Everything you need to know about Italy’s toll roads (autostrada): how they work, what to expect, list of Italian autostradas/highways, tips
If you are planning to travel in Italy , it is useful to know that the best and fastest roads in Italy are the toll roads or as we call them in Italian: autostrade .
The Autostrade crosses the country from north to south and from east to west.
They store well, are easy to use and fast.
However, they are also expensive and if you are not used to them, you may not know how to use them.
If traveling long distances, Italian toll roads are perfect.
Today I’m going to share everything you need to know about the motorways in Italy: what they are, how to know what to pay, how to pay and what to expect when traveling.
If you’re traveling on a budget, you’ll also find a section at the end of this article detailing how to avoid Italy’s toll roads.
Italian toll roads: what they are
Italian highways/highways/motorways are called autostrada (singular)/autostrade (plural).
They usually have two lanes in each direction and are operated by companies such as Anas, Societa’ Autostrade and others, who charge a fee for their use and maintenance.
Italian toll roads are marked with green signs with white letters, making them easy to spot and recognize.
They have an entrance booth and an exit booth: you get an entrance ticket when you enter and pay when you exit.
All information about the payment of Italian motorways below!
List of Italian motorways/toll roads
Toll roads in Italy are called autostradas.
They are marked by road signs with a green background and white font and are given names that include the letter A (for Autostrade and a number); sometimes they also have a name or nickname, such as “autostrada del sole” (A1) or Autostrada del Brennero (A22)
Here is the current list of the main toll roads in Italy:
| A1 | Milan – Naples | Highway of the Sun |
| A2 | Salerno – Reggio Calabria | Mediterranean Highway |
| A3 | Naples/Naples – Salerno | |
| A4 | Torino/Turin -Trieste | Very serene |
| A5 | Turin/Turin-Aosta | Mont Blanc motorway |
| A6 | Turin/Turin – Savona | Verdemare Highway |
| A7 | Milan/Milan – Genoa/Genoa | Giovi Highway |
| A8 | Milan/Milan-Varese | Lakes Highway |
| A9 | Lainate-Como | Lakes Highway |
| A10 | Genoa/Genoa-Ventimiglia | Highway of Flowers |
| A11 | Florence/Florence-Pisa | Firenze Mare motorway |
| A12 | Genoa/Genoa-Rosignano-Civitavecchia-Rome/Rome | Blue Highway |
| A13 | Bologna-Padua | |
| A14 | Bologna -Taranto | |
| A15 | Parma – La Spezia | Cisa truck |
| A16 | Naples/Naples -Canosa | |
| A18 | Messina – Catania | |
| A19 | Palermo-Catania | |
| A20 | Messina – Palermo | |
| A21 | Turin/Turin-Brescia | |
| A22 | Brenner – Modena | Brenner motorway |
| A23 | Palmanova-Tarvisio | |
| A24 | Rome/Rome-L’Aquila-Teramo | Parks Highway |
| A25 | Torano – Pescara | Parks Highway |
| A26 | Genoa/Genoa-Gravellona | |
| A27 | Belluno-Venice/Venice | |
| A28 | Portugruaro – Conegliana | |
| A29 | Palermo – Mazara | |
| A30 | Caserta – Salerno | |
| A31 | Vicenza – Thiene | Val d’Astico motorway |
| A32 | Turin/Turin – Bardonecchia | Frejus motorway |
| A33 | Asti – Cuneo | |
| A34 | Villesse – Gorizia | |
| A35 | Brescia – Milan | BreBeMi motorway |
| A36 | Cassano Magnago – Lentate sul Seveso |
In addition to these main Italian toll roads, there are more Italian motorways that connect major motorways, or ring roads around major cities.
These additional roads usually have names such as raccordo or bretella .
Who can use toll roads in Italy?
Italian autostradas are expressways, so they are only open to vehicles that meet minimum speed standards.
This means that you can drive on Italy’s motorways if you travel:
- By car, camper or car + trailer
- On a motorcycle over 150 cc
- Trucks
To drive on Italy’s toll roads, you need a full driving license and possibly an international permit. Make sure you check all the requirements before you hit the road, as checks do happen.
How Italian toll roads work
In the vast majority of cases, Italian toll roads charge per distance traveled: to calculate this, they have toll booths when you enter and exit the autostrada.
It works like this.
Departure to the Italian highway
As you approach the booth, you will need to enter a lane: you will have to choose either the Telepass lane or the “biglietto” lane.
Most likely, you need a “biglietto” strip.
Telepass is for pass holders – if your car hire company hasn’t told you they have an in-car payment point, you’re not one of them!
Biglietto Lanes – biglietto is Italian for ticket and this is the lane you want.
You get into the lane, stay in your car, get in line. The car will be on your left (driver’s side).
