Pisa's ZTL runs 24 hours a day, every day, and the camera doesn't care that you only wanted a photo of the Tower. Unless your hotel puts your plate on the list, each gate you pass is a fine of at least €83.
I'd leave the car at the Pisa Mover car parks by the airport: €3.20 for 18 hours from October to May, with a return shuttle ticket included. It's five minutes to Pisa Centrale, then a walk or a bus to the Tower.
Parking in Pisa: A 24-hour ZTL, then €2.50 at the kerb
1. Treat the old town as closed
The ZTL (limited traffic zone) covers the centre on both banks of the Arno: San Francesco, Santa Maria, Sant'Antonio and San Martino, plus the CEP bridge. The cameras run 00:00–24:00, every day. In summer a night ZTL also closes the Lungarni, 22:00–03:00.
2. Let the hotel send your plate
Guests of licensed accommodation may drive in. Under the rules in force since March 2023, a hotel inside the zone has six hours from your arrival to enter the plate on the city portal. An older guide says midnight of the next working day; I'd go with the shorter one and email the plate with the booking. A foreign car needs no sticker and no form of its own.
3. Ask for the €12 guest pass
The same 2023 rules give guests a Pisamo pass: €12 for 24 hours in any blue bay in the municipality, coast included. Each host gets only as many passes as it has rooms, so ask when you book.
4. Read the zone before you pay
Blue lines in the centre charge Monday to Saturday, 08:00–20:00. Zone A3, the one near the sights, is €2.50 for the first hour and €3.50 for every hour after, with 20 minutes free. A1 and B are €0.75 an hour, A2 €1.60. Three hours in A3 is €9.50; eight hours is €27. Pay at the meter, in the Telepass app, or with a €50 Europark card from the Pisamo counter at Via Cesare Battisti 53.
5. Skip the yellow bays on Via Santa Maria
On Via Santa Maria, Via della Faggiola, Via Cardinale Maffi, Via Porta Buozzi and part of Via Boschi, the bays are yellow and for residents only. The guest pass doesn't cover them.
6. Pick a garage by the hour
Pisamo's Piazza dei Miracoli car park on Via Cammeo has 350 spaces, open 06:30–23:30, at €3.50 an hour; I found no day cap. Four hours is €14. By the station, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II is €3 an hour, €19 a day, open 24 hours, with a 2.05 m roof in a 2018 listing. Andrea del Sarto is the cheap one at €1.50 an hour.
The classic mistake is following the sat nav to the Tower. It takes you straight through a gate.
Car parks worth knowing
| Car park | Price | Height | EV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piazza dei Miracoli, Via Cammeo (Pisamo)Via Cammeo 51, behind the Piazza dei Miracoli; 350 spaces, cars only. Open 06:30–23:30 daily | €3.50 an hour (Telepass list, 2026); no day cap published. A 2018 listing gave €2. Height not published. | not published | Not published. |
| Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II (station)Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, by Pisa Centrale; open 24 hours, CCTV, Telepass lanes; 380 spaces and operator Saba in a 2018 listing | €3 an hour, €19 a day. Height 2.05 m in the 2018 listing. | 2.05 m | Not published. |
| Andrea del Sarto (Pisamo)Entrance from Via delle Cascine, east of the centre; 183 spaces. 08:00–20:00 in a 2018 listing | €1.50 an hour, the same in the 2018 listing and the 2026 Telepass list. Height not published. | not published | Not published. |
| Via Piave multi-storeyVia Piave, central; 120 spaces | €3.50 an hour (Telepass list). Hours and height not published. | not published | Not published. |
| Pisa Mover Aurelia and Goletta (park and ride)Via Colombaie (Aurelia) and Via di Goletta 50 (Goletta), by the airport and the FI-PI-LI exit; open 24 hours. The Mover runs to Pisa Centrale in about 5 minutes | 18 hours with one return Mover ticket: €3.20 October–May, €4.40 June and September, €6 July–August, €1.20 Sundays and holidays; extra hour €0.30–€0.50, extra return ticket €1 (up to four). Aurelia's covered deck 2.40 m in 2018. | 2.4 m | Not published. |
