🇮🇹 Same-country drive · Italy
Driving from Ancona to Pescara
A straightforward guide for driving the A14 motorway from Ancona to Pescara, covering toll tips and road conditions.
- Drive time
- 1h 53m
- Distance
- 156 km
- Same day?
- Yes, half day
- under 4 h
- Fuel cost
- ≈ €25
- petrol · diesel ≈ €22
- Tolls
- ≈ €12
- per-km
- EV charging
- Plenty fast
- 35 of 111 ≥50 kW
On this page
Route map
Route options
Other paths OSRM found between the two cities — handy when traffic, tolls, or scenery matter more than raw speed.
Avoids motorways
+1h 24m- Distance:
- 150 km (−6 km)
- Duration:
- 3h 17m
Via: SS16
How else can you make this trip?
Driving is the focus of this guide; here's how cycling, coach, and (soon) train and plane stack up for the same pair.
What the drive is like
Drafted from the route's computed data on September 27, 2026 and reviewed against the route summary card. Read our methodology.
You pick up the A14 motorway heading south from Ancona, immediately ascending onto the dramatic viaducts that hug the Adriatic coastline. This route is defined by the constant presence of the Apennine Mountains to your right and the sea to your left. Expect tunnels to come in quick succession; the lighting shifts rapidly, so keep your headlights on even during the bright, hazy afternoon hours typical of this Mediterranean stretch.
The A14 is a distance-based toll road, so take a ticket upon entry at the Ancona toll gate and keep it accessible in your center console until you reach your exit near Pescara. Speed limits are strictly monitored by the Tutor system, which measures your average speed between two points, not just your speed at a single radar flash. In heavy rain, which can move in quickly from the sea, the speed limit automatically drops from 130 km/h to 110 km/h, and the Italian highway police are active in enforcing these weather-adjusted limits.
Traffic builds significantly as you near the Pescara interchange, where the motorway meets local coastal commuter flow. Watch for heavy lorry traffic near the industrial hubs around Vasto and Termoli; the right lane is often occupied by long-haulers, making it necessary to use the center lane for passing while maintaining sharp situational awareness. Fuel is generally more expensive at motorway service stations compared to local roads, so fill up in the outskirts of Ancona before joining the A14 if you want to avoid the highway premium.
Route highlights
- The series of high-altitude sea viaducts between Ancona and Civitanova Marche
- The efficient Tutor average-speed camera system on the A14
- The panoramic view of the Gran Sasso massif visible as you approach Pescara
Trip plan
How to think about the drive: one day, split, or overnight.
Short hop
Under two hours behind the wheel. Grab a coffee, set the playlist, done before lunch.
- Distance:
- 156 km
- Duration:
- 1h 53m (free-flow, no traffic)
Where to stop
Places along the route that make natural breaks for coffee, lunch, or a night.
-
Porto Sant'Elpidio 🇮🇹 it
≈52 km≈ 2.5 km detour from the main route
-
Tortoreto Lido 🇮🇹 it
≈104 km≈ 1.8 km detour from the main route
Key moves
Things to know before you set off — borders, sides of the road, tolls.
Tolls on motorways in IT
Budget for motorway tolls — France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal charge per-km, Croatia and Greece by section. Contactless cards work almost everywhere; have one loaded.
Must-know before you go
The things a driver from another country wouldn't think to ask about — fines, stickers, payment cards, opening hours.
City access & emission zones
ZTL cameras read your plate from any country
Must knowItalian historic centres (Florence, Rome, Milan, Bologna, Pisa, Siena, Verona, Naples, Turin, Palermo and dozens more) are ringed by automatic Zona Traffico Limitato cameras. Driving in without a permit triggers €80–120 per crossing, and the fine reaches your home address up to a year later via cross-border collection. Treat any city centre as off-limits unless you've confirmed your hotel offers a permit, and ask the hotel to register your plate the day you arrive.
Tolls, vignettes & road payment
Telepass saves you the toll-booth queue
UsefulItalian autostrade work like France: ticket on entry, pay on exit. Contactless cards work at most modern lanes (look for "Carte" — avoid yellow "Telepass" lanes without the device). For long routes, a Telepass EU transponder works in IT/FR/ES/PT and pays for itself across two days; at minimum, keep your insurance card and registration in the door pocket — booth attendants occasionally ask.
