wrenwood

Do I trust Google Maps that they are sending me the right way so I don't drive in a "no drive" zone?

From Castellina in Chianti Google sends me in on Via Senese to Viale del Poggio Imperiale to Via Romana, to Via Maggio, left on Lungarno Soderini, right over the River on Via del Moro, left on Via delle Belle Donne, right on Via Degli Avelii.

Is that an OK way?

socaltraveler

I would consider parking at whatever train station is the closest to Florence, and taking the train in. No ZTL worries, no map confusion.

wrenwood

I think we have already decided to park here as recommended by our tour guide. We will meet him at 8, so it will be an early start, I don't want to risk missing a train or bus or something.

kybourbon

>>>Is that an OK way? <<<

I doubt it. Google doesn't care if they are routing you through the ZTL. They are routing for the destination you enter, not for possible traffic violations.

Your tour guide will likely have their own ZTL pass to enter the ZTL or be using public transport so ZTL isn't an issue they are concerned about either.

Some parking garages have agreements about registering license plates. You would have to check with the facility about route.

wrenwood

Tour guide said that SMN is as far as you can drive into Florence without a ZTL pass. So I know we can drive there, it's just which route..............

ellenem

wrenwood,

Certainly SMN is as far as you can drive in Florence without a ZTL pass . . . if approaching from the north!

The route you described from Google is the direct route from the south which takes you right through the center of the city. As soon as you crossed the river, you would be in trouble.

Try dragging the route on Google maps to the west at Porto Romana (looks like a traffic circle) from Viale del Poggio Imperiale to Viale Francesco Petrarca, following this main avenue all the way to the Ponte della Vittoria and finally along viale Fratelli Roselli to approach the station from the northwest.

wrenwood

What about Via Senense past Boboli?

ellenem

I don't understand what you mean by "Via Senense past Boboli".

vespacurves

If you follow the signs for the train station, you will find parking and you won't enter any ZTLs. If you can't find street parking, there are privately owned garages nearby where you pay by the hour.

The sign indicating the train station often shows a picture of a train, but sometimes it just has the logo of "FS" on it (Ferrovia Stazione)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...tazione_fs.svg

You can also use the Google maps feature to call up the location of the SMN train station, and then do a search on the maps feature for "parking lots near train station". Google will pinpoint some for you.

vespacurves

Try this link

http://www.garagedellenazioni.it/garage%20ingl.html

and here are the addresses of some parking garages near SMN that you can plug into your GPS or map out on Google


Via delle Porte Nuove, 21
50144 Florence

Garage la Stazione
Via Luigi Alamanni, 3


Garage Il Prato
Via Il Prato, 47

You should also familiarize yourself with a map of the ZTL area of Florence:

http://www.florence-on-line.com/maps...g-map-ztl.html

kybourbon

Here's a map from the tourist board website. You can see the train station area is white (around #'s 1&2). Your Google route goes through ZTL. You need to figure out a different route.

https://ztl.comune.fi.it/tzi/index.jsp

Zoom in on this map a bit and click aree ZTL and varchi ZTL.

http://news.comune.fi.it/muoversi/re...LITAETRASPORTI

vespacurves

The tourist board map also shows a big "P" for parking right behind the train station, which probably won't have filled up by 7.30 in the morning.

If you have never driven to Florence before, and are trying to enter the city during the morning rush hour, you need to give yourself plenty of time to find your destination and find parking.

Where is the tour going? If it is a walking tour of Florence, maybe you'd like to spend the night before in Florence. Sounds extravagant if you already have lodgings in Chianti, but making an 8am appointment in Florence means getting up at 5 in the morning to be sure not to miss it.

wrenwood

Google says about an hour from Castellina, we are giving ourselves 2 hours. We're morning people so getting up at 5AM isn't that bad for us.

Our guide says "Take the "viali" which is the ring road around Florence to via Nazionale"

Is the "Viale" the SS67?

According to the maps, it looks like via Nazionale is in "C" ZTL.

ellenem

The viale is the route I suggested, which is indeed the ring around central Florence that borders a good portion of the ZTL. The portion near SMN is SS67, but south of the river SS67 runs west of Florence.

Via Senese to Viale del Poggio Imperiale to Viale Francesco Petrarca to the Ponte della Vittoria to Viale Fratelli Roselli

Or just use the parking at Porta Romana (where Viale del Poggio Imperiale meets Viale Francesco Petrarca) and walk, taxi, or bus to SMN.

kybourbon

This is supposed to be a real time traffic map. Some things are preselected on the map. To add the ZTL, scroll down in the box on the right and click varchi ztl, then click aggiorna.

http://togo.055055.it/

wrenwood

ellenem, I'm beginning to like the idea of parking at Porta Romana ~ is it a large parking area?

Busses often? It seems to be about 30 minutes whether one walks or takes a bus, that might depend on the weather.

We are actually meeting at the Accademia "Reserved Door" ~ any idea how much a taxi should cost us?

wrenwood

the parking area doesn't look very big on Google Satellite ?

ellenem

Kybourbon's most recent map is very helpful. It shows the parking to the north side of SMN.

Yes, the Porta Romana parking is not that big, but you will be there early in the morning. The viale is to the left of the porta as you approach from the south. You will see if there is room and can then choose to continue to SMN.

There is a taxi stand at Porta Romana, and a few different buses (I've taken #11 from a stop just inside the porta. Also the #12 and #13 run in opposite directions along the viale) as well, but I couldn't advise as to their availability at the early hour you plan to be there.

How many of you are "us"?

vespacurves

Personally I would not want to park all the way on the other side of Florence and face a 30 minute walk through a town I didn't know if I couldn't find a taxi or couldn't find someplace open to sell me a bus ticket -- especially if it turned out to be raining.

The tourist board map that Kybourbon gave a link to shows a parking lot behind the train station. If you are running late, you will surely find a taxi there to take you to your meeting point.

kybourbon

There is also the tram line which runs from the center out to the autostrada every few minutes (3 minutes during peak time and 12 minutes at night). There is supposed to be a free lot in Scandicci at the terminal Villa Costanza. I imagine that lot fills up, but I don't know how early. I think travel time to the train station is 20 minutes and then you would still have to get to the Accademia.

http://www.gestramvia.it/linea-1/tracciato.html

http://www.ataf.net/en/timetables-an...ea=T1&LN=en-US