The cheapest way to park, by how long you stay
| If you stay | Cheapest | Cost | Watch out |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 hours in the centre | Andrea del Sarto (Pisamo) | €3 | |
| …and the cheapest central garage | Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II (station) | €6 | height 2.05 m |
| …and the kerb, for comparison | Kerb, zone A3 (near the sights) | €6 | A3 is €2.50 for the first hour and €3.50 for each hour after, 20 minutes free; A1 and B €0.75, A2 €1.60. Pay at the meter, by Telepass or with a €50 Europark card. Guests of licensed accommodation can buy a €12 pass for 24 hours in any blue bay. |
| A full day (10 h) | Pisa Mover Aurelia and Goletta (park and ride) | €3.20 | height 2.40 m · October–May, 18 hours incl. return Mover ticket; €6 in July–August |
| …and the cheapest central garage | Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II (station) | €19 | height 2.05 m |
| …and the kerb, for comparison | Kerb, zone A3 (near the sights) | €34 | A3 is €2.50 for the first hour and €3.50 for each hour after, 20 minutes free; A1 and B €0.75, A2 €1.60. Pay at the meter, by Telepass or with a €50 Europark card. Guests of licensed accommodation can buy a €12 pass for 24 hours in any blue bay. |
| 24 hours | Pisa Mover Aurelia and Goletta (park and ride) | €3.20 | height 2.40 m · October–May, 18 hours incl. return Mover ticket; €6 in July–August |
| …and the cheapest central garage | Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II (station) | €19 | height 2.05 m |
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Towed in Pisa: No published car pound, so phone first
1. Ring the municipal police
The Comune di Pisa lists 050 910811 (press 9) for the Polizia Municipale offices. If you think the car was stolen rather than towed, call 112.
2. Don't expect a published tariff
I couldn't find a car pound address, hours or towing price on the city, Pisamo or tourist-board pages. Ask the police where the car went before you pay for a taxi.
3. Read the event signs in June
For the Luminara on 16 June 2026, Via Santa Maria, Borgo Stretto, Corso Italia and ten more streets and squares became tow-away from 12:00. The Lungarni stayed tow-away until 14:00 the next day.
4. Budget for the camera, not the truck
A ZTL fine is €83 to €332 under the national highway code, plus the cost of sending it. It reaches a foreign plate by post, up to 360 days later.
In Pisa I'd worry about the gates long before the tow truck.
If your car has disappeared
- Who took it
- The Polizia Municipale (municipal police) enforces parking and the ZTL. Neither the city, Pisamo nor the tourist board publishes who tows, where the car pound is or what it costs
- Phone
- Polizia Municipale offices (Comune di Pisa directory; press 9): +39 050 910811
Emergency, if you think the car was stolen: 112 - Collect it at
- No car pound address is published. Ask the Polizia Municipale which yard has the car. For ZTL and parking permits, the Pisamo counter is at Via Cesare Battisti 53.
- Hours
- Not published.
- What it costs
- Towing and storage fees: not published. A ZTL fine is €83–€332 plus notification costs under the national highway code; the 2026 update of fines was suspended. Notices can reach a foreign plate up to 360 days later.
- Bring
- Nothing is listed for visitors. I would bring my driving licence, passport and the rental contract, and ring the hire company first.
EV charging in Pisa: Pay the meter, and check the gate list
1. Pay blue bays like everyone
Electric and hybrid cars pay the same tariffs, at the same hours, on Pisa's blue lines. There's no free bay for them.
2. Don't assume an EV opens the ZTL
One guide, last updated in 2024, puts electric vehicles on the free permanent white list. Two others say that covers electric rental vehicles only, after authorisation from the ZTL office. I'd treat my own EV as an ordinary car and let the hotel register it.
