🇮🇹 Cross-border drive · Italy → Greece 🇬🇷
Driving from Bologna to Thessaloníki
- Drive time
- 16h 6m
- Distance
- 1,537 km
- Same day?
- Split it
- 12 h+, plan a stop
- Fuel cost
- ≈ €219
- petrol · diesel ≈ €190
- Tolls
- ≈ €51
- mixed
- EV charging
- Plenty fast
- 14 of 46 ≥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
+11h 52m- Distance:
- 1,365 km (−171 km)
- Duration:
- 27h 58m
Via: Ανκόνα - Ηγουμενίτσα / Ancona - Igoumenitsa · ΕΟ6 · ΕΟ4 · Μετσόβου - Γρεβενών
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.
16h 6m
1.537 km · €219 fuel
See details ↓
Not realistic
1.537 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.
48h 29m
Hellenic Train · TRENITALIA
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: Smederevska Palanka (rs).
- Distance:
- 1,537 km
- Duration:
- 16h 6m (free-flow, no traffic)
Where to stop
Places along the route that make natural breaks for coffee, lunch, or a night.
-
Ceggia 🇮🇹 it
≈192 km≈ 3.6 km detour from the main route
-
Ljubljana 🇸🇮 si
≈384 km≈ 5.4 km detour from the main route
-
Kutina 🇭🇷 hr
≈576 km≈ 24 km detour from the main route
-
Županja 🇭🇷 hr
≈768 km≈ 9 km detour from the main route
-
Smederevo 🇷🇸 rs
≈960 km≈ 11.1 km detour from the main route
-
Niš 🇷🇸 rs
≈1,152 km≈ 13.6 km detour from the main route
-
Veles 🇲🇰 mk
≈1,344 km≈ 12.4 km detour from the main route
Key moves
Things to know before you set off — borders, sides of the road, tolls.
Multi-country chain · IT → SI → HR → BA → RS → MK → GR
You'll cross 7 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 IT / HR / GR
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 SI
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 Α1 Αθήνα - Θεσσαλονίκη - Εύζωνοι
Plan for about 47 km of two-lane country roads. Slower than motorway, but often the pretty part — fewer overtakes after dark.
Long rural stretch on RA13
Plan for about 16 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
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.
Tolls, vignettes & road payment
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.
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.
Driving rules & habits
Plan your stops, not just your finish time
UsefulOSRM gives you free-flow drive time. Realistic add: 10% on motorway-heavy routes, 25% if you're crossing two cities. Eat at off-peak hours (11:30 lunch, 18:00 dinner) — service-area queues at noon kill 20 minutes. EU fatigue research is consistent: 15-minute break every 2 hours, full 45-minute break before 6 hours. The drive between hours 7 and 9 is where avoidable accidents cluster.
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.
-
A1 Обилазница око Београда636 km
-
A3 —410 km
-
A4 Autostrada Serenissima157 km
-
A13 Autostrada Bologna-Padova115 km
-
A2 —104 km
-
Α1 Αθήνα - Θεσσαλονίκη - Εύζωνοι52 km
-
RA13 —16 km
-
ΕΟ2 Φλώρινας - Θεσσαλονίκης11 km
-
A1; A2 Južna obvoznica8 km
-
Α2 Εγνατία Οδός5 km
-
ΕΟ1α Παλαιού Σταθμού3 km
Route character
How much of the drive is motorway vs. secondary vs. rural.
Motorway drive — fast, predictable, uneventful.
- Motorway
- 93%
- Secondary
- 0%
- Other / rural
- 7%
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: 16h 6m behind the wheel at free-flow speeds.
- Cross-border: it → gr. Keep documents accessible and check border rules.
Elevation profile
Highs, lows, and the total climb / descent along the route.
- Lowest point
- 2 m
- Highest point
- 603 m
- Total ascent
- ↑ 1,165 m
- Total descent
- ↓ 1,221 m
Fuel & tolls
Rough cost expectation for a typical EU passenger car. Treat as an estimate — pump prices change weekly.
Petrol (RON 95)
≈ €219
115.2 L × €1.90 / L · 7.5 L/100 km
Diesel
≈ €190
92.2 L × €2.06 / L · 6 L/100 km
Electric (DC fast)
≈ €139
269 kWh × €0.52 / kWh · 17.5 kWh/100 km
Public DC fast charging — slower AC charging at home or hotels typically costs about half.
