ekc

Matto, I can't help with hotel recs (we stayed at Della Rosa Prati) but I can an excellent place for pizza if you are looking for something more casual with the kids. It is Orfeo, a pizzeria ristorante on Via Carducci. Very good pizza and a fun relaxed trattoria.

MattoPaolo

Great stuff guys, thank you! Zeppole, the Parizzi suites are on the other side of town and I'd really like to keep us only a short walk away from the Parco Ducale. However, the Hotel Daniel is near that area, so I will check that out. The open air museum looks cool, but we will be in Parma in July. As for Orfeo, I have read nothing but wonderful reviews about it on TripAdvisor and other sites. The hotels I'm looking at are all close by, and I certainly plan on taking the family for lunch or dinner there!

ciaojulie

Hi Mattopaolo,

I haven't forgotten about you! It has been exceptionally cold and snowy here (much of Europe is experience extreme cold/snow). I still plan on going by the hotels you are interested in to check out their locations. Looks like mid week it will get above freezing so maybe I can walk around a bit then. Hope you can wait a few more days...

MattoPaolo

No worries ciaojulie! Grazie Millie! The more I've looked at it, the more I've narrowed it between the Hotel Stendhal and the Park Hotel Toscanini. I believe, ironically, they are sister hotels. They both have exceptional locations in terms of walking around the city center, yet they have parking for our car and doing the daytrips. The reviews on tripadvisor seem quite positive for both. My only fear, is that they are within the ZTL. Is there a way of finding this out? In your opinion is one better situated than the other in terms of driving in and out of the city?

zeppole

If you go to the very, very bottom of this link, you can find a link to a pdf map of the ZTL for Parma:

http://www.infomobility.pr.it/index...._azzurro_block

Here is some added info about parking:

http://turismo.comune.parma.it/tport...00COM-AAAAACYD

and here is a link to the location of the 3 video cameras:

http://d.p.forumcommunity.net/?t=31060968

However, I would also e-mail the hotels directly before booking anything to ask if they are in a ZTL. If so, and they offer to arrange to obtain a pass for you to drive through them, up to you, but I wouldn't bother. I'd just look for a hotel outside a ZTL that isn't too far a walk to the city center.

In general, a town like Parma only blocks off access to the oldest parts of its historic center, which in Parma's case is well defined. Much of the historic center is ringed by business hotels, and Parma is an important business city for Italy, so it won't be hard to find a hotel outside the ZTL that is easy walking to the center.

But it pays to ask the hotel before you book, even if you end up booking through a website.