I am traveling to Europe later this year and will be hiring a car (fwiw, Mercedes GLA) and driving through Italy and France. I will need to drive on Toll roads, and am not finding a lot of recent information about how they manage tolls. Seems like they still have toll booths, and some even give you a ticket at the start of the toll road which you have to put into a machine when you are ready to leave the toll road. Sounds archaic, but is that how it still is over there?? Appreciate any RECENT experience you have…
Toll Roads in Italy and France
TimOfEastBNE on 13/07/2018 - 08:44
Last edited 13/07/2018 - 09:56 by 1 other user
Last edited 13/07/2018 - 09:56 by 1 other user
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Gasoline? Benzina I think.
4 years ago =/= recent (in my book anyway) :-)
picking up car in Italy, so it will be full to start with, but need to fill it up on return to Italy :-(
I didn’t come across any toll roads where I was travelling in Germany.
Watch out for hire car companies if you have your heart set on the Merc though…. I know for my autobahhn driving I wanted a BMW but the hire car company that listed a full range of 3 series to hire turned out to give you Skodas every time (calling them equivalent - ha!).
That is so scammy!
thanks. However as per the title, I am driving in Italy and France, so while interesting, not on topic.
All the tolls we passed through in Italy had cash or card lanes. Very easy but just have your payment within easy reach as other drivers can get frustrated if you are slow…
how long ago?
Can confirm from 10 months ago.
Seems like they still have toll booths, and some even give you a ticket at the start of the toll road which you have to put into a machine when you are ready to leave the toll road. Sounds archaic, but is that how it still is over there??
Would you rather prefer that you have to put a deposit on a smart tag or something bureaucratic?
ANPR (Automated Number Plate Recognition) and an online account like in Aus would suit me fine, keeps you moving and means you don't need lots of suitable currency on hand
Hahaha, in Italy? You'd probably get hit with the tolls of some other car.
I mean ok, even if it's reliable, would you be willing to risk a tiny chance of a stuff-up in a foreign country tying up all your credit until it's sorted out? At least with cash or tap you've paid and that's that.
The Mont Blanc tunnel toll still had traditional manned booths but also machines to pay by card/contactless yourself. It wasn’t cheap though, about 50 euros or so.
GLA is not a good choice for long drives, especially if it’s a 180 or 220 diesel which rentals tend to be, quite rough engine and underpowered, wouldn’t recommend it.
Thanks.. re comment about the GLA, it's booked now so not sure about changing it :-( hopefully my mileage varies!
Tolls in France can be extremely expensive. They are largely privately owned (including our very own Macquarie Bank who run a lot of them).
You're also at risk of all of your cards being rejected (some of them really don't like international credit cards). I had a $40eu toll for a really small stretch of road. It was a debacle - tried every card I owned, none worked. Ticket flew away and had to run to catch it. Managed to scrape together enough cash to pay it but I've read some people had to tailgate a truck through. There's phone numbers to call but it's difficult to communicate.
Most were fine, but it's a bit of a crapshoot. I'd recommend making sure you have sufficient cash sitting around just in case.
I had this problem in France at one toll booth. no credit card would work. had no cash. they took my name and address and later sent me an account.
From what I can see it's about 8 euro per 100km, and I need to drive a few hundred one way then a few hundred back. Wish it were free, but the return journey is to catch a plane, so no delays wanted! We can try for a no toll road option in Italy as we won't be in any hurry.
Rented a Volvo diesel wagon that had plenty of power and heaps of space for luggage and very economical.
One long stretch of a road had to pay 23 euro for a one way trip though most are under 10 euro and cash was easiest as they have manned booths.
They have fantastic new freeways and tunnels in Italy which made it a breeze to drive from Como in the north down to Tuscany and RomeYou can either pay by cash, cards or cheque. But i would recommend you to have a e-tag ( telepeage ) which is like the same as in nsw. Your tag will be read and debited and it means no queue as other booth you can waited up to 2hrs especially in july august or any other school holiday. Here a link to subscibe for a tag that would work in france, spain, portugal and italy :
https://www.telepeagepourtous.fr/fr/particulier/toutes_nos_o…
Less headache and it will avoid you being stuck. Have fun
Just came back from Europe last month.
In France try to go in the lanes with the green arrow as they accept all the payment methods. Some you take a ticket and then pay when you exit. Others you pay at each toll booth.
In Italy it’s similar either take a ticket and pay when you exit or just pay the amount.
We used 28 Degrees Credit Card for all the tolls on our trip in Europe and had no issues with any toll booths not accepting it.
Other tip, use Waze and Flitsmeister apps to know where Police, Speed Cameras and Road Works are.
Seconding this. Always pick the lane with the little credit card symbol (might say CB on it). Source: live in France / Italy
i was there a month ago and the toll roads still have booths (mostly unmanned) and you can pay via cash or credit card. There are two types one were you receive a ticket when you enter and when you exit the toll road it calculates the amount, the other was a normal toll road that cost 2 euros something to get on. You can buy a epass(not sure what they call it) but we didn't, not sure of the cost difference.
i was there 4 years ago (recent?) and drove around europe(france,germany,Austria, italy,spain,Czech) ~ they have cash/CC payment lanes so either would work.
if you are driving into italy then fill up before you enter. italy has a big gasoline tax.