What your car must carry
Hi-vis vest mandatory before stepping out
Must knowItalian law requires you to wear a reflective vest before exiting the vehicle on a motorway shoulder, day or night. One warning triangle in the boot is also required. Both items are typically €15 at any Autogrill or fuel station — don't arrive without them.
Fuel stations
"Servito" pumps cost about €0.20/L more
UsefulItalian fuel stations split between fai-da-te (self-service) and servito (attended). The same station typically offers both, with attended pumps charging a 10–15% premium. Off-hours, attended turns into self-service automatically. If a pump is out of paper or won't take your card, try the next station — Italian banking sometimes refuses foreign chip cards on first attempt.
Contactless cards work at virtually every motorway pump
TipMajor brand stations (Shell, Total, BP, Repsol, Cepsa, OMV, Eni, Esso) take Visa and Mastercard contactless without an issue. American Express and Diners are spotty south of the Alps. A €100 pre-authorisation hold is normal — it releases within 5 days. Carry €50 cash for the rare independent station.
Off-motorway stations close at lunch and on Sundays
TipOutside motorways, expect 12:30–15:30 closures and most of Sunday off. Motorway service areas (autogrill) run 24/7. If you're cutting through a small town in the early afternoon, fuel before noon or push to the next motorway entrance.
Money & connectivity
EU roaming covers calls, texts and data at no extra cost
TipYour home EU SIM works at home rates across every EU member, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The "fair use" cap on data only applies if you're abroad more than four months. For a 2-week road trip, just use your phone normally — but switch off "data roaming" if you're leaving the EU into UK / CH for any segment.
Emergency & breakdown
112 works everywhere in the EU and continental neighbours
TipSingle number for police, ambulance, fire — works from any phone, any network, any country. On motorways, the orange SOS pillars every 2km connect direct to the regional traffic control centre and pinpoint your location. Use them over your phone if you can — it speeds the response.
Rules, fees, and thresholds change. Always verify against the official source the day before you drive — this page is a checklist, not a legal reference.
Main roads
The highways this route spends the most kilometres on.
-
A14 Autostrada Adriatica134 km
-
SS16 Corso Umberto Primo3 km
Route character
How much of the drive is motorway vs. secondary vs. rural.
Motorway drive — fast, predictable, uneventful.
- Motorway
- 86%
- Secondary
- 3%
- Other / rural
- 11%
Drive difficulty
At-a-glance feel: how demanding is this drive for one driver?
Overall
Easy
Straightforward drive. One driver, one day, little to worry about beyond fuel and a toilet stop.
- No major complicating factors — motorway-heavy, single country, comfortable length.
Elevation profile
Highs, lows, and the total climb / descent along the route.
- Lowest point
- 5 m
- Highest point
- 205 m
- Total ascent
- ↑ 648 m
- Total descent
- ↓ 670 m
Fuel & tolls
Rough cost expectation for a typical EU passenger car. Treat as an estimate — pump prices change weekly.
Petrol (RON 95)
≈ €25
11.7 L × €2.16 / L · 7.5 L/100 km
Diesel
≈ €22
9.3 L × €2.35 / L · 6 L/100 km
Electric (DC fast)
≈ €18
27 kWh × €0.65 / kWh · 17.5 kWh/100 km
Public DC fast charging — slower AC charging at home or hotels typically costs about half.
Motorway tolls & vignettes
≈ €12
- IT — €0.08/km on the motorway network (≈ 156 km in-country ≈ €12)
Prices last refreshed 2026-09-28.
Fuel and EV charging along the route
Stations within a few kilometres of the road, sampled at evenly-spaced waypoints.
EV charging
35 at 50 kW or above (fast / ultra-fast).
Fastest first
- Ionity Civitanova Marche — Civitanova Marche 350 kW
- Ionity Portogrande — Porto d'Ascoli 350 kW
- Free to X AdS Conero Ovest — Numana 300 kW
- Enel X Eni — Civitanova Marche 300 kW
- Enel X Way Q8 — Sant'Elpidio a Mare 300 kW
- Free To X AdS Piceno Ovest — Campofilone 300 kW
- Free To X AdS Piceno Ovest — Campofilone 300 kW
- Tesla Supercharger — Porto Sant'Elpidio 250 kW
- Supercharger San Benedetto del Tronto — San Benedetto del Tronto 250 kW
- GreenFlux Volvo Pieralisi — Ancona 175 kW
- Concessionaria Volvo - Via Martiri di Belfiore — Civitanova Marche 175 kW
- Audi Zentrum Ancona — Ancona 150 kW
Weather by month
Average daytime high / overnight low and typical monthly rainfall, over the past five years.
