Driving in Sassari — A ZTL in Sardinia's Spirited Second City

Sassari's historic centre has a Zona a Traffico Limitato restricting unauthorised cars from its older streets, with fines around EUR 83-160. Hotels inside can sometimes register your plate. For most visitors, parking outside the zone and walking is simplest — the compact old town around the cathedral and the main squares is best explored on foot.

Check emission zone requirements

Sassari is known for two great traditional festivals: the Cavalcata Sarda in spring, a colourful parade of costumed riders and groups from across Sardinia on horseback, celebrating the island's traditions; and the Faradda di li Candareri (the Descent of the Candlesticks) in August, a UNESCO-recognised event where guilds carry huge ceremonial wooden 'candlesticks' through the streets in a vow of thanks. During these the city is busy and lively, a great time to visit.

Use a car park outside the ZTL, then walk into the centre. There are lots around the edge of the historic core. The compact old town is walkable, so once parked you won't need the car for the city. Sassari is inland, so a car is the usual way to reach it and the surrounding northwest of Sardinia, parked outside the restricted centre when in town.

Plan your trip costs including parking

Yes — it's the hub of the green, less-touristy northwest of the island, within reach of the Catalan-flavoured seaside town of Alghero and its coral coast, the beaches and cliffs of the Riviera del Corallo, the ancient nuraghe (Bronze Age stone towers) scattered across the countryside, and the wild Asinara island. A car is genuinely useful for exploring these, parked outside the ZTL when in Sassari itself.

Not for the compact city centre, which is walkable. But a car is genuinely useful in Sardinia generally, where public transport is limited and the attractions are spread out — Alghero, the beaches, the nuraghe sites and the countryside — driven from a car park outside the ZTL centre.