Italy is one of the most beautiful countries in Europe. Here’s how to travel safely across its stunning scenery in a car.
Whether you’re visiting Italy for its famous cities, inimitable cultural highlights or simply for proper pizza (no pineapples allowed, remember), Italy is a popular destination for UK travellers.
To drive to Italy in your own car, you’ll first need to catch a ferry or train to either France, Spain or the Netherlands – but it’s worth asking yourself if you need to be driving in Italy at all. Major cities are very well connected by public transport, and some areas of the country are famously not for faint-hearted drivers.
- Driving in Italy requirements
- Checklist
- Rules for driving in Italy
- Speed limits
- Italian road signs
- Low-traffic zones
- Toll roads in Italy
- Electric car charging in Italy
- Parking in Italy
- Driving a UK car in Italy
- Towing in Italy
- Hiring a car in Italy
Driving in Italy requirements
Even if you’re from a country where the legal driving age is lower, you have to be at least 18 to drive in Italy.
The minimum age is 16 for motorcycles with an engine size of 125cc or less, and 14 for sub-50cc mopeds. Riders of any sort of moped, motorbike or trike must wear a helmet, and you must have your lights on at all times when you’re riding on the road. Your bike must have at least one rear-view mirror, or two if the bike can travel at more than 62mph. It’s illegal to carry children under 5 years old on a motorbike.
On a standard licence, you can drive vehicles with up to nine seats.
Children under 1.5 metres tall, or under 12 years old, must be seated in a child seat – unless you're in a taxi.
Every occupant must have their seatbelt on. The driver and passengers may be fined if you’re pulled over for not wearing a seatbelt.
You may need snow chains or winter tyres for mountainous regions between 15 November and 15 April.
UK citizens do not need an International Driving Permit (IDP) to drive in Italy. If you’re staying in Italy for longer than 12 months, you’ll need to swap your UK licence for an Italian one.
Checklist
Here’s what you need to drive in Italy:
- Valid and in-date full driving licence
- Valid and in-date passport
- Proof of insurance
- UK identifier on your car or numberplate – not a GB one
- A hi-vis jacket for everyone in the car
- A warning triangle in case your car breaks down
- Headlamp beam deflectors, if needed
Recommended items for driving in Italy:
- European breakdown cover
- Spare bulbs (if you can replace individual bulbs)
- First aid kit
- Your V5C (logbook)
Rules for driving in Italy
You’ll need to drive on the right-hand side of the road, and overtake slower traffic on the left. Like in the UK, a solid white line down the centre of the road means overtaking is not allowed. You’re also not allowed to overtake near level crossings, corners, the brow of a hill, pedestrian crossings and junctions.
Give priority to pedestrians at a crossing, cars already on roundabouts and trams/trains that use the road. You cannot turn right on a red light at a junction, even if there’s nothing coming the other way.
Outside of built up areas, you should have your headlights on at all times of the day. That’s also true for driving through tunnels. Reserve use of fog lights for when visibility is under 50 metres (that includes very heavy rain).
As you should expect, you are not allowed to use your phone while driving. However, you can use a hands-free system (if your phone’s connected to the car via Bluetooth, for example). Headphones are not allowed; earpieces are okay.
You can use speed camera detectors – a feature of many sat navs – but radar jammers aren't allowed, unsurprisingly.
Italy has a lower tolerance to drink driving than we do in most of the UK. The drink-drive limit is 50 milligrams per 100 mililetres of blood (it’s 80 milligrams in England, Wales and Northern Ireland). If you’re a professional driver, or if you’ve only been driving for three years or less, the limit is an unequivocal zero.
Trucks are prohibited from driving on Italian motorways on Sundays. Motorcycles with an engine smaller than 125cc are completely banned from motorways.
Speed limits
| Road type | Standard | In poor weather | If towing a caravan | For campervans between 3.5 and 12 tonnes |
| Motorway | 130km/h | 110km/h | 80km/h | 100km/h |
| Major roads (equivalent to UK A-roads) | 110km/h | 90km/h | 70km/h | 80km/h |
| Secondary roads (a UK B-road) | 90km/h | 90km/h | 70km/h | 80km/h |
| Built-up areas | 50km/h | 50km/h | 50km/h | 50km/h |
These are general speed limits, but always look for signage on the road you’re on. Some urban roads have a 30km/h speed limit. Like in the UK, you might see a lower recommended speed limit on corners and tricky sections of road.
If you’ve had your driving licence for less than three years, you must stick to 100km/h on the motorway and 90km/h on major roads.
Make sure you stick to speed limits in Italy, because the country uses a network of ‘autovelox’ speed camera machines – and remember that the fine can follow you to the UK for up to a year afterwards. Italy’s ‘Safety Tutor’ network of average speed cameras also issue automatic fines if you exceed five percent of the speed limit.
