Italy tolls on the autostrade are charged by distance: on most motorways you take a ticket where you join and pay where you leave. Autostrade per l'Italia works the toll out from a rate per kilometre for your vehicle class and rounds it to the nearest 10 cents. You can pay by card, in cash or with an electronic toll device, and an unpaid toll can be settled online within 15 days without extra costs. This guide uses the operator's own pages and the Italian Highway Code, read on 17 October 2026.
How the toll is worked out
Autostrade per l'Italia says the customer multiplies the unit rate by the kilometres driven. The kilometres include junctions, link roads and the stretches before and after the toll plaza that the concessionaire built and runs. The page then says that 22 per cent VAT is added and the result rounded to the nearest 10 euro cents, while the footnote to its rate table says the rates shown already include VAT. The rounding follows a ministerial decree of 12 November 2001: the operator's examples are 1.13 euros paid as 1.10 and 1.16 euros paid as 1.20.
The unit rate depends on the vehicle class, on whether the stretch is flat or mountainous (viaducts and tunnels cost more), and on the concessionaire: for a route across several companies, each part is worked out separately before rounding. These are the rates for its own network, VAT included, updated on 1 January 2026:
| Class | Flat stretch, euro per km | Mountain stretch, euro per km |
|---|---|---|
| A | 0.07869 | 0.09315 |
| B | 0.08054 | 0.09536 |
| 3 | 0.10615 | 0.12320 |
| 4 | 0.16108 | 0.18922 |
| 5 | 0.19034 | 0.22437 |
Our own arithmetic, not a published price: with these VAT-inclusive rates, 100 kilometres of flat motorway come to 7.869 euros in class A and 8.054 euros in class B, which the rounding rule turns into 7.90 and 8.10 euros. For 100 kilometres of mountain motorway the results are 9.30 euros (class A) and 9.50 euros (class B). A real bill also counts junctions and link roads.
Closed and open systems
Most motorways use a closed system: ticket on entry, payment on exit for the route between the two. Some stretches are open, such as the A8 Milan to Laghi and the A12 Rome to Civitavecchia, plus some single stations. There you take no ticket, and the toll is based on a fixed distance approved by the awarding body, ANAS, whatever distance you actually drove.
Which class is your vehicle
For vehicles with two axles the class depends on height, measured at the front axle. Up to and including 1.3 metres is class A, above 1.3 metres is class B, so a two-axle van or motorhome that is taller than 1.3 metres at the front axle pays the class B rate. Vehicles with three axles are class 3, with four axles class 4 and with five or more axles class 5.
Paying at the booth
The signs above the exit lanes tell you which payment methods a lane accepts, and the operator asks you to be in the matching lane from the approach to the plaza:
- Yellow background with a T. Reserved for customers with an electronic toll device.
- Blue background. Cards only: Viacard, credit cards and debit cards.
- White background with a hand. Cash, with an attendant.
- White background with card logos. An automatic till that takes cash and also cards.
For cash, automatic tills accept banknotes from 5 to 100 euros and coins from 5 cents to 2 euros. For cards, the operator lists Visa, Mastercard and American Express credit cards and Fast Pay, Maestro and V Pay debit cards, with no PIN and no extra costs, and says all automatic exit lanes have contactless readers.
Telepass and other devices
Telepass, AS24, Axxes, DKV Box Italia, TollTickets and UnipolMove devices work in the dedicated lanes, the operator says. It names time saved in the T lanes, deferred payment and one device for several European countries (the European Electronic Toll Service) as advantages. A visitor does not need one: the booths take cash and cards.
If you cannot pay or lose the ticket
When a toll is not paid in full, the booth issues an Unpaid Toll Report. It shows the plate, the class, the time and the exit and, where known, the entry booth. Autostrade per l'Italia says you can pay it online from 24 hours after the transit, without charge within 15 days of issue. After that, administration fees are added and a reminder letter goes by post to the home address of the vehicle's owner. If you have no entry ticket, you can declare your entry on the operator's self-certification form. The online payment covers four companies: Autostrade per l'Italia, Società Autostrada Tirrenica, Raccordo Autostradale Valle d'Aosta and Tangenziale di Napoli.
The rules are in article 176 of the Italian Highway Code. Paragraph 11 says drivers must pay the toll by the methods and tariffs in force, and paragraph 11-bis makes the driver and the vehicle owner jointly liable for it. Paragraph 16 says that a driver without an entry ticket pays from the most distant entry station for the vehicle class, with the right to prove the actual entry. Paragraph 21 sets 87 to 344 euros for breaches of the other provisions of the article, and the operator says unpaid cases can be passed to the traffic police for that fine. Driving through a toll station without stopping in a way that creates danger, or any act meant to evade the toll in whole or in part, costs 430 to 1,731 euros under paragraph 17, unless it is a criminal offence.
These amounts are the ones in the Normattiva text in force since 14 December 2024; the latest inflation update it notes took effect on 1 January 2021. Article 195 suspends the two-yearly update for 2023 to 2026 and provides for a decree by 1 December 2026 for the amounts that apply from 1 January 2027.
Before you cross the border
Papers, speed limits and ZTL zones for the whole trip are in driving to Italy from the UK; through Switzerland, see the Swiss motorway vignette, a time-based charge for cars. The heavy-lorry charge often confused with it is in the Eurovignette guide, and how tolls work compares the four systems. Driving abroad lists every guide.
BlitzBuddy in Italy
Camera warnings switch on by themselves when you arrive in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France or Türkiye. Where speed camera warnings are allowed lists the rules country by country. BlitzBuddy is free, with no ads and no subscription. It is available for iPhone; the Android version is coming soon.
Sources
- How the toll is calculated, Autostrade per l'Italia
- Toll classes, Autostrade per l'Italia
- Cash, Autostrade per l'Italia
- Credit card, Autostrade per l'Italia
- Electronic toll collection, Autostrade per l'Italia
- Unpaid toll, pay online, Autostrade per l'Italia
- Codice della strada, d.lgs. 285/1992, art. 176, Normattiva (in Italian)
- Codice della strada, art. 195, Normattiva (in Italian)
Sources read on 17 October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
How are tolls calculated on Italian motorways?
Autostrade per l'Italia multiplies a unit rate per kilometre by the kilometres driven and rounds the result to the nearest 10 cents. Its 2026 rate table already includes 22 per cent VAT. The rate depends on the vehicle class and on whether the stretch is flat or mountainous.
Can I pay Italian motorway tolls by card?
Yes. Lanes with the blue card sign take Visa, Mastercard and American Express credit cards and Fast Pay, Maestro and V Pay debit cards, without a PIN and without extra costs, according to Autostrade per l'Italia.
What if I lose my toll ticket in Italy?
Article 176, paragraph 16 of the Italian Highway Code says the toll is then calculated from the most distant entry station for your vehicle class, but you may prove where you entered. Autostrade per l'Italia has a self-certification form for this.
What happens if I leave an Italian toll without paying?
The booth issues an Unpaid Toll Report. You can pay it online from 24 hours after the transit, without charge within 15 days of issue. After that administration fees are added, and the case can go to the traffic police for a fine of 87 to 344 euros under article 176.
How do I find out my vehicle class?
A two-axle vehicle up to 1.3 metres high, measured at the front axle, is class A; above 1.3 metres it is class B. Vehicles with three, four or five or more axles are classes 3, 4 and 5.
