Guides / Italy

Driving in Italy

The autostrada bills by distance, take a ticket on entry and pay on exit — never queue in a yellow Telepass-only lane without a transponder. The real trap is the historic centre of almost every old city: a camera-enforced ZTL that fines rental cars months after the trip.

Rules current as of September 2026 — verify before you go.

Autostrade per l'Italia ↗

Tolls

Take a ticket on entry, pay by cash or card on exit — roughly €0.07–0.08/km plus 22% VAT.

Never enter a yellow Telepass-only lane without a transponder — reversing out of one to avoid it is itself a fine.

Fine if ignored

Telepass lanes have no barrier for cash/card payers and no way to back out safely once committed.

Low-emission zones

ZTL (zona traffico limitato) historic centres — Rome, Florence, Bologna, Pisa, Siena, Lucca, Verona and most other old towns — are off-limits without a resident or hotel-issued permit.

Fine if ignored

Camera-enforced, not gated — you can drive straight in without realizing, and the fine (plus a roughly €50 admin fee from a rental company) arrives by post months later.

A hotel inside or near a ZTL can usually register your plate for temporary access.

Ask before you arrive, not after driving in.

Equipment

Winter tires or carried snow chains required Nov 15 – Apr 15 on signed stretches, mainly mountain autostrada sections.

Fine if ignored

Speed limits

Autostrada 130 km/h (110 in rain) · main roads 90 · built-up areas 50.

The "Safety Tutor" system on many autostrada sections averages your speed between two cameras, not just a single point.

Emergency

112 — EU-wide emergency number, works from any phone.

Crossing into Italy on a trip?

Routebook flags this automatically on any day your route crosses the border.

Plan a trip

Also on file: Austria · Switzerland · Slovenia · Germany · France · Croatia · Czechia · Slovakia · Hungary