Como ZTL: hours, cameras and who can drive in

Checked on 22 October 2026 against the city's ordinances and official pages.

Right now in Como

ZTL Città Murata …
Area Pedonale Urbana Alessandro Volta …
Area Pedonale Urbana Duomo …
Area pedonale Piazza Perretta e via Juvara …

Worked out with Italian time and public holidays from the official hours. The sign at the gate always prevails.

In Como the medieval walls do the job of the boundary: everything inside them is the “Città Murata” ZTL, the only one in town. There is no night zone, no summer zone and no ticket to buy: the rule never changes. The cathedral, the Broletto, Piazza San Fedele and the Teatro Sociale are all inside.

What really sets Como apart lies within the walls. Its pedestrian areas are off limits even to vehicles displaying a disabled parking badge (the cathedral one only during its pedestrian hours), although the same badge opens up the rest of the ZTL. By the lake, Piazza Cavour is pedestrian, but the Lungo Lago carriageway alongside it is not.

The zones and their hours

ZTL Città Murata

The town inside the walls (67 streets on the council's list), plus two sectors added in 2013, around Piazza Roma and Piazza Verdi and from Piazza Volta to Via Garibaldi, and the Mercerie market area along the walls. Of the 12 cameras, 7 watch the way in and 5 the way out. Vehicles over 3.5 tonnes or 7 metres need a permit, and petrol or diesel engines that fail Lombardy's anti-pollution rules are banned.

There are no time slots here: the ban applies day and night, all year round, public holidays included.

12 cameras read number plates: 7 at the entrances and 5 at the exits.

Inside, the speed limit is 10 km/h.

List of the 12 cameras (varchi)

Via Cinque Giornate · Via Diaz · Via Carducci · Via Indipendenza · Via Rodari · Via Grassi · Via Cairoli · Via dell'Annunciata (uscita) · Via Indipendenza (uscita) · Via Rodari (uscita) · Via Cairoli (uscita) · Via Garibaldi (uscita)

Area Pedonale Urbana Alessandro Volta

The pedestrian heart of the town: Piazza Volta, Piazza Cavour, Piazza Grimoldi, Piazza Verdi, Via Vittorio Emanuele, Via Cinque Giornate and the lanes around them. It is closed even to vehicles with a disabled badge, at any time.

It is closed to unauthorised vehicles 24 hours a day, every day, Sundays and public holidays included: there is no quiet hour when you could slip through.

Area Pedonale Urbana Duomo

Piazza Duomo, Via Plinio and Via Vittorio Emanuele II. Be careful: from 6:00 to 10:30 and from 14:30 to 15:00 access is not free; the ZTL rules apply instead. A disabled badge is not valid there during pedestrian hours.

It is active at these times:

Every day, 10:30 to 14:30, public holidays included.
Every day, 15:00 to 6:00 the next day, public holidays included.

Outside these hours, the rules of the “ZTL Città Murata” zone apply.

Area pedonale Piazza Perretta e via Juvara

Piazza Perretta, in front of the former Bank of Italy, pedestrian since March 2024 and extended in September 2024 to the whole square and Via Juvara. A disabled badge is not valid; only owners of a garage reached solely from Via Juvara may drive through.

There are no time slots here: the ban applies day and night, all year round, public holidays included.

Who can drive in

Disabled parking badge: the number plate must be reported before you drive in or within 48 hours afterwards.
Electric cars: no exemption.
Hybrids: no exemption for private drivers.
Taxis and chauffeur cars (NCC): allowed once registered on the white list.
Residents: permit.
Deliveries and tradespeople: paid permit.

Visitors: hotels, rental cars, tickets

Staying in a hotel

Only accommodation located inside the ZTL can register your number plate. A hotel outside the zone gives you no right to drive in. It must do so no later than 48 hours after you enter. Give your plate number to reception as soon as you arrive.

Tickets for non-residents

There is no day ticket for tourists. The simplest option is to park outside and walk or take a bus.

Rental cars

The fine notice goes to the rental company, which names you as the driver and usually charges an admin fee, before the fine itself reaches you, sometimes months later. A registration made in time by your hotel covers a rental car just as well: all that counts is the number plate.

Hotel inside the walls: the permit does not cover your stay, only one entry when you arrive and one when you leave, 45 minutes at most each. Only if the hotel has private parking spaces can you drive in throughout your stay, within the number of spaces. Street parking is banned across the whole ZTL, and cars are towed. If the hotel forgets your plate or gets it wrong, the fine is yours.

One-off needs: there is no tourist pass, but there is a permit for a specific, documented need: two consecutive days at most, requested at least two working days ahead. In an emergency the local police can grant up to three hours a day. Expect a 16 € revenue stamp plus a fee of 5 to 20 € depending on the category. Applications go through the council's online portal (SPID, CIE or a login for foreign users).

Motorbikes and scooters may only enter to reach a public two-wheeler car park inside the ZTL, by the shortest route. Garages and car parks: a repair garage in the zone reports its own customers; entry to the Arena car park depends on the free spaces shown at the ZTL entrance. Disabled badge: the plate is reported through the portal or by certified email (PEC); only Como residents can register up to three plates on a lasting basis. No council page mentions the national CUDE platform.

Como in numbers

4 separate zones, 3 of them active around the clock.
At least 12 cameras in total.

Where official sources disagree

The core order (2017, consolidated in 2023) refers to implementing rules that have never been published, so several council documents disagree.

Hotel deadline: without those rules, the only written deadline, 48 hours, comes from order no. 27 of 22 January 2016, which still applies where it is compatible with the 2017 order. We use it for want of anything better.
Residents without a space: 60 minutes to load and unload in the 2023 consolidated text, 45 in the local police table of February 2019. The order prevails.
Home deliveries: until 21:00 under the 2016 order, until 22:00 under the 2017 order and the 2019 table. We use 22:00.
Sundays and New Year's Day: the 2019 table mentions a ban specific to these days that the order does not contain. We do not show it.

If you drive in without a permit

Driving past an active gate without a permit costs €83 to €332 (article 7 of the Italian Highway Code), cut by 30% if you pay within 5 days. Since the 2024 reform, when the passages are recorded by camera rather than by an officer on the spot, only one fine per calendar day applies for the same ban, even if you drive through several times (article 198). No licence points are deducted. If you think you were entitled to enter (hotel, disabled badge), contact the office named on the notice before paying: a late registration can sometimes still be sorted out.

Frequently asked questions

Can I drive up to the cathedral or Piazza Cavour?

No: both are in pedestrian areas inside the ZTL, which is closed round the clock. The lakeside road, the Lungo Lago, is outside the zone.

My hotel is in the old town: what do I need to do?

Reception reports your plate within 48 hours of your entry. You get 45 minutes when you arrive and when you leave, or your whole stay if the hotel gives you one of its private spaces.

Is there a day ticket for tourists?

No. There is only a permit for a documented need, two days at most, requested two working days ahead, costing a 16 € revenue stamp plus a fee.

Does the ZTL open in the evening or on Sundays?

No, never. Only the cathedral pedestrian area has set hours: pedestrian from 10:30 to 14:30 and from 15:00 to 6:00, under ZTL rules the rest of the time.

With a disabled badge, can I go everywhere?

Into the ZTL, yes, if the plate is reported within 48 hours of entering. Not into the Volta, Perretta and Via Juvara areas, nor into the cathedral one during its pedestrian hours.

Sources

Based on the city's own ordinances, rewritten in plain language. Only the ordinance in force and the sign at the gate are legally binding.