ZTL Cortona
Cortona runs two zones on different timetables, and the difference between them is the whole point: the red zone is continuous while it is active, the yellow one breaks for a gap in the middle of the day. In summer the red zone is shut from ten in the morning straight through to four the next morning, with no afternoon opening at all. Anyone who reads the yellow zone's midday gap as the town's rule and drives in on it is fined. The town sits high above the Valdichiana with these two zones, red and yellow, over a centre of steep stone streets that were never going to accommodate cars.
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Limited Traffic Zones in Cortona
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ZTL Cortona
Rossa Oct–Apr 10:00–20:00 · May–Sep 10:00–04:00 · Gialla Oct–Apr 11:00–14:00 & 17:00–20:00 · May–Sep 10:00–15:00 & 16:00–04:00
Hilltop centre. ZTL Rossa is continuous while active; ZTL Gialla breaks for a midday gap. A third zone covers via Benedetti, piazza Pescheria, vicolo Boni, via Passerini and via dell'Amorino.
Seasonal hours, and what they mean
Taking them separately, and the seasons run 1 October to 30 April and 1 May to 30 September. ZTL Rossa is active 10:00–20:00 in winter and 10:00–04:00 in summer, in both cases without a break. ZTL Gialla is active 11:00–14:00 and 17:00–20:00 in winter, and 10:00–15:00 and 16:00–04:00 in summer.
The summer evening block runs almost through the night in both zones, which reflects how the town is used in season — the centre is full of people walking and eating until very late, and cars are kept out of it. A third, smaller zone covers via Benedetti, piazza Pescheria, vicolo Boni, via Passerini and via dell’Amorino.
The two zones matter to a visitor rather more than they look as though they should. They are not simply two permit tiers over one timetable: they keep different hours, and the red one has no midday gap in either season. Work out which zone the street you are aiming for is in before you rely on any opening, because the gap that exists in one does not exist in the other.
Park below and climb
Cortona is reached by a climb from the plain, and the car parks are arranged on the way up and around the edge of the walls. Leave the car at one of them and walk in through a gate. Escalators and a lift assist part of the ascent from the lower car parks, which matters more than it sounds on a hot afternoon.
Inside the walls the streets are steep, narrow and frequently stepped. Via Nazionale, the main street, is one of very few level stretches in the town — the locals call it the flat one, which tells you about the rest.
If you are staying inside the walls
Accommodation within the centre can usually arrange access for a guest's vehicle to reach the property and unload, registered in advance against your number plate. Ask when you book, and ask where the car goes afterwards, because it will not be staying beside the door.
With a night-time restriction running to four in the morning in summer, the arrival time matters as much as the authorisation. Tell the property when you expect to arrive and let them tell you which gate and when.
The view, and the crowds it brings
Cortona looks out over the Valdichiana towards Lake Trasimeno, and the view from the walls is the reason the town has been fortified since the Etruscans. The Etruscan museum in the centre holds the finds, including a bronze oil lamp chandelier that is one of the more extraordinary objects of its kind.
The town has also been busy with visitors since a memoir about restoring a house here became a bestseller and then a film in the early 2000s. In high summer it is considerably fuller than its size suggests, which is worth factoring into both the parking and the timing of a visit.
See Cortona in context — search nearby towns, or use your live location on the map.
Show Cortona on the interactive mapOther ZTL cities in Tuscany
Zone shapes are derived from publicly available information, including accessibilitacentristorici.it and OpenStreetMap; base map © OpenStreetMap and © CARTO. Boundaries are simplified and hours are indicative — a guide, not an official source.