Padua ZTL 2026: €83 Plus Costs, Electric Cars Go Free
ZTL Centro Storico · Italy · Active since 1989
Source: official source · Verified: 2026-10-20
Padua's ZTL Zone A is shut 08:00-23:30 on working days and 14:00-23:30 on holidays; Zone B never opens. A 2-hour online pass costs EUR 5. Fine: EUR 83-332 plus costs.
Locally the zone is called ZTL Centro Storico Padova (Italy) — that is the wording on the boundary signs, on the official portal and on any penalty notice, so it is the phrase to search for once you are there.
Next
- Check your own car against Padua — enter your fuel and Euro class, get a yes or no in one step.
- Castelfranco Veneto has a zone too — the nearest one to Padua, and the rules are not identical.
- If a fine arrives after you get home — who pays on a hire car, and what is actually enforceable across borders.
Practical answers for Padua
- When is the Padua zone active?
- Zone A: working days 08:00-23:30, Sundays/holidays 14:00-23:30. Zone B: every day 24h. Gates Largo Europa and Via Busonera 0-24; Via del Santo, Ponte S. Gregorio Barbarigo, Via Vescovado, Riviera Mussato follow Zone A
- How much does it cost to drive into Padua?
- N/A · No sticker required - camera enforced Get it wrong and the penalty is EUR 83-332 (art. 7 c.14 Codice della Strada); EUR 83 plus costs if paid within 60 days, 30% off within 5 days. The Comune's fines page still quotes 80 euro plus costs..
- Do I need to register or buy anything first?
- Entry is controlled by permit or residency, not by your engine’s emission class — a brand-new car still needs authorisation.
- Who is exempt in Padua?
- Fully electric cars with plate emailed to the Comune, Guests of accommodation inside the ZTL (plate declared within 48 h, free), Bicycles, e-scooters, mopeds and motorcycles, Permit holders, Disabled badge holders, Emergency vehicles and Public transport. Exemptions are usually not automatic — most require registering your number plate in advance.
Padua ZTL Centro Storico Map
The shaded area is the zone boundary as mapped in OpenStreetMap — zoom in to see which streets fall inside, and confirm the signs at the edge on arrival.
Requirements
Who pays in a hire car, whether insurance covers it, and how to appeal.
Can My Vehicle Enter Padua?
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Exemptions
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Locals call it Padova, and its centre has been a ZTL since 1989, when it started as the Zona blu; cameras have read plates at the boundary since 1 June 2006. Today the Comune runs it as two zones on two clocks: Zone A closes by day and evening, Zone B never opens. Entry depends on an authorisation or a paid pass, not on Euro class, and a fully electric car with its plate registered goes in free.
Padua’s Zone A is closed to unauthorised cars 08:00-23:30 on working days and 14:00-23:30 on Sundays and holidays; Zone B is closed 24 hours a day. A visitor can buy a EUR 5 pass for up to two hours online, or stay at a hotel inside the ZTL that declares the plate within 48 hours. The fine is set by national law at EUR 83 to EUR 332, EUR 83 plus costs if paid within 60 days.
| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Zone type | ZTL (permit-based, not Euro class) |
| Zone A | closed working days 08:00-23:30, Sundays and holidays 14:00-23:30 |
| Zone B | closed every day, 24 hours |
| Gates always on | Largo Europa, Via Busonera (0-24) |
| Short pass | up to 2 hours EUR 5 (online); up to 48 hours EUR 15 + EUR 16 stamp |
| Hotel guests | hotel inside the ZTL declares the plate within 48 hours, free for the guest |
| Free to circulate | bicycles, e-scooters, mopeds, motorcycles; fully electric cars with plate registered |
| Fine | EUR 83-332 (art. 7 c.14 Codice della Strada), EUR 83 plus costs within 60 days, 30% off within 5 days |
| In force since | 1989 (Zona blu); cameras since 1 June 2006 |
Can your car enter Padua?
Enter your vehicle's fuel + Euro class → instant verdict for Padua (ZTL). Fine if wrong: EUR 83-332 (art. 7 c.14 Codice della Strada); EUR 83 plus costs if paid within 60 days, 30% off within 5 days. The Comune's fines page still quotes 80 euro plus costs..
Two zones, two clocks
| Zone | Closed to unauthorised traffic |
|---|---|
| Zone A | working days (Mon-Sat) 08:00-23:30 · Sundays and holidays 14:00-23:30 |
| Zone B | every day, 24 hours |
The speed limit inside the ZTL is 30 km/h.
