ZTL zones in Sicily
Sicily (Sicilia) has 14 towns and cities with a Limited Traffic Zone on this map, covering 14 zones in total. Pick a destination to see its restricted area and plan where to park.
Driving in Sicily
Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean, some 25,000 square kilometres of it, and nothing about crossing it is quick. Three motorways carry the long-distance traffic — the A19 through the interior between Palermo and Catania, the A18 down the east coast from Messina, and the A20 along the north coast — and away from them you are on two-lane roads that climb, wind, and run straight through the middle of towns.
Fourteen towns restrict their centres. Six have their own page here, because they are the ones visitors ask about. The rest range from Palermo, whose zone covers the old quarters on weekday daytimes with additional weekend nights in season, down to small inland towns such as Leonforte and Centuripe where the restriction is a single gate into a hilltop centre.
Palermo and Catania are different problems
Palermo’s zone covers the historic quarters, and its hours are the most conventional thing about driving there. The difficulty is everything else: dense traffic, scooters, a street pattern that predates all of it, and parking that is genuinely hard to find. Most visitors do better leaving the car parked for the duration of a city stay than trying to use it.
Catania is easier to read. The centre was rebuilt on a wide, straight eighteenth-century grid after the 1693 earthquake, which makes it far more legible from a car — but the restricted core sits in the middle of that grid and the approach roads funnel you towards it. The airport is close to the city and outside the zone, which makes it the sensible place to pick up or drop a hire car.
The tourist towns are where the fines happen
Taormina, Cefalù and Ortigia catch far more visitors than the big cities do, because people arrive meaning to spend an afternoon and drive in looking for somewhere to leave the car. All three are small, almost entirely restricted, and reached by one road.
Ortigia, the island holding Siracusa’s old town, is the clearest case: it is joined to the mainland by a couple of short bridges, and once across one you are inside. Taormina sits on a terrace above the sea with a single climbing approach. Cefalù’s old town is a wedge of streets between the sea and the rock. In each case the answer is the same — park where the town has provided for it, below or outside, and walk the last few minutes.
The towns you stop at without planning to
Sicilian journeys take longer than the kilometres suggest, and the temptation on a long drive is to pull into a town for a coffee or a look at a church. That is how most accidental fines here are collected. Marsala’s zone runs around the clock; Gela, Palma di Montechiaro, Castellammare del Golfo and Punta Secca all restrict their centres, on hours that are not always findable in advance.
If you are stopping somewhere not listed on this site, assume the historic centre is restricted until a sign tells you otherwise. It is the right assumption almost everywhere in Sicily, and when it is wrong it has cost you a five-minute walk.
ZTL guides for Sicily 6
Other ZTL towns in Sicily 8
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.
- Castellammare Del Golfo — hours vary — confirm locally official details Show on map
- Centirupe — hours vary — confirm locally official details Show on map
- Gela — hours vary — confirm locally official details Show on map
- Leonforte — hours vary — confirm locally official details Show on map
- Marsala — Daily, 24 h official details Show on map
- Palermo — Mon–Fri 08:00–20:00 · weekend nights (seasonal) official details Show on map
- Palma Di Montechiaro — hours vary — confirm locally official details Show on map
- Punta Secca — hours vary — confirm locally official details Show on map
New to Italy’s Limited Traffic Zones? Start with the guides.
Read the ZTL guides