3. Find chargers in an app
The city publishes no charger map and no tariff. A council resolution of 12 September 2024 lets operators put posts on public land for ten years and set their own prices. Read the screen before you plug in.
I'd arrive with enough charge to reach the Pisa Mover car park and back.
Where to charge
- Public chargers: no city map or tariff — Across the city; operators install on public land under a council resolution of 12 September 2024. Concessions run ten years and each operator sets its own price. No count of posts is published. Use a charging app and read the screen
- Blue bays: EVs pay — All blue-line zones, centre and coast. Electric and hybrid cars pay the same tariffs and hours as any other car
- ZTL: EV access disputed — Old-town ZTL gates. A guide updated in 2024 lists electric vehicles on the free white list; two others limit it to electric rental vehicles with authorisation. Treat a private EV as an ordinary car
Free parking in Pisa: Sundays, the Pisa Mover and the stadium park
1. Park free on Sundays
Blue lines in the centre are free on Sundays and public holidays. Saturday counts as a working day.
2. Ride the Pisa Mover in
The two Pisa Mover car parks are Aurelia and Goletta. Eighteen hours with a return Mover ticket costs €3.20 from October to May, €4.40 in June and September, €6 in July and August, and €1.20 on Sundays and holidays. Extra return tickets are €1. A couple in October pays €4.20; the station garage would be €19.
3. Try Pietrasantina, but read the sign
Park Pietrasantina, north of the walls, is the car and coach park closest to the Tower, about 700 m away. Telepass lists it as free; a 2026 rental guide says it charges by the hour or day. Bus 25 runs to the Lungarni every 15 minutes, 10:00–19:15, April to October.
4. Don't count on a free hotel space
I found no hotel whose own site promises free parking. Booking sites say it; I don't.
Every price on this page was checked on 12 October 2026; where Pisa publishes nothing, I've said so.
Free or nearly-free spots
Sundays and holidays on the kerb
Centre blue lines charge Monday to Saturday 08:00–20:00 and are free on Sundays and public holidays. The ZTL still applies.
Pisa Mover on Sundays: €1.20
On Sundays and holidays, 18 hours at Aurelia or Goletta with a return Mover ticket is €1.20; Monday to Saturday it's €3.20 (October–May), €4.40 (June, September) or €6 (July–August).
Park Pietrasantina, by the stadium
About 700 m from the Tower. Telepass and a 2018 guide list it as free; a 2026 rental guide says hourly or daily rates. Bus 25 to the Lungarni every 15 minutes, 10:00–19:15, April–October.
Via Paparelli: free or €1 an hour
A 2018 guide gave 750 free spaces, closed on Wednesday and Saturday for the market; the 2026 Telepass list shows €1 an hour. Read the sign.
⚠ The small print on 'free' parking
- The ZTL runs 00:00–24:00 every day with cameras at about 15 gates. In summer a night ZTL closes the Lungarni 22:00–03:00: nightly in June and July, Fridays, Saturdays and pre-holidays in May, August and September.
- Hotel deadline: the city's 2023 rules give a hotel inside the ZTL six hours from your arrival to enter the plate; a 2018 guide says midnight of the next working day. The newer city rule wins.
- Via Santa Maria, Via della Faggiola, Via Cardinale Maffi, Via Porta Buozzi and part of Via Boschi have yellow residents' bays that the €12 guest pass does not cover.
- Garage prices have moved: Via Cammeo was €2 an hour in 2018 and is €3.50 on the 2026 Telepass list. Old blog prices are wrong.
- I could not open Pisamo's or the city's own parking pages on 12 October 2026; prices here come from Telepass's lists and named guides, and hotels with free parking on their own sites: none found.
- On Luminara day (16 June) the Lungarni, Borgo Stretto, Corso Italia and Via Santa Maria become tow-away from 12:00; in 2026 the Lungarni stayed so until 14:00 on 17 June.
Take these places with you
Every place on this page as a file you can keep — car parks with their prices, the free and park-and-ride spots, the chargers and the pound.