The entry gates
The Comune publishes when each entry gate is active, barring temporary changes:
| Gate | Active |
|---|---|
| Largo Europa | every day, 0-24 |
| Via Busonera | every day, 0-24 |
| Via del Santo | working days 08:00-23:30, holidays 14:00-23:30 |
| Ponte S. Gregorio Barbarigo | working days 08:00-23:30, holidays 14:00-23:30 |
| Via Vescovado | working days 08:00-23:30, holidays 14:00-23:30 |
| Riviera Mussato | working days 08:00-23:30, holidays 14:00-23:30 |
Several bus lanes also have cameras, so do not follow the satnav into them.
Hotel guests
The ZTL rules (article 22) cover hotels, B&Bs and other accommodation inside the ZTL or an inner pedestrian area:
- give your plate to the accommodation before you arrive;
- it declares the plate and the time of transit on the ZTL portal within 48 hours, for each day you drive in;
- the authorisation covers short stops to load and unload during your stay.
There is no charge to the guest. If the hotel does not declare the plate, the transit counts as unauthorised even though you had a booking. Staying outside the ZTL gives no right of entry; use a temporary pass instead.
Temporary passes
| Length | Cost | Where |
|---|---|---|
| up to 2 hours | EUR 5 | online only, with SPID or CIE, on the Istanze online portal (not for heavy vehicles) |
| up to 48 hours | EUR 15 + EUR 16 revenue stamp | ZTL office, Polizia Locale at Via Gozzi 32, district offices (cars only) |
Anyone entitled to enter who did not have the authorisation at hand can regularise the transit online within 48 hours.
Free to circulate
Bicycles, e-scooters, mopeds and motorcycles circulate freely. So do fully electric cars, once the plate has been emailed to zonablu@comune.padova.it with the registration document; they may park only in charging bays. Hybrids have no ZTL exemption.
Fines
Unauthorised transit falls under article 7 comma 14 of the Codice della Strada: EUR 83 to EUR 332, the range in force since 1 January 2021 under the Ministry of Justice decree of 31 December 2020. Paying within 60 days of notification settles it at the minimum, EUR 83 plus procedural and notification costs, and paying within five days takes 30% off that minimum (article 202). The Comune’s fines page, last updated in August 2025, still quotes “80 euro più spese procedurali e di notifica”, which is below the legal minimum. Entering and leaving on the same day counts as one offence, and the gate photo can be retrieved online with the references on the notice.
Winter 2026/27: Euro-class restrictions
From 1 October a separate ban applies across the whole municipality, except the industrial zone, motorways and ring roads:
| Level | When | Not allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Green | 1 Oct-11 Dec 2026 and 7 Jan-30 Apr 2027, Mon-Fri 08:30-19:30 (holidays excluded) | diesel Euro 0-4; petrol, LPG and CNG Euro 0-1; motorcycles and mopeds Euro 0 |
| Orange (after 4 days over the PM10 limit) and red (after 10) | every day 08:30-19:30 | also diesel Euro 5; petrol, LPG and CNG Euro 2; motorcycles and mopeds Euro 1 |
Green and orange measures are suspended over the holidays (12 December-6 January); at red alert the ban still applies then, except on 25 and 26 December. ARPAV issues the alert bulletin on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and the level applies from the next day.
The green-level ban on Euro 5 diesels did not start this October: Veneto’s regional law no. 22 of 15 September 2026 deferred it to 1 October 2027, subject to compensating measures approved by regional resolution 1024 of 18 September 2026. Electric and hybrid cars may circulate. A breach costs EUR 168 under article 7 comma 13-bis, or EUR 117.60 if paid within five days; a repeat within two years can bring a 15-30 day licence suspension.
Driving on to the rest of Italy
Speed limits, alcohol rules and required equipment are in the Italy driving guide; winter-tyre rules are in Italy tyre laws. The general emergency number is 112.
