Bologna Parking: Where to Park Near Piazza Maggiore and How the ZTL Works

Do not drive into the center of Bologna. Piazza Maggiore sits inside the ZTL, the zona a traffico limitato, a limited traffic zone whose cameras check every plate from 7:00 to 20:00, and the fine arrives later by post, often through your rental company. Park at the Piazza VIII Agosto underground garage, 13 minutes’ walk from the square with a daily maximum of €25, or at Ex-Staveco on the ring road for €12 a day, and walk in. The one exception is a hotel inside the zone: it can register your plate for the drive to its door.

Every fee on this page comes from the operator’s own tariff page or posted sign, checked in October 2026. Walking times are measured with OpenStreetMap foot routing to the middle of the square.

Car parks near Piazza Maggiore at a glance

Our pick: Piazza VIII Agosto if you want the shortest walk and a garage open 24 hours, Ex-Staveco if you are staying more than a few hours and want the lowest daily fee.

How Bologna’s ZTL works

The camera hours

The Comune di Bologna runs the ZTL with a camera system called Sirio. It is active every day from 7:00 to 20:00, at 17 gates around the historic center, including Via Marconi, Via San Felice, Via Santo Stefano, Via San Vitale, Via Riva di Reno and Via Saragozza. Each camera photographs the rear plate and checks it against a list of authorized vehicles. If yours is not on the list, you get a fine in the post. The Comune’s ZTL page and its Sirio page have the current map.

Streets you can never drive

Some areas inside the ZTL are closed 24 hours a day, even to hotel guests: the pedestrian zones, bus lanes, the T zone (Via Rizzoli and Via Ugo Bassi), the pedestrian stretch of Via dell’Indipendenza, Azzo Gardino, the university zone and the special zones of San Francesco-Pratello and Moline-Capo di Lucca.

Via dell’Indipendenza has been pedestrian from Via Righi to the Rizzoli junction since December 2025, after the works for the new tram line, which is due in 2027. The Comune warns that tram works keep changing traffic, so follow the road signs on the day.

Hybrids get no exemption. Since 1 January 2026 the Comune no longer issues hybrid permits to non-residents, so a rented hybrid is treated like any other car.

If your hotel is inside the ZTL

Hotels and B&Bs inside the zone can add your plate to the authorized list. Give them the plate before you drive there, or on arrival at the latest, and ask for the route if the hotel is in or next to a pedestrian area. The registration covers the drive to the hotel or its garage, not parking on the street.

For blue-line street bays, hotel guests can buy a daily pass at the hotel for €9 (checked October 2026). It includes a TPER daily bus pass, runs for 24 hours from validation and must show your plate, the hotel’s stamp and the validation time.

Public garages inside the zone work the same way: an occasional customer gets a free form to put behind the windscreen that allows the shortest route in and out. If the garage is full, the operator still registers you and gives you a form saying you were turned away. Our where to stay in Bologna guide lists which hotels register plates or run their own garages.

The visitor day ticket

If you are not staying in the zone, you can buy a ZTL access ticket instead. It costs €6 for one day or €15 for four consecutive days (checked October 2026). It is digital only: buy and activate it on the Comune’s Sosty site or at the permit office before you pass a camera. With a foreign plate, untick “targa italiana” or the form rejects the number.

The limits matter:

• It works from 7:00 to 20:00 only.
• Each vehicle can have three day tickets or one four-day ticket per calendar month, not both.
• It does not cover the T zone, Azzo Gardino, the university zone, San Francesco-Pratello, Moline-Capo di Lucca, the Archiginnasio area, bus lanes or pedestrian areas.
• Parking is not included.

Details are on the Comune’s ticket page. For a day visit, a car park on the edge is usually simpler.

T-Days weekends

Every weekend, from 8:00 on Saturday to 22:00 on Sunday, and on public holidays from 8:00 to 22:00, Via Rizzoli, Via dell’Indipendenza and Via Ugo Bassi are open only to people on foot and on bikes. The car-free area spreads to Via Caprarie, Via Calzolerie, the Archiginnasio, the east side of Piazza Maggiore and Piazza Re Enzo. Strada Maggiore closes to traffic between the Due Torri and Piazza San Michele from 9:00 on Saturday to 22:00 on Sunday (Bologna Welcome).

Car park fees and details

Bologna Welcome’s parking guide shows live free spaces for Piazza VIII Agosto, Riva Reno and the Autostazione garage, updated every 15 minutes. Its advice for all of them: ask the car park to report your plate to the city’s mobility office.

Piazza VIII Agosto (APCOA)

Underground, open 24 hours every day, with 702 spaces, card and Telepass payment and height limits of 2.60 m on level 1 and 2.10 m on level 2. The garage sits inside the ring road and it is not clear whether the usual approach passes a Sirio camera, so ask the cashier to register your plate. APCOA’s page

Ex-Staveco (TPER)

On Viale Panzacchi 10, on the southern ring road outside the ZTL. It reopened on 20 October 2025 after works, with about 300 spaces. TPER’s regulation says it is open 24 hours; OpenStreetMap lists 7:00 to 1:00, so arrive within those hours if you can. TPER’s regulation (PDF)

Riva Reno (APCOA)

Underground at Via del Rondone 2, open 24 hours, with 540 spaces and a 2.00 m height limit. It is inside the ZTL (Via Riva di Reno has a Sirio gate), so ask the car park to register your plate. APCOA’s page

Parcheggio del Centro, Autostazione

An underground garage run by the bus station company, with its only entrance on Viale Masini at Via Capo di Lucca. Open 24 hours, unattended but covered by cameras. APCOA’s listing says cash only while the bus station’s own page mentions Telepass, so carry cash. Autostazione’s page

All fees checked October 2026 on the posted tariff sign.

Bologna Centrale P1 (FS Park)

The railway’s car park on Via Matteotti, with 477 spaces, listed as open from 5:30 to midnight. Useful if you are catching a train as well. We could not confirm its tariff, so check FS Park’s page for current fees and hours before you rely on it.

Bologna Centrale P3 (FS Park)

Covered, at Sottopasso Ernesto Maserati, open 5:30 to 23:00 with about 120 spaces and direct pedestrian access to the station. The first 30 minutes are free for drop-offs. FS Park’s page

Tanari park and ride

At Via Tanari 17, outside the center, so you take a bus in. Bologna Welcome listed it in March 2026 as an unattended interchange car park, but a TPER listing shows a charge. Check TPER’s parking page before you rely on it.

Street parking

Blue lines mean paid parking, and Bologna Welcome says parking is free only in some interchange car parks. Inside the ZTL, a hotel registration does not cover street parking; the €9 hotel pass does.

Arriving by train or plane instead

If you have not hired the car yet, you may not need one: see getting to Piazza Maggiore and the Marconi Express from the airport. The map of central Bologna shows each car park against the sights.