If you are traveling to Naples by car, you will have to find a solution to park in the city. Here are some tips on how to find a parking spot in Naples.
If you spend more than three days in Naples, getting around by car can be a useful option to explore the surroundings. With a car, you can easily picnic on the Amalfi coast, visit Pompeii and see Mount Vesuvius, explore the ancient city of Herculaneum – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – or visit the Royal Palace of Caserta…
However, whether you are traveling in your own car or a rented one, one essential question arises: Where can you park in Naples? What are the affordable parking options in Naples?
Parking in Naples: paid street parking
Photo credit: Flickr – Stas
Parking in Naples on the street is something we wouldn’t really recommend. Driving in downtown Naples is a real ordeal! The city’s chaotic traffic – which is also what makes its charm – won’t seem very charming to you once you’re at the wheel. If you start backing up traffic to parallel park on a sinewy street, expect to do so in a concerto of honking and yelling. In addition, some parts of the city are still recovering from disparity, while they don’t seem rundown and are globally safe, petty theft still occurs and car break-ins occur still too often.
But above all, driving in the city center is just very complicated. Naples, like many Italian cities, has its ZTLs, “Limited Traffic Zones”: areas where only residents are allowed to drive. You will find more details about the ZTL of Naples (schedules and boundaries) on the official website of the city of Naples, as well as an interactive map here. Don’t try to trick your way into ZTLs: they are monitored by security cameras and the fine for unauthorized entry is quite high!
We therefore strongly advise against this solution, with one exception: if you are staying downtown in a hotel that offers parking. In this case, if the hotel is in the heart of a ZTL, you will have to make arrangements in advance with the reception to obtain an exemption and sometimes book a parking sport in advance for an additional fee.
If you want to park in the street regardless or if that is the most convenient option for you, it will cost you around 2€ per hour. You can pay your ticket at the parking meters, at authorized dealers (newsdealers), and even via mobile apps run by ANM, the company that manages certain car parks and public transport in Naples.
Parking in Naples: free street parking
You can park for free in white-lined parking spaces. But here again, we do not recommend this parking solution in Naples, since it forces you to drive in the city center and these spots are quite competitive, there is little chance you will be able to return to your original spot after a day of traveling.
Another issue we’ve experienced is that parking in Naples in the white-marked areas is not always actually free… Indeed, you’ll come across many unofficial car park attendants, and they will expect a small tip for their “services”, often bullying tourists to get a couple euros and even occasionally implying your car will be damaged if you don’t give in, essentially asking for “protection money”. Things have marginally improved but alas these mafia practices remain present and very obvious in many areas.
Park in a secure parking lot in downtown Naples
Map of cheap parking in Naples
Parking in downtown Naples in a closed car park is a good alternative. You won’t escape Neapolitan traffic, but you’ll at least be able to leave your car for days on end, with complete peace of mind, and actually parking in your spot will be easier as well!
On specialized websites such as Parclick, you can geolocalize car parks in Naples and book them online in advance: a convenient option! The prices vary: they range from €9… to almost €100 per day! Unlike other cities, there is no real price difference between indoor and outdoor parking.
Photo credit: Flickr – Davide Simonetti
One of the most popular car parks is the Supergarage (Via Shelley, 11). It has the advantage of being right in the city center, on line 1 of the metro (Toledo station). It charges approximately 20€ per day. But if you want a cheap car park in Naples, head for the Brin car park (Via Benedetto Brin). It costs less than €10 per day and is really close to downtown. It’s huge (800 parking spots), so you shouldn’t have any problem finding a parking spot!
Parking outside Naples
Photo credit: Wikimedia – Rob Alter
To avoid the city center, a cheap parking solution in Naples is to park at the airport. The car parks cost about 10€ a day, and the Alibus shuttle to reach the city center is 5€. For example, you can park in the GO Parking, for 11€ per day.
Another cheap parking solution in Naples is to park in the >ANM car parks, which are mostly located on the outskirts of the city. They are generally well served by public transport. The prices are unbeatable: the first prices are 1.5€ per day. However, most of these car parks are only open during the day and are not guarded. The only ones open 24 hours a day are the Brin car park (almost in the city center) and the Colli Aminei car park (about 1 hour from the city center and fairly far from the areas we recommend you stay in Naples).
Main photo credit : Flickr – PhotoLab XL
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