You will see a ticket sticking out: take it and put it away safely: you will need it on the way out.
If you don’t see a ticket sticking out, you can press the big red button next to “biglietto”: it should come out instantly.
You need to know : the ticket is proof that you entered the motorway at a certain place. If you lose it, you will be charged from the beginning of the highway as if you had used it all. This can add up to several hundred kilometers, so make sure you don’t lose your ticket or the price will drop!
Exiting the freeway in Italy
Motorway/highway/autostrade exits are called “uscite”.
When you see your ad, move into the right lane and prepare to turn.
Lanes work a little differently in Italy than in the US, and getting into a lane is usually not enough. To exit the freeway, you often have to turn “slightly” to the right.
When you exit the highway, you will find a second toll booth where you will pay.
How to pay Italian motorways (pedaggio)
In Italy, you pay for freeway tolls at the highway exit with cash, card or Telepass.
When you get to the exit, you will see another payment point.
You will usually be asked to enter a lane and given the following options.
Telepass is a lane for cars equipped with telepass. If you don’t know for sure that you have it, this band is not for you.
If you have a Telepass, just slow down, give the car time to read your box and continue.
Carte – use this lane if you want to pay the toll with a credit or debit card.
To use this lane, you need to drive up to the booth; the car will be on your left (driver’s side).
You need:
Insert your ticket into the machine – usually a big green arrow will flash indicating where to put it,
check the amount due on the display
Inserts your cards into a special slot – the other big green arrow usually shows the correct place
to get your card. Wait for the message ” grazie ” (thank you) and you are good to go.
Advice! Use this lane only if you know for sure that your card works in Italy! Backing up to the booth as your card is declined can be dangerous or impossible if there is a queue, so it should be avoided at all costs!
Cash (without people) – this is usually indicated by a white road sign with an image of coins and bills.
If you get into one of these lanes, you’ll be dealing with a car.
You need:
- Insert the ticket into the machine – usually the big green arrow points to the correct slot
- Check the amount to be paid on the machine’s display
- Pay with cash or bills
- Get changes (if any)
- Wait for the thank you message/bar to come up
- go
Top tip! I recommend driving as close as possible to the car. If you don’t have long arms, inserting a ticket and getting change can be difficult if you are too far away and are not allowed to exit the vehicle. Been there, done that, so please take my advice and get as close to your left as possible!
Cash (piloted) – this is usually indicated by a white sign with a black pattern of a hand, coins and bills.
If you hit this streak, you’ll have a real person giving you change.
If you find yourself in line with the person running the payment point, everything becomes even easier: you have to hand him your ticket, wait for the amount to be paid to appear on the display, and pay.
Gas stations on toll roads in Italy
Italian toll roads have regular refueling stations.
These are called the service area and an area usually equipped with gas pumps, a cafe/restaurant and toilets.
Larger ones may have more food options, an actual restaurant, a mini market, and even a small playground.
However, this is not a given, and you can also find only the most basic gas facilities. It’s good not to have too high expectations!
To get gas, you will probably have the option of self-service or servito.
Good to know! If you’re coming from the US, it might be helpful to know that the color coding of the shoes is different in Italy and in the US (I’ve noticed it the other way around!): be sure to read up on what’s super and what’s diesel.
You can usually pay the person serving you or inside at the cash register by mentioning the number of the pump you used.
Where to recharge an electric car on toll roads in Italy
Italy is working hard to add EV charging stations, so the best way to find a charging station is to rely on your car’s charging station map.
However, these autostrade stations are currently marked as equipped with charging points:
A 1 Milan-Napoli
- Frascati Est і Frascati Ovest, San Cesareo service area – Rome South section;
- Secchia Ovest Km 156.5 to the south, 2 Ultra Fast 300 kW;
- Flamina Est Km 509.1, Northbound, 2 Ultra Fast 300 kW.
A4 Brescia – Padua
- Monte Baldo Ovest , area di servizio 4 chargers 11 kW;
- Tesina Est , 1 charger 22kW;
- Limenella Ovest , 1 charger up to 50 kW.
A5 Autoport with a column exceeding 50 kW.
A7 – Dorno East and West , 2 double appliances 43 kW and 50 kW.
A10 Genoa – Ventimiglia
- Rio Rinovo Nord , 4 Ultra Fast 350 kW;
- Ceriale Sud , 4 Ultra Fast 350 kW.
A12 – Brugnano East and West .
A15
- Tugo Ovest with column up to 22 kW;
- West Montaio with column of over 50 kW.
