ZTL zones in Basilicata
Basilicata has 3 towns and cities with a Limited Traffic Zone on this map, covering 3 zones in total. Pick a destination to see its restricted area and plan where to park.
Driving in Basilicata
Basilicata sits between two seas, with a short stretch of Tyrrhenian coast around Maratea and a longer, flatter Ionian one, and mountains through the middle. It is among the least densely populated regions in Italy, and outside Matera and Potenza the roads are empty in a way that is rare on the peninsula.
Three towns restrict their centres: Matera, the regional capital Potenza, and Melfi, a small town below a Norman castle in the north. Matera is the one nearly every visitor comes for.
Matera and the Sassi
Matera’s Sassi are two districts of dwellings cut into a limestone ravine, inhabited for thousands of years, cleared in the 1950s and repopulated since. They are built as terraces of stepped alleys and courtyards where one house’s roof is the street above — which means most of the Sassi were never reachable by car and still are not. The restricted zone covers the approaches; the geography does the rest.
The practical approach is to park in the modern upper town, on the flat ground around Via Lucana and Piazza Matteotti, and walk down into the ravine. Going down is easy. Coming back up at the end of a summer day is the part people underestimate, so leave the car somewhere you are content to return to on foot rather than somewhere chosen for the view.
Getting around the region
The SS407 Basentana is the fast road across Basilicata, running from near Potenza down the Basento valley to the Ionian coast, and the A2 motorway clips the western edge on its way south. Everything else is provincial road through hill country, where average speeds are low and journey times run well over what a map suggests.
Maratea, on the Tyrrhenian side, is a particular case: the town sits high above the sea with its harbour far below, linked by a narrow cliff road, and parking near the upper town is limited once the season starts.
ZTL guides for Basilicata 1
Other ZTL towns in Basilicata 2
These towns have a Limited Traffic Zone shown on the map. Hours are listed where they are known; otherwise follow the link to the official source and the road signs.
- Melfi — hours vary — confirm locally official details Show on map
- Potenza — hours vary — confirm locally official details Show on map
New to Italy’s Limited Traffic Zones? Start with the guides.
Read the ZTL guides