Sources
- Comune di Padova, ZTL centro storico (zones, hours, gates): comune.padova.it
- Comune di Padova, ZTL rules (Annex A): PDF
- Comune di Padova, ZTL tariffs (Annex B): PDF
- Comune di Padova, temporary ZTL pass: comune.padova.it
- Comune di Padova, ZTL fines and appeals: comune.padova.it
- Comune di Padova, winter restrictions 2026/27: comune.padova.it
- Codice della Strada, art. 7 c.14 (text in force): normattiva.it
- Codice della Strada, art. 202 (payment within five days): normattiva.it
- Ministry of Justice decree of 31 December 2020, amounts from 1 January 2021 (Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 323): PDF
Recent changes to this page
- Compared on 20 October 2026 with the Comune di Padova's ZTL, temporary-pass and fines pages and its 2026/27 winter-restrictions page (updated 12 October). ZTL hours, gates, passes and the statutory EUR 83-332 fine are unchanged; the Comune's fines page still quotes 80 euro. Added detail from the winter page: the legal basis for the Euro 5 deferral (Veneto regional law 22 of 15 September 2026 and regional resolution 1024 of 18 September 2026), the full list of what stops at orange and red alert, that red-alert bans run through the holidays except 25 and 26 December, and the licence suspension for repeat breaches.
- Fine corrected. The Comune's fines page quotes 80 euro plus costs, but article 7 comma 14 of the Codice della Strada, in the text in force on Normattiva and as updated from 1 January 2021 by the Ministry of Justice decree of 31 December 2020, sets EUR 83 to EUR 332. Title, description, quick answer, FAQ, key facts and body now give the statutory range (EUR 83 plus costs within 60 days, 30% off within five days) and note the Comune's outdated figure.
- Checked against the Comune di Padova's ZTL pages, its ZTL rules and tariffs, and the 2026/27 winter restrictions. The Comune does publish a timetable, which the page had said it did not: Zone A is closed 08:00-23:30 on working days and 14:00-23:30 on holidays, Zone B round the clock, and the Largo Europa and Via Busonera gates are active 0-24. Electric cars are free only if fully electric and registered with the Comune; hybrids are not. Added the EUR 5 two-hour and EUR 15 48-hour passes, the hotel procedure and the Euro-class restrictions from 1 October 2026, and removed an outdated office address. The fine remains the Comune's own figure of 80 euro plus costs.
- Checked against the municipal police ZTL page. The fine is 80 euro plus procedural and notification costs, not the EUR 100 given in the summary and FAQ nor the EUR 80-90 given in the opening paragraph. The zone dates from 1989 and its electronic gates from 1 June 2006, not from 2019. The FAQ said an electric car does not by itself grant entry; the municipal police list electric-traction vehicles, along with bicycles, mopeds and motorcycles, as free to circulate. The unsourced weekday 08:00-23:30 timetable has been removed, since the authority publishes only that access is limited to preset hours, and the 48-hour temporary permit route has been added.
- Title, description and introduction rewritten from this page's own data (no shared template wording).
- Corrected zone type: Padua's ZTL is a permit/residency access zone, not an emission zone. Removed the Euro-class requirements that were listed in error; access is controlled by permit.
- Re-verified EUR 100 ZTL fine and camera enforcement against the Comune di Padova; 2026 ruleset unchanged.
- Updated enforcement procedure notes after seasonal review cycle.
Part of the TyreMap Emission-Zone Dataset — 596 verified European emission zones, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Comune splits the ZTL in two. Zone A is closed on working days (Monday to Saturday) from 08:00 to 23:30 and on Sundays and holidays from 14:00 to 23:30; Zone B is closed every day, 24 hours a day.
Yes. A temporary pass of up to two hours costs EUR 5 and is bought online through the Comune's Istanze online portal with SPID or CIE; it is not valid for heavy vehicles. A pass of up to 48 hours costs EUR 15 plus a EUR 16 revenue stamp.
If the accommodation is inside the ZTL or an inner pedestrian area, it declares your plate and time of transit to the Comune within 48 hours. Guests pay nothing. If the hotel does not declare it, the transit counts as unauthorised.
Yes, if it is fully electric and its plate has been sent to the Comune (zonablu@comune.padova.it, with the registration document). Hybrids have no ZTL exemption. Bicycles, e-scooters, mopeds and motorcycles circulate freely.
Article 7 comma 14 of the Codice della Strada sets EUR 83 to EUR 332. Paid within 60 days it is EUR 83 plus procedural and notification costs, or 30% less within five days. The Comune's own fines page still quotes 80 euro plus costs, below that legal minimum. Entering and leaving on the same day counts as a single offence, and the gate photo can be viewed online with the references on the notice.
The ZTL itself dates from 1989, when it was called the Zona blu. The electronic gates, with cameras reading number plates at the boundary, have been in operation since 1 June 2006.
Yes — Padova is simply the Italian name for Padua, and there is one zone, not two. Local signage, the official portal and any fine notice you receive will use "Padova", so that is the spelling to search for once you are there.