🇧🇪 Cross-border drive · Belgium → Italy 🇮🇹
Driving from Antwerpen to Bologna
- Drive time
- 12h 48m
- Distance
- 1,155 km
- Same day?
- Split it
- 12 h+, plan a stop
- Fuel cost
- ≈ €176
- petrol · diesel ≈ €152
- Tolls
- ≈ €81
- mixed
- EV charging
- Plenty fast
- 9 of 58 ≥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.
Alternative
+16m- Distance:
- 1,223 km (+69 km)
- Duration:
- 13h 5m
Via: A2 · A 61 · A 5 · A1
Avoids motorways
+7h 30m- Distance:
- 1,209 km (+55 km)
- Duration:
- 20h 19m
Via: N 57 · N4 · SP415 · SS33
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.
12h 48m
1.155 km · €176 fuel
See details ↓
Not realistic
1.155 km is far beyond a typical multi-day cycle tour. Try a shorter pair like a day or weekend stage.
No direct service
Our coach data (FlixBus + BlaBlaCar) doesn't list a direct service for this pair. National operators (e.g., National Express in the UK, Eurolines feeders) may still cover it — check their site directly.
14h 39m
NS International · RER
See details ↓
Trip plan
How to think about the drive: one day, split, or overnight.
Overnight recommended
Too long for a single-driver day. Plan on 1 overnight stop(s) to do this trip right.
A natural overnight stop near the halfway point: Sissach (ch).
- Distance:
- 1,155 km
- Duration:
- 12h 48m (free-flow, no traffic)
Where to stop
Places along the route that make natural breaks for coffee, lunch, or a night.
-
Rochefort 🇧🇪 be
≈144 km≈ 14.7 km detour from the main route
-
Yutz 🇫🇷 fr
≈289 km≈ 3.3 km detour from the main route
-
Saverne 🇫🇷 fr
≈433 km≈ 11.2 km detour from the main route
-
Rixheim 🇫🇷 fr
≈577 km≈ 2.3 km detour from the main route
-
Buochs 🇨🇭 ch
≈722 km≈ 8.6 km detour from the main route
-
Massagno 🇨🇭 ch
≈866 km≈ 3.2 km detour from the main route
-
Pontenure 🇮🇹 it
≈1,010 km≈ 6.4 km detour from the main route
Key moves
Things to know before you set off — borders, sides of the road, tolls.
Multi-country chain · BE → LU → DE → FR → CH → IT
You'll cross 6 countries on this drive — each with its own toll system, fuel pricing, and motorway rules. Skim the must-know section below before you set off, and have your registration plus insurance card in the door pocket for any roadside check.
Tolls on motorways in FR / 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.
Vignette required in CH
Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Bulgaria, and Romania require a sticker or e-vignette for motorway use. Buy at the border — missing one is a heavy on-the-spot fine.
Long rural stretch on R0
Plan for about 11 km of two-lane country roads. Slower than motorway, but often the pretty part — fewer overtakes after dark.
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
Brussels Low Emission Zone covers all 19 communes
Must knowBrussels LEZ runs 24/7 across the entire city; foreign plates must register online before arrival. Diesel pre-Euro 4 and petrol pre-Euro 1 are banned outright. The fine for unregistered entry is €350. Antwerp and Ghent have their own LEZs with different sticker requirements.
Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart need a green Umweltplakette
Must knowGermany's low-emission zones (Umweltzone) are simpler than the French system but stricter on entry. You need a colour-coded sticker physically on your windscreen before entering. The vast majority of zones today require a green sticker (Euro 4+ petrol, Euro 6+ diesel). Order via TÜV / DEKRA / certified workshops — about €6–13, ships in days. Driving without one costs €100 even if your car would qualify.
Order your Crit'Air sticker before the trip
Must knowParis, Lyon, Strasbourg, Marseille, Toulouse and a growing list of cities require a Crit'Air air-quality sticker visible on your windscreen — even for a single drive-through. It's €4.51 from the official site and ships by post (allow 2–6 weeks abroad). Without it, expect on-the-spot fines from €68. Your registration document tells the issuer your emission class.
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.
Italian historic-centre ZTL — confirm your hotel registers your plate
Must knowBologna
This city's old town is encircled by automatic ZTL cameras. Crossing without a permit triggers €80–120 per pass. Ask your hotel the day you arrive: "Can you register my plate for ZTL access?" Some only register the entry, not parking — clarify both. Cameras read plates from any country and Italian fines reach foreign addresses up to a year later.
Borders & documents
You're leaving the EU customs zone
Must knowSwitzerland is in Schengen but NOT in the EU customs union. Random customs stops happen at every border. Personal allowance: €300 in goods (CHF cash equivalent), 5L wine, 1L spirits. Above that you declare and pay duty. If you've loaded the boot with cured meat or cheese in Italy, declare it — confiscation is routine.
