Italy
Pay per distanceItalian autostrade use a ticket system: take a ticket at entry, pay at the exit by card, cash or a Telepass tag.
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Italian autostrade use a ticket system: take a ticket at entry, pay at the exit by card, cash or a Telepass tag. The bigger trap for visitors is the ZTL, the camera-enforced limited-traffic zone in almost every historic centre, where driving in without a permit means an automatic fine.
About €0.09 per km on toll motorways.Estimate
Ticket in, pay at exit. About 0.08 euro per km for a car on most stretches, a little more on mountain sections. An estimate.
How to buy
Where to get it
- Barriers: blue card lanes (Carte) or white cash lanes (Contante)
- The yellow Telepass lane (tag only, do not enter without one)
- Free-flow zones around Lombardy (A8/A9/A36): no barrier, pay online within 15 days
Step by step
- Take a ticket at the entry barrier and keep it.
- At your exit, insert the ticket and pay the amount shown.
- Pay by card (contactless works) or cash; white lanes are cash only.
- With a Telepass, stay in the yellow lane and it reads automatically.
- On a Lombardy free-flow road, no ticket is issued; register your plate and pay online within 15 days.
The traps to avoid
- Never enter a yellow Telepass lane without a tag; you block it and get fined.
- Lose the ticket and you pay the maximum distance for that motorway.
- ZTL fines in historic centres arrive by post weeks later, often several per trip. Park outside the old town and walk in.
Charged separately
- Mont Blanc tunnel (to France)€56.40
One-way for a car; a return is cheaper per crossing. On top of the motorway toll.
- Frejus tunnel (to France)€56.40
One-way for a car, aligned with the Mont Blanc tariff.
- Grand St Bernard tunnel (to Switzerland)€33.50
One-way for a car. Entering Switzerland also needs the Swiss vignette.
City & emission zones
- ZTL limited-traffic zones (historic centres)
Florence, Rome, Milan, Bologna, Siena, Naples and many more enforce ZTLs by camera, around the clock or in set hours. Driving in without a permit is an automatic fine, often 80 to 350 euro, billed to you later via the rental company. Park outside and walk; this is not a toll you can pay at a gate.
Fuel
Local tips
- The ZTL is the single biggest tourist trap. Look for the white 'ZTL' sign with a red ring before any old centre, and check the hours.
- Telepass is only worth renting if you will use several motorways; for one route the card or cash lanes are fine.
- The Mont Blanc and Frejus tunnels each cost over 56 euro one way; budget them separately.
- Keep a contactless card and some change ready; some machines reject certain foreign cards.
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