If you read one line of this page, read this one: from 30 March to 15 October 2026 it is forbidden to land or drive on Procida any car, motorcycle or moped belonging to a non-resident, even if it is registered jointly with a resident. The reference is decree no. 23 of 25 March 2026 of the President of the Regional Government of Campania. Fines run from 430 to 1,731 EUR, reduced to 301 EUR if paid within five days.
It is not a restriction by time or by zone: it is a ban on landing. If you book a ferry with the car for July, the problem is not where you park: it is that you do not come off the ship with the car. The practical consequence is simple and best accepted straight away: in high season the car is of no use and cannot be brought. On an island of 3.7 km² that you cross on foot in forty minutes, this is no deprivation.
The rest of the page covers what you actually need once ashore: the exemptions for those entitled to them, the pharmacies, the healthcare, the useful numbers, and a couple of things we do not tell you because we have not been able to verify them.
The vehicle ban: dates, exemptions, fines
The decree forbids cars, motorcycles and mopeds belonging to non-residents to land on or be driven around the island in the period stated. The formula “even if registered jointly with residents” closes off the most obvious short cut: putting the vehicle half in the name of someone from the island is not enough.
Automatic exemptions, with no paperwork to do:
- vehicles used by people with disabilities and displaying a badge;
- ambulances and emergency vehicles;
- police and law enforcement;
- public utility and refuse collection services;
- council vehicles;
- deliveries of food, medicines and newspapers up to 3.5 tonnes, on weekdays from 3:00 to 14:00.
Exemptions by authorisation, with an application to be submitted on the council’s portal at least 48 hours in advance:
- the so-called “figli di Procida”, the island’s sons and daughters living away;
- hire vehicles;
- performers and entertainment vehicles;
- access to medical care;
- owners and year-round tenants of property, one vehicle per household only;
- businesses operating on the island.
Fines run from 430 to 1,731 EUR, reduced to 301 EUR if payment is made within five days. This is not a token penalty.
Watch the dates: three versions are in circulation
This is the point at which most guides get it wrong. The dates of the ban change every year because the regional decree is reissued each spring. Anyone copying last year’s dates is publishing false information.
Three different versions are in circulation, and we will set them out plainly:
- 30 March — 15 October 2026: the dates of the official decree for 2026, DPGR no. 23 of 25/03/2026. This is the correct one for this year.
- 1 April — 31 October: reported by at least one tourist portal. For 2026 it is wrong.
- 1 April — 30 October: these were the dates of the 2025 decree. Valid then, not now.
There is only one rule you need: in March, before booking for the following season, check the new decree on the portal of the Comune di Procida or that of the Campania Region. No guide, this one included, can guarantee you the 2027 dates while you are reading. We tell you what applies today, with the date on which we checked it — 09/09/2026 — and we send you to the source.
If you are travelling outside the ban period and still want to bring the car, the loading fares are on the page for ferries to Procida: 37.30 EUR for a car up to four metres from Naples. And remember that Corricella remains a car-free village anyway, all year round.
Without a car, in practice
Anyone arriving by car leaves it on the mainland. Where they leave it matters a great deal: over seven days it is 50-70 EUR at Pozzuoli against 120-160 EUR at Molo Beverello. The full car park comparison is in getting to Procida.
On the island you get about on the EAV buses, which all leave from the Marina Grande terminus: 1.20 EUR ashore, 1.40 on board. There are the micro-taxis, which are ape cars with a covered trap and go where cars do not. There are scooter, bike and e-bike hire places. And there is the fact that you cross the whole island on foot in about forty minutes. The full picture is in getting around Procida.
On parking on the island we publish nothing: no source makes the rates or the rules known. That is consistent with the fact that for half the year non-residents do not land vehicles. If you arrive in low season with a car, ask your accommodation.
Pharmacies, healthcare and useful numbers
There are three pharmacies on the island, spread across three different areas:
- Farmacia Barone — Piazza dei Martiri;
- Farmacia Schioppa — San Giacomo;
- Farmacia Criscuolo — San Leonardo.
We do not publish their opening hours: they change with the season and with the duty rota, and we have no reliable source listing them. The out-of-hours rotas are displayed on each one’s door, as they are everywhere in Italy.
Healthcare is provided by the ASL Napoli 2 Nord health centre “Gaetanina Scotto di Perrotolo”, equipped with a CT scanner and radiological diagnostics, with an out-of-hours doctor and an air ambulance for urgent transfers to the mainland. A dedicated bus line, the L7, links it to the town with ten services between 07:50 and 14:05.
| Service | Number |
|---|---|
| Hospital | 081 8101213 |
| Accident and emergency | 081 8969058 |
| Out-of-hours doctor | 081 8100418 |
| EAV information (buses) | 081 810 1241 |
| Micro-taxi | 081 896 8785 |
An honest note about the level of service: in 2026 there was a public dispute over the temporary suspension of radiology services for anti-seismic works. That means the equipment on paper is not always in operation. If you have a condition that needs continuous care, do not assume everything will be running on the day you need it: find out before you travel.
Two things we do not tell you
How many cash machines and how many supermarkets there are on the island: we do not know. No source publishes a reliable count, and an invented number in a practical guide is worse than no number. We are not publishing it.
What we can tell you is the context, which is worth more than a list: Procida has 10,034 inhabitants on 3.7 km², one of the highest densities in Europe for an island, and a civic life that works all year round. This is not a seasonal islet that closes in October: it is a town, with its banks, its shops and its daily shopping. The services are concentrated in the port area and via Roma.
The prudent rule is the one that applies to every small island: arrive with some cash. Not because there are no cash machines, but because if the one you find is out of order on a Sunday in August, the alternative is a ferry crossing.
Nor do we publish precise opening hours for shops and services. Out of season many businesses cut back, and an opening time copied from an old page sends you on a wasted journey.
The list before you set off
- Check this year’s vehicle decree if you have any thought of bringing a vehicle. The new one comes out in March.
- Recheck ferry timetables and fares on the operator’s website: they change every season, and some of the evening sailings are summer-only.
- Book Vivara online if you want to see it: guided visits only, a maximum of 25 people per slot, walking boots compulsory. Details on Vivara.
- Book Palazzo d’Avalos at least two days ahead: guided visits only and opening hours that differ between sources.
- Buy bus tickets ashore, 1.20 EUR instead of 1.40, in the bars and tobacconists.
- Put closed shoes in your case. Here the stairways are the infrastructure, not a detail.
If you are still building the trip, the rest is in when to visit and in where to stay.
