Road Tips and Info for going on a Road Trip in Italy
Quality of Roads
The quality of the roads in Italy are overall good. The highways as well as secondary roads are of good quality. Having said that the quality starts going down as you go more south. Until in Sicily the road quality, plummets to rock bottom.
Highway tolls in Italy are the most expensive that we had to pay for the 11 countries we’ve visited in this 2 Month Europe Road trip. Tools are paid on each highway, rather than buy a bundle for a week. Tolls in the south cost as little as €2, however the truth is the opposite for the central to the northern part of the country. We paid €20 toll from the very north of Italy to Lago di Garda area and a ridiculous amount of €27 from Bologna to Rome. Having said that highway tolls can be avoided if the suburb roads are used. For example from Rome to Naples we didn’t have to pay since we passed through a more scenic route through villages and the countryside.
Scenic roads
Italy is beautiful and very scenic. Even when on the highways expect nice Mountain View or beautiful high castles.
When using suburb roads to pass from one city to another, the roads are in the country side and hence very scenic.
Fuel
Rates of fuel prices in Italy can very widely. In the north of Italy as you come in from the Austrian border expect to pay as much as €1.73 per litre. As you go further down prices can go down to €1.50. Having said that on average the fuel price is €1.43, making it the most expensive of the 11 countries we’ve visited on this 2 month Europe Road trip.
Traffic & Speed
Highways are all outside towns and hence this helps to avoid traffic. However there are speed limits and on every road it there are signs for speed cameras.
As explained, the highway tolls in Italy are not by bundle and you have to pay at every toll station. This means that toll stations gather a lot of traffic.
Ease of driving
Drivers in Italy are ok drivers. They especially help when they see you in the middle of the road, everyone stops to lend a helping hand.
Drivers in Sicily, especially in Catania are simply horrible. It’s like a jungle. They don’t obey zebra crossings and they can’t be controlled. If you can’t beat them join them, but be careful.
Resources whilst on the road
Petrol stations are frequent enough.
There are many SOS phone stations in case of emergencies.
Frequent rest stops with toilets and
Accessibility
Italy is accessible by ferry or by land from various countries both in Europe and in North Africa.
