Can anyone give me a brief primer on paying autostrada tolls in Italy? In France, it was quite easy: give your AMEX card to the toll taker. Will this work in Italy too?
Unless the system was updated recently cash is the only way to pay Italian tolls. Found even a few abandoned (with the barriers up ) late at night.
My wife keeps telling the story of when I came to what appeared to be an abandoned booth near San Vincente (Val d' Aosta) and I decided to drive though, as I looked back there was this guy waving something and shouting Ecco! Ecco! Ecco! since it was 200am I wasnt about to stop. (later I found it meant Here! Here! Here! in Italian)
Found the French toll system really great, many of them you don't even have to give your Amex to the attendant, just a swipe and the gate opens almost instantly.
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I'm planning to be doing some driving in Italy this summer and found this website on driving in Italy. It briefly mentions the tolls, saying that in some places you take a ticket and pay later. Unfortunately, it doesn't say where you pay later. http://www.italianvillas.com/driving.htm
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In Italy on the Autostrada, some places take credit cards and some take only cash. Once I was short Lira and told the guy I only had Swiss Francs. He took them and gave me change in Lira.
Last year I recall driving from Lugano to Milano they had credit card machines like in France. From Milano to Torino I had to pay cash.
The system is similar to that on parts of the
FLA turnpike take a card and then pay the toll depending on where you exit.
I found it fun driving in Italy you can drive as fast as you car can go, yet some guy going faster will blow by you.
Around Lake Como and along the Amalfi coast the roads are very narrow and I had to back more than once to let buses or trucks pass.
Don't let that put you off driving you though you probably will have more trouble with the roadsigns (off the Autostrada) Italians have a knack of putting up signs with arrows pointing in every concievable direction. It takes a while to figure out the direction you may want to go since a particular arrow doesnt necessarily point exactly in the direction of the corresponding road.
Would greatly recommend the drive all around Lake Como, a stop in Bellagio is a must or alternately if you stay in other towns such as Como, Cernobbio, Moltrasio etc you can take a watertaxi to visit any of the lake towns.
Mike
[This message has been edited by MIKESILV (edited 05-06-2001).]
Usually cash is the form of payment on the Autostrade. If Swiss Fancs were accepted, I am certain that the cashier kept them and paid the Lire himself. There is a system of paying later, but that is only for locals. You need some kind of transponder that clocks your entry on to or off the Autostrade. You pay to belong, so you need an Italian address. I confess that I do not know if Amex is acceptable, I never use it as a rule as Visa is usually preferred. Remember that there is practically no variation in fuel prices anywhere unlike your country or mine. Petrol stations are usually closed between 12.30 (or therabouts) - 3.30pm. Buy on the Autostrade where possible as they are usually always open.
We drove extensively on the autostrada last summer over 2+ weeks and we paid with a credit card everytime, as I recall. Look for the "VIA" sign at the toll booths as that will be where you can use your card. The autostrada has its own website if you want more information too.
Originally posted by stimpy: In Italy on the Autostrada, some places take credit cards and some take only cash. Once I was short Lira and told the guy I only had Swiss Francs. He took them and gave me change in Lira.
They love to take foreign currency 'cause they usually cheat you, resulting in a very poor exchange rate. As for credit cards, I'm not sure if they take them everywhere, but when you see the sign "carta sì" it means that at least Visa and Mastercard are accepted.
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"Autostrade" exepts creditcards.
============================================= http://www.autostrade.it/pagine_1/english/e-cartcr.html
Tolls on the highways operated by Società Autostrade can also be paid by credit
card. Through an agreement by Società Autostrade and BankAmericard
(Deutsche Bank S.p.A.), customers can use Visa, Eurocard/MasterCard and
American Express cards to pay tolls at Viacard toll booths at stations operated by
Autostrade S.p.A. Carta Aura and Diners cards are also accepted. Tolls are
charged to customers' accounts on a monthly basis. As the clearing house for
Società Autostrade, BankAmericard handles all transactions involving credit
cards mentioned above (Diners and Carta Aura are handled separately). Dual
purpose cards (debit and credit) can only be used as credit cards in order to
streamline traffic flows at motorway toll stations.
==============================================
However, not all MOTORWAYS are from "Autostrade". See map: http://www.autostrade.it/pagine_1/english/e-map.html