🇮🇹 Ancona
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
12°
5°
|
12°
5°
|
15°
8°
|
17°
10°
|
21°
14°
|
27°
19°
|
30°
21°
|
30°
21°
|
26°
18°
|
22°
14°
|
16°
9°
|
12°
6°
|
| 67mm | 44mm | 93mm | 70mm | 84mm | 49mm | 47mm | 44mm | 85mm | 70mm | 75mm | 62mm |
hot mild cold
🇮🇹 Pescara
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
13°
6°
|
13°
5°
|
16°
8°
|
18°
10°
|
22°
14°
|
28°
20°
|
31°
23°
|
30°
22°
|
26°
18°
|
23°
15°
|
17°
9°
|
13°
6°
|
| 68mm | 46mm | 85mm | 52mm | 79mm | 49mm | 27mm | 30mm | 73mm | 43mm | 104mm | 55mm |
hot mild cold
Next 5 days at Pescara
Live forecast — refreshes every few hours.
-
Sun 11
⛅
15° / 15°
—
-
Mon 12
🌧️
21° / 14°
117.2mm
-
Tue 13
☀️
20° / 14°
3mm
-
Wed 14
☀️
21° / 12°
—
-
Thu 15
⛅
22° / 13°
—
Forecast: MET Norway
Directions
Turn-by-turn summary of the main manoeuvres, generated by OSRM.
Show all 27 manoeuvres
- Piazzale Europa
- Piazzale della Libertà
- Strada Comunale Asse Nord-Sud 5 km
- Strada Comunale Asse Nord-Sud 0.2 km
- Via Primo Maggio
- Via Primo Maggio
- Via Primo Maggio 3 km
- Via Primo Maggio 0.4 km
- Via Primo Maggio
- Via Primo Maggio
- (A14) 0.6 km
- Autostrada Adriatica (A14) 134 km
- Via Saline (SS16)
- Corso Umberto Primo (SS16)
- Corso Umberto Primo (SS16)
- Corso Umberto Primo (SS16) 3 km
- Corso Umberto Primo
- Via Caravaggio
- Via Leonardo da Vinci
- Via del Santuario
- Via Enzo Ferrari 0.1 km
- Via del Circuito (SR16bis)
- Via Gran Sasso
- Ponte Ennio Flaiano
- —
- Via Aterno
- Via Aterno
Cycling from Ancona to Pescara
Touring-pace bicycle route generated by BRouter, with elevation gain and matched against the EuroVelo cycle network.
- Distance
- 160 km
- vs 156 km driving
- Riding time
- 7h 53m
- Touring pace; experienced riders cut this 20–30%.
- Total climb
- ↑ 300 m
Routed on the BRouter trekking profile — balanced for paved leisure tourers; gravel and fast-bike profiles produce different lines.
This route doesn't follow any EuroVelo network sections — expect mixed local cycle paths and quiet roads.
Show route on map
By coach from Ancona to Pescara
Indicative duration of the fastest direct long-distance coach found in the FlixBus and BlaBlaCar Bus EU schedules.
- Travel time
- 2h
- Direct
- Operator
- FlixBus-eu
- Departures / day
- ~1
- Approximate based on the published schedule.
Show coach corridor on map
Schedules sourced from the FlixBus and BlaBlaCar Bus GTFS feeds via transport.data.gouv.fr. Times are indicative; verify on the operator's site before booking.
Booking link coming soon.
Frequently asked
Are there any vignettes required for this drive?
No, Italy does not use a vignette system. You will pay tolls based on the distance you travel on the A14 motorway.
What should I do if the weather turns bad?
The speed limit on Italian motorways decreases from 130 km/h to 110 km/h during rain. Reduce your speed and increase your following distance, as the coastal road can become slick.
How this page is built
Compiled by COD Solutions Oy from open European data — OSRM over OpenStreetMap for the route geometry, BRouter for the bicycle route, Open-Meteo for monthly climate normals, OpenTopoData SRTM 30m for elevation, Open Charge Map for EV charging stations, and Google Gemini drafts the narrative and FAQ from the computed route data. See our methodology for refresh cadence and limitations.