Motorway tolls & vignettes
≈ €51
- IT — €0.08/km on the motorway network (≈ 256 km in-country ≈ €19)
- SI — Vignette (motorway sticker / e-vignette) — €16.00 for 7 days Annual vignette is €117.50 if you drive often
- HR — €0.08/km on the motorway network (≈ 154 km in-country ≈ €12)
- GR — €0.07/km on the motorway network (≈ 51 km in-country ≈ €4)
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
14 at 50 kW or above (fast / ultra-fast).
Fastest first
- Tesla Supercharger Novo Mesto 250 kW
- Scania Savatis - BYD - Isuzu - Mercedes Benz — Ευοσμος 120 kW
- BECHARGE Via Malafesta 2 — San Michele al Tagliamento 110 kW
- Be Charge AdS Fratta Nord — Teglio Veneto 110 kW
- BECHARGE Corso del Popolo — San Michele al Tagliamento 110 kW
- Gazprom Petrol - Orion eMobility 75 kW
- Shell — Thessaloniki 60 kW
- Adamidis A.E. 60 kW
- EVAD Sede Enel — Latisana 50 kW
- PETROL A2/E70 Starine Sever (Otočec) — Novo mesto 50 kW
- PETROL A2/E70 Starine Jug (Otočec) — Novo mesto 50 kW
- Nova Gradiška ELEN — Nova Gradiška 50 kW
Weather by month
Average daytime high / overnight low and typical monthly rainfall, over the past five years.
🇮🇹 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
🇬🇷 Thessaloníki
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
12°
4°
|
13°
4°
|
17°
8°
|
20°
10°
|
23°
15°
|
31°
21°
|
35°
24°
|
33°
22°
|
28°
19°
|
23°
13°
|
17°
9°
|
13°
5°
|
| 60mm | 24mm | 68mm | 73mm | 102mm | 37mm | 35mm | 30mm | 38mm | 33mm | 102mm | 126mm |
hot mild cold
Next 5 days at Thessaloníki
Live forecast — refreshes every few hours.
-
Sun 25
⛅
15° / 14°
0.5mm
-
Mon 26
⛅
18° / 14°
13.4mm
-
Tue 27
⛅
15° / 10°
26.5mm
-
Wed 28
☀️
17° / 9°
1.3mm
-
Thu 29
⛅
19° / 13°
—
Forecast: MET Norway
Directions
Turn-by-turn summary of the main manoeuvres, generated by OSRM.
Show all 34 manoeuvres
- Via Cesare Battisti 0.2 km
- Via Giovanni Amendola
- Viale Angelo Masini
- Via Stalingrado 3 km
- Tangenziale di Bologna (RA1) 0.3 km
- — 0.4 km
- Autostrada Bologna-Padova (A13) 115 km
- Interconnessione A13/A4 Dir. Venezia (A4) 0.5 km
- Autostrada Serenissima (A4) 150 km
- Autostrada Serenissima (A4) 0.1 km
- Autostrada Serenissima (A4) 7 km
- (RA13) 16 km
- (A3) 12 km
- — 1 km
- (A1) 64 km
- (A1) 1 km
- Južna obvoznica (A1; A2) 8 km
- (A2) 104 km
- (A3) 305 km
- (A3) 0.3 km
- (A3) 93 km
- (A1) 33 km
- Обилазница око Београда (A1) 376 km
- (A1) 164 km
- Αθήνα - Θεσσαλονίκη - Εύζωνοι (Α1) 47 km
- Φλώρινας - Θεσσαλονίκης (ΕΟ2) 0.2 km
- Φλώρινας - Θεσσαλονίκης (ΕΟ2) 6 km
- Φλώρινας - Θεσσαλονίκης (ΕΟ2) 5 km
- Εγνατία Οδός (Α2) 5 km
- — 0.7 km
- — 0.6 km
- Δυτική Είσοδος Θεσσαλονίκης (Α1) 4 km
- Παλαιού Σταθμού (ΕΟ1α) 3 km
- Μοναστηρίου (ΕΟ2)
By train from Bologna to Thessaloníki
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
- 48h 29m
- 8 changes
- Lead operator
- Hellenic Train
- + 1 more
- Alternatives
- 4
- Itineraries returned by the planner.
Trains on the fastest itinerary
- IC56
All operators across alternatives
- Hellenic Train
- TRENITALIA
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.