ZTL Italia

Limited traffic zones · Italy

ZTL zones in Emilia-Romagna

Emilia-Romagna has 15 towns and cities with a Limited Traffic Zone on this map, covering 15 zones in total. Pick a destination to see its restricted area and plan where to park.

By ZTL Italia · Zone data and guidance last reviewed

Driving in Emilia-Romagna

Emilia-Romagna is named after a road. The Via Aemilia was laid by the Romans in 187 BC to run dead straight from Rimini on the Adriatic to Piacenza on the Po, and almost every city in the region still sits on it, spaced roughly a day’s march apart: Rimini, Cesena, Forlì, Faenza, Imola, Bologna, Modena, Reggio Emilia, Parma, Piacenza. The modern SS9 follows the same line, with the A1 and A14 motorways running alongside.

That geography explains the region’s restrictions. Fifteen towns limit traffic in their centres, and they are strung along a single axis rather than scattered — so a drive across the region passes the entrance to one restricted centre after another. Five have their own page here. Among the rest, Forlì, Imola, Rimini, Reggio Emilia and Cesena run zones around the clock, and Piacenza restricts its centre through the working day.

Bologna closes more than a ZTL

Bologna has the region’s most complicated arrangement. The outer ZTL runs from 07:00 to 20:00 every day of the year, Sundays and holidays included — but the part that catches people is what sits inside it. Four zones within the ZTL are closed to cars around the clock: Zona T (Via Rizzoli and Via Ugo Bassi, by Piazza Maggiore), Zona Università, and the two ZTL speciali at San Francesco–Pratello and Moline–Capo di Lucca. A ZTL permit or day ticket does not admit you to any of them, and two of them bar motorcycles as well.

At weekends Zona T goes further still and becomes fully pedestrian — the T Days, from 08:00 on Saturday to 22:00 on Sunday and on public holidays — so a weekend arrival can find that the route the sat-nav wants is not restricted but simply shut. The city is well set up for leaving the car outside: there is parking around the ring of the former walls, and the centre can be crossed on foot in about half an hour.

The art cities are small enough to walk

Modena, Parma, Ferrara and Ravenna share a useful trait — nearly everything a visitor comes for sits within a few hundred metres. Modena’s cathedral, Ghirlandina tower and Piazza Grande are effectively one site. Ravenna’s mosaics are spread over a handful of churches and mausolea all within an easy walk of each other. Ferrara is a walled Renaissance town you can cross on foot, or as most of its residents do, by bicycle.

In every case, parking outside the centre and walking in costs a few minutes and removes the problem entirely. Ferrara in particular rewards it: there is a path along the top of the walls, and the bicycle is the local form of transport.

The Adriatic coast keeps its own season

Rimini, Cervia, Comacchio and Santarcangelo behave differently from the inland cities. Their restrictions are shaped by the beach season, and a zone that feels dormant in March is actively enforced on a July evening when the seafront fills. Rimini’s runs around the clock.

Comacchio is worth singling out. It sits in the lagoons of the Po delta, built across small islands linked by bridges, and its historic centre is not somewhere you want to be driving under any circumstances. Park at the edge and walk over the bridges.

ZTL guides for Emilia-Romagna 5

Other ZTL towns in Emilia-Romagna 10

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.

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Information only — hours are indicative and change by season, day and gate. Always confirm with the local Comune before driving.