Vignette for Italy? There is none — Italy charges per-kilometre tolls

Italy does not use a vignette. Italian motorways (autostrade) mostly work as a closed toll system: you take a ticket at the entry barrier and pay for the exact distance when you exit. Any site offering an "Italy vignette" is selling a product that does not exist.

How autostrada tolls work in 2026

The network is run by concessionaires — Autostrade per l’Italia is the largest, with other operators on the remaining stretches. The flow is always the same:

1. 1 Take a ticket at the entry barrier (or drive through a Telepass lane if you have the device).
2. 2 Drive to your exit.
3. 3 Pay at the exit barrier — the amount depends on distance and vehicle class.

As a rule of thumb, a standard car pays roughly ~€7.00–€8.00 per 100 km on most stretches; tunnel-heavy Alpine sections sit at the higher end. Exact fares for any entry–exit pair are published on the operators' sites.

Lane colours at the barrier — the one mistake to avoid

• White lanes — cash or card, sometimes with an attendant.
• Blue lanes ("Carte") — cards only.
• Yellow lanes ("Telepass") — transponder holders only. Entering one without a device blocks the lane and ends in an administrative charge, so keep out of yellow unless you have Telepass.

A36, A59, A60: free-flow with no barriers

Three Lombard motorways (Pedemontana Lombarda, north of Milan) have no barriers at all: cameras read your plate and you pay afterwards. The toll for every journey made on one calendar day is due within the next 15 consecutive calendar days, on the operator’s website or app or at one of its other payment points. For foreign-registered cars, unpaid tolls are chased by a specialised collection company, which adds its recovery costs. Foreign drivers easily miss this. If your route uses the A36, A59 or A60, pay through the operator’s payment page before you forget.

Coming from the north: what you pay before Italy

• Austria → Italy via Brenner — Austrian vignette (digital or, in 2026, the last adhesive sticker) plus the A13 Brenner section toll on the Austrian side, then regular A22 tolls in Italy.
• Switzerland → Italy — Swiss annual vignette (€42.74 (CHF 40)), sold as an e-vignette or an adhesive sticker, then Italian tolls.
• Slovenia → Italy — DARS e-vinjeta in Slovenia; the Trieste area motorways then charge standard Italian tolls.

Driving from Belgium? The Belgium → Italy guide compares the Swiss, Austrian and French corridors.