Italian road signs
| Italian road signs you might come across | English translation |
| Alt – polizia | Stop – police checkpoint/roadblock |
| Alt – stazione | Stop – toll booth |
| Deviazione | Diversion |
| Area pedonale | Pedestrian zone |
| Passo carrabile | No parking in front of vehicular access |
The format of Italian road signs is similar to the UK, albeit with a few minor differences. Motorway signs are green, blue is for between towns, white is for villages and urban areas, and brown signs denote tourist attractions and places of cultural interest.
As we’re used to, red-edged triangular signs give warnings and red-edged circular signs are prohibitions or mandatory instructions.
If you see a sign with times on, it may be accompanied by two crossed hammers – meaning the restrictions apply on workdays. The same sign with a Christian cross on means the restrictions apply during holiday periods.
Low-traffic zones
Italy has numerous areas that are designated as ‘Zona a Traffico Limitato’ or ZTL. These are in built-up areas, and mean that only permit holders are allowed in. And, by all accounts, the Italian authorities are very quick to give out fines to non-permit holders.
If your accommodation is located within a ZTL, you may be able to get a permit. Otherwise, it’s best to park a bit further out and use public transport in a town centre – especially as it’s easy to miss ZTL signs.
Toll roads in Italy
Italy’s network of motorways – called autostrade – are toll roads. When you enter an autostrada, you’ll need to take a ticket from the toll booth, then pay at the other end.
The cost of the toll may be fixed, or may vary depending on the distance travelled and the category of vehicle you’re in.
There’s usually the choice of manned and unmanned toll stations, as well as a Telepass scheme for regular autostrada users.
One tip we’ve read is to keep your ticket in a safe place – but away from your phone. Like a hotel room card, the magnetisation in the ticket can stop working if it’s too close to your phone. Also don't lose your ticket – ask us how we know.
Electric car charging in Italy
There’s no shortage of electric car chargers in Italy, especially around towns and cities. If you’re travelling into more rural areas, driving an electric car may take a little bit of forward planning. Some chargers let you pay by card, while others will need you to download an app and pre-load it with credit.
If you’re hiring an electric car, make sure it has the charging cables you need before you drive away.
Parking in Italy
Save yourself the stress of parking in a town centre and find a more out-of-town parking location. Large cities are full of traffic, and parking can be hard to find – or a free-for-all. In crowded areas, Italian drivers typically won’t be bothered about bumping or scratching their car – and yours – to get a space. We'd recommend taking the full damage waiver – or insuring your excess – when renting a car in Italy. Again, ask us how we know…
Generally, blue lines designate paid parking areas, while white areas indicate free parking. Yellow lines are typically reserved for disabled drivers.
Driving a UK car in Italy
If you’re driving a UK car in Italy, you’ll be driving a right-hand-drive car on the right-hand side of the road. That means it’s difficult to overtake on single-lane carriageways, it’s difficult to reach toll booths and drive thrus – unless you have a passenger to help – and your blind spots may be different as surrounding vehicles are in different places to what you might be used to.
One important point of difference between the UK and Italy is that directional road signs don’t reference north, east, south or west. Instead, cities in that direction are mentioned – so you’ll need to know where you are in relation to Bologna or Milan, for example. This can make it difficult to know which way to go in a split second, so we’d recommend taking a paper map for backup.
On the autostrada, Italian drivers will use their hazard lights to warn other drivers of slowing traffic ahead. You’ll see this in the UK as well. But don’t use your hazard lights to thank other drivers – it may be misconstrued.
Fuel stations are widely available, and you should be able to use your credit or debit card without any problems. Petrol is ‘benzina’ and diesel is ‘gasolio’ (luckily the pumps are the same colours as in the UK – green for petrol and black for diesel).
Italian drivers aren’t known for their patience – or for following road signs to the letter. Try not to get flustered and don’t rush just because of another driver – drive safely and legally.
Towing in Italy
A car-and-caravan combination needs to be less than 12 metres long, four metres tall and 2.55 metres wide.
Towing vehicles are limited to 80km/h on the motorway and 70km/h on main roads.
Hiring a car in Italy
Italy’s a long drive from the UK, so many drivers prefer to hire a car when they get there. To do this, you’ll need your driving licence, passport and a credit card to pay a deposit on. Check with your hire car company before you travel – some may ask for an International Driving Permit (IDP).
It’ll be cheaper to buy hire car excess insurance before you travel, and double-check the age limit of the hire car company you’re planning to use. You don’t want to get to the desk and find they won’t give you a car because you’re too young, for example. Again, we highly recommend taking the full damage waiver or insuring your excess when renting in Italy.
If you’re taking children to Italy with you, we recommend taking your own child seats with you. You won’t know the condition of the child seats at the rental desk, and they’re expensive. Make sure to package up child seats really well if you’re flying to Italy.
