference -- I once had an entire roomful of Italian police apologize profusely for being unable to rescind my parking ticket.

But since cameras routinely snap pictures of holders with permits from hotels to drive through ZTLs, and then don't issue fines, it strikes me that it might be possible to get a "retroactive" permission if you head directly to the polizia office.

if you traveled for 12 days and received roughly a $120 fine, that's a $10 per day "surcharge" for your momentary lapse, and I agree that the in the whole scheme of things, it was better to have been in Italy and gotten the charge to have been elsewhere having less fun.

For travelers to Lucca, there is a parking lot right near the train station, right OUTSIDE the walls, that has no ZTL risks.

We intend to pay the ticket, of course. I reported this mainly as an amusing anecdote - I wouldn't say we learned any lesson at all! (Nor will we ever turn ourselves in if this happens again, but that's an interesting suggestion.)

We weren't looking for parking when we erred - we were just blindly following our clueless GPS, which clearly wasn't familiar with the law. There was plenty of street parking, in addition to the lot that pizzocchieri mentioned (near the bike rentals?)

Our friends, however, DID have rotten luck - they had pay for three tickets they received in Chianti almost two years after their visit, plus a surcharge for the collection agency...almost $300 per ticket. And they had no idea that they had ever done anything wrong until they saw the photos.

--

Onto more pleasant memories of the Oltrano: We stayed for seven days at the Palazzo Magnoni Feroni, a few blocks away from where our son was living on the quaint Via Maffia. http://www.palazzomagnaniferoni.com/ Upgraded to an 1100 square foot suite (for the price of their smallest room) in a true palace in a non-touristy artsy neighborhood. Magical twinkly view from rooftop might be the best we've seen in Europe - sunsets were extraordinary. The owners also have vineyard and we received several complimentary bottles of wine.

Best restaurants in the 'hood: Trattoria Quattro Leone (sit outside) and Trattoria Pandomonio (sit in the garden room, meet Mama). Still dreaming about both of these meals (reservations required). Best local, affordable spots: Gusta pizza (we are pizza snobs,this is the real deal - fave of the college students), Gelateria la Carraia (arguably the best in town).

We also had great upgrade karma when it came to the flight (another story) and the car. For the price of the cheapest car we received a fabulous little B class Mercedes. One day trip was the previously mentioned lawless visit to Lucca/Pisa. Then the following day we accidentally happened upon a really fun wine festival in Panzano. Had incredible duck parpadelle that afternoon in Chianti, also bought some terrific wine that we're still craving - will try to find the name of those places.

And, because we were visiting our night owl son, we never got up before noon or 1pm, so lots of long romantic strolls at night and no jet lag...super relaxing seven days.

I can come back with more details about art, shopping and more food as soon as I finish my India trip report on the Asia board - started it six weeks ago and I think my readers are getting impatient!

Thanks for reminding me again why I don't want to rent a car and drive in Italy - at least anywhere near a city!

We got a notice from the rental car agency that we had a ticket coming from Bologna. But the Italians had a year from the date of notice to send us the actual ticket. And we never got it! Whew! We lucked out!

The point of these stories is to be aware the ZTLs exist, and that it is VERY easy to miss the signs and get a ticket. We are not complaining about it. Just want people to know about it.

As Andrew says, avoid driving into Italian cities! Besides, the train takes you right into the center of town, anyway, with no parking problems.

Thanks for the good info, crosscheck, I will save for our next trip to Florence. Strange that it is not one of my favourite places but I feel drawn to return regularly. Not sure what to call that syndrome!

Funny, another poster just responded to the part of my trip report where we missed a right turn for the Due Ponti (as I remember) and inadvertently went through an arch and smack into Siena proper. We KNEW we weren't supposed to be there...but kept circling around and around trying to figure out how to get out! This happened in early October. Am sure not resting on my laurels, but fully expect to get something at some point. I only hope that like some posters, some snafu with the police administration leads to no ticket after all. Even if you're aware that you're not supposed to drive certain places you can accidentally end up right there. Now am crossing fingers.....