How to Handle a Ticket from Italy

As part of a 2007 trip through Italy, I rented a van to drive from Tuscany to Florence. The car rental drop-off location and our hotel were located inside of the city of Florence. Unfortunately, Florence has "Zona a Traffico Limitato" - "ZTL" or Limited Traffic Zones - where you can't drive without a permit. Show up on one of the traffic lights, and you'll receive a letter with a fine for 82 Euros. And the Italians are good - you WILL get caught.

You'll first hear about this a couple of months after you return, via a ticket mailed to your home address. It points to the European Municipality Outsourcing website where you can see pictures of you driving in the zone, your license plate, an english version of the citation, and other fascinating information. Oh joy!

But panic not. If you were driving to your hotel located in the ZTL, then you had short term permission to be in the ZTL. The best thing would have been to discuss this with the hotel ahead of time - but not all hotels have this in mind. Since you probably already have the ticket, call the hotel, and request a letter explaining that you were their guests at the time of the infraction, and that you should be excused.

There are a collection of other forms you'll need to fill out - do so, staple the letter from the hotel on the top, and send the packet back to Italy police via certified mail. In time, you'll received a letter from European Municipality Outsourcing stating that the fine was canceled.

Italy is a beautiful country - but driving downtown Florence can be challenging. Don't let a ZTL ticket spoil your trip.