A22
- Passo del Brennero ,16 Tesla, 1 ultra-fast 150 kW, 1 multi-standard fast 50 kW charger and 1 AC 22 kW charger;
- Stazione autostradale Bressanone/Val Pusteria 1 charger multi-standard fast50kW, 1 charger AC 22 kW;
- Paganella Est multi standard fast 50кВт;
- Paganella Ovest 1 high-speed multi-standard charger 50kW, 1AC 22 kW;
- Nogaredo Ovest 1 multi-standard 50kW high-speed charger, 1 AC 22kW charger;
- Rovereto sud 2 fast chargers multi-standard 50 kW, 1 charger AC 22 kW;
- Stazione autostradale Affi 16 Tesla, 1 high-speed multi-standard charger 50 kW, 1 AC charger 22 kW;
- Mantova Nord 1 multi-standard 50kW high-speed charger, 2 AC 22kW chargers;
- In Ovesta , 1 high-speed multi-standard rapida 50kW, 2 AC 22 kW.
A25
- Montevelino Nord e Sud double prefix Type 2 up to 22 kW;
- Brecciarola Nord e Sud doube plug Type 2.
Stop for lunch on toll roads in Italy
Along the Italian autostrada, you can get food at most gas stations.
What you get varies from station to station, but you’ll usually find at least some basic “bar” offerings, ie coffee, water, sandwiches and light snacks.
Sometimes you come across real restaurants that are usually decent, but most importantly, fast.
In Italy, a typical chain store/restaurant found on toll roads is called Autogrill.
They’re usually served pretty well and all have the same offering, which is handy if you’re traveling with kids as they’ll know what to order: Autogrill’s P anino con la cotoletta has been an Italian travel classic for generations!
Previously, they were so common that the word “Autogrill” became synonymous with the “Autotrade” gas station.
However, now there is more of a mix. Don’t be surprised if you’ve read about Autogrill but haven’t found it on your way.
Listening to the radio / Traffic news on toll roads in Italy
While driving on the Italian motorway, you can get traffic news and updates on FM 103.3, Isoradio.
The music they play feels like a jump back to the 80s in Italy, but the signal is clear and the traffic information is handy.
Road signs on Italian highways
Road signs on the freeway are green with a white inscription.
Uscita signs indicate the exits.
Blue, round signs with white writing indicate the minimum speed in certain lanes.
Italian toll roads can have two or three lanes. Right is low, medium is medium speed, and left is for faster vehicles. Lanes often have minimum speed limits: 60 km/h in the slow lane; 90 km/h in the middle lane.
The maximum speed limit sign is round, white in color with a red frame and a number in the center.
The maximum speed on Italian motorways is 130 km/h 110 km/h (good/bad weather) unless otherwise stated. New drivers and vehicles pulling trailers are subject to different rules.
Be sure to familiarize yourself with the official Italian traffic rules before getting into the car.
Toll booths are marked with large signs that say ALT Stazione or Pedaggio (see below).
To the right of the road, where there is also an emergency lane, emergency stops are regularly marked.
Emergency services on the Italian motorway
The Italian autostrada has regular SOS speakers to call for help. They are yellow, to the right of the road.
Official numbers of emergency services in Italy:
112 General emergency
118 Ambulance
Note that you may need to add area codes depending on your phone settings and your settings for location services.
Italian words for freeway / toll road
- Freeway – highway/freeways/toll road
- Casello is an Italian toll station / toll point
- Biglietto is a ticket
- Uscita – Exit
- Service area – АЗС
- Colonnina SOS – SOS point
- Piazzola di sosta – emergency slide
- Autogrill is a type of refueling with food
- Pompa di benzina – gas pump
- Benzina – gas / gasoline / gasoline
- Diesel – diesel
- Servito – piloted / services
- Casellante – the person at the toll booth
Cost of Italian motorways – Cost of toll roads in Italy
The cost of your freeway trip depends on the distance you travel.
You can get an estimate from the Autostrade staff themselves with this >>> autostrade toll calculator .
I will give you an example:
Milan – Rome Nord (536 km) now costs €41.50
Naples – Salerno (82 km) now costs €5.60
How to avoid Italian toll roads
It is usually possible to avoid Italian toll roads entirely by following alternative routes such as the Strade Statali .
Strade Statali are long good roads, usually smaller than autostradas but slower but better than local roads in terms of traffic efficiency.
Strade Statali are indicated by blue signs with white font and SS code. The speed limit on them is usually 90 km/h.
Even smaller roads will be marked as SP (Strade Provinciali). Anything less will just be a local road.
You need to know: from time to time there may be toll booths on major roads that you did not expect. This is not very common; however, it does happen, so it’s a good idea to have Euro coins with you at all times.
This usually doesn’t happen if you make a conscious effort to stick to a statal or smaller stride . Anything marked with a traffic sign on a green background may result in a toll.
I hope you found this quick guide to using Italy’s toll roads useful. Safe travels!