Tolls, vignettes & road payment
Mont Blanc, Grand St Bernard, San Bernardino tunnels charge extra
Must knowThe vignette covers most motorways but NOT the major Alpine road tunnels. Mont Blanc tunnel (FR-IT) is roughly €54 one-way for a passenger car, Grand St Bernard about €33, San Bernardino is included in the vignette but Gotthard road tunnel is a vignette-only route in summer (the queue can be 2 hours; the rail-shuttle alternative through the Lötschberg is faster).
Vignette is annual only — CHF 40
Must knowSwitzerland sells one vignette: an annual sticker (or e-vignette) for CHF 40 / about €42. There's no 10-day option. Buy at any border post or online before you leave. The sticker must be physically affixed to the windscreen — keeping it loose in the glovebox earns the same CHF 200 fine as not having one.
You'll hit three different toll systems on this trip
Must knowThis route crosses countries with mismatched toll mechanics — France's ticket-and-pay, vignette stickers, electronic-only stretches. There's no single transponder that works everywhere, but a Telepass EU device covers FR/IT/ES/PT and a Bip&Go covers the same plus a few more. For a one-off trip, contactless cards plus a Swiss vignette and Austrian e-vignette is the simplest mix.
Contactless works at every autoroute booth
UsefulFrench autoroutes use a ticket system: take a card on entry, pay on exit. Every barrier accepts contactless tap-to-pay — pull into the "CB / bank card" lane (orange "t" logo means Liber-T transponder only, avoid those). For frequent EU travellers a Bip&Go transponder pays itself off in two trips by skipping the queue.
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
Triangle, first-aid kit, hi-vis vest — all three
Must knowGermany requires a warning triangle, a first-aid kit (compliant with DIN 13164, with a "use by" date — €10 at any pharmacy), and a reflective vest in every passenger car. Roadside checks do happen at borders. The first-aid kit is the one foreign drivers most commonly miss.
Hi-vis vest in the cabin, triangle in the boot
Must knowA reflective vest must be reachable without leaving the vehicle (in the door pocket or under your seat — boot is too late). One warning triangle is also mandatory. The 2012 breathalyzer rule was scrapped in 2020 but is still nice to keep. No spare-bulb requirement.
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.
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.
-
A2 —274 km
-
A1 Autostrada del Sole189 km
-
A 4 Autoroute de l’Est154 km
-
E411 Waverse steenweg141 km
-
A 35 Autoroute des Cigognes115 km
-
E25; E411 Autoroute du Soleil42 km
-
A 31 Autoroute de Lorraine-Bourgogne35 km
-
E19 —33 km
-
A50 —31 km
-
A9 Autostrada dei Laghi31 km
-
A 355 Contournement Ouest de Strasbourg26 km
-
A 6 Autoroute d'Arlon20 km
Route character
How much of the drive is motorway vs. secondary vs. rural.
Motorway drive — fast, predictable, uneventful.
- Motorway
- 97%
- Secondary
- 0%
- Other / rural
- 3%
Drive difficulty
At-a-glance feel: how demanding is this drive for one driver?
Overall
Demanding
Tough drive — multiple complicating factors compound fatigue. Strongly recommend splitting across days.
- Long drive: 12h 48m behind the wheel at free-flow speeds.
- Cross-border: be → it. Keep documents accessible and check border rules.
Elevation profile
Highs, lows, and the total climb / descent along the route.
- Lowest point
- 13 m
- Highest point
- 1,075 m
- Total ascent
- ↑ 1,856 m
- Total descent
- ↓ 1,796 m
Fuel & tolls
Rough cost expectation for a typical EU passenger car. Treat as an estimate — pump prices change weekly.
Petrol (RON 95)
≈ €176
86.6 L × €2.03 / L · 7.5 L/100 km
Diesel
≈ €152
69.3 L × €2.20 / L · 6 L/100 km
Electric (DC fast)
≈ €130
202 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
≈ €81
- FR — €0.10/km on the motorway network (≈ 180 km in-country ≈ €18)
- CH — Vignette (motorway sticker / e-vignette) — €42.00 for 365 days
- IT — €0.08/km on the motorway network (≈ 282 km in-country ≈ €21)
Prices last refreshed 2026-10-12.
Fuel and EV charging along the route
Stations within a few kilometres of the road, sampled at evenly-spaced waypoints.
EV charging
9 at 50 kW or above (fast / ultra-fast).
Fastest first
- Ionity Oftringen — Oftringen 350 kW
- Atlante — Ospedaletto Lodigiano 300 kW
- Ewiva Ospedaletto Lodigiano — Ospedaletto Lodigiano 300 kW
- Free To X AdS Somaglia Ovest — Somaglia 300 kW
- Free To X ADS Somaglia Est — Somaglia 300 kW
- Tesla Supercharger Arbedo-Castione 250 kW
- PowerDot - Super U - Gertwiller — Gertwiller 200 kW
- Oftringen Supercharger — Oftringen 120 kW
- Total Bonaparte — Antwerpen 50 kW
- Hotel 'T Sandt — Antwerpen 22 kW
- EVA Antwerpen Rijnkaai 26 ( Hangar 26-27 entrance ) — Antwerpen 22 kW
- Frederik Van Eedenplein 14 — Antwerpen 22 kW
Weather by month
Average daytime high / overnight low and typical monthly rainfall, over the past five years.
🇧🇪 Antwerpen
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
6°
2°
|
9°
3°
|
12°
5°
|
15°
7°
|
19°
10°
|
23°
14°
|
23°
15°
|
23°
15°
|
21°
13°
|
16°
10°
|
10°
6°
|
8°
4°
|
| 101mm | 60mm | 78mm | 69mm | 94mm | 61mm | 94mm | 60mm | 73mm | 101mm | 91mm | 64mm |
hot mild cold
🇮🇹 Bologna
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
9°
2°
|
12°
3°
|
16°
6°
|
18°
8°
|
22°
13°
|
29°
18°
|
32°
20°
|
31°
20°
|
26°
16°
|
21°
12°
|
13°
5°
|
10°
3°
|
| 64mm | 72mm | 88mm | 63mm | 167mm | 76mm | 57mm | 53mm | 74mm | 103mm | 40mm | 68mm |
hot mild cold
Next 5 days at Bologna
Live forecast — refreshes every few hours.
-
Mon 26
☀️
17° / 7°
—
-
Tue 27
☀️
17° / 7°
—
-
Wed 28
⛅
16° / 9°
—
-
Thu 29
⛅
19° / 8°
—
-
Fri 30
⛅
17° / 9°
—
Forecast: MET Norway
Directions
Turn-by-turn summary of the main manoeuvres, generated by OSRM.
Show all 41 manoeuvres
- Braderijstraat
- (E19) 33 km
- — 0.4 km
- — 0.4 km
- (E19) 0.9 km
- — 1 km
- (R0) 11 km
- — 0.6 km
- Waverse steenweg (E411) 141 km
- Autoroute du Soleil (E25; E411) 42 km
- Autoroute d'Arlon (A 6) 20 km
- Autoroute de Dudelange (A 3) 10 km
- Autoroute de Dudelange (A 3) 2 km
- Autoroute de Lorraine-Bourgogne (A 31) 35 km
- — 0.4 km
- — 0.5 km
- — 0.3 km
- Autoroute de l’Est (A 4) 10 km
- Autoroute de l’Est (A 4) 42 km
- Autoroute de l’Est (A 4) 102 km
- Contournement Ouest de Strasbourg (A 355) 26 km
- Autoroute des Cigognes (A 35) 115 km
- Autoroute des Cigognes (A 35) 0.1 km
- (A3) 16 km
- (A2) 28 km
- (A2) 9 km
- (A2) 43 km
- (A2) 64 km
- (A2) 123 km
- (A2) 7 km
- Autostrada dei Laghi (A9) 31 km
- Autostrada dei Laghi (A9) 1 km
- Autostrada dei Laghi (A8) 4 km
- (A50) 31 km
- Autostrada del Sole (A1) 5 km
- Autostrada del Sole (A1) 177 km
- Autostrada del Sole (A1) 7 km
- — 0.3 km
- Asse Attrezzato Sud-Ovest 0.9 km
- Viale M. K. Gandhi
- Via Cesare Battisti
By train from Antwerpen to Bologna
Fastest cross-border rail itinerary from the public Transitous planner. Times reflect a typical Monday-morning departure on the next available service-day.
- Fastest journey
- 14h 39m
- 6 changes
- Lead operator
- NS International
- + 3 more
- Alternatives
- 3
- Itineraries returned by the planner.
Trains on the fastest itinerary
- EST 9340
- D
- FR 9287
All operators across alternatives
- NS International
- RER
- TRENITALIA
- DB Fernverkehr AG
Includes a high-speed rail leg (TGV, ICE, AVE, Frecciarossa-class).
Show route on map
Routing via the public Transitous OTP planner (community-run MOTIS instance). Cached 24 hours; verify on the operator's site before booking.
How this page is built
Compiled by COD Solutions Oy from open European data — OSRM over OpenStreetMap for the route geometry, Open-Meteo for monthly climate normals, OpenTopoData SRTM 30m for elevation, EU Weekly Oil Bulletin for cross-border fuel-price bands, and Open Charge Map for EV charging stations. See our methodology for refresh cadence and limitations.