🇮🇹 Same-country drive · Italy
Driving from Florence to Bari
Road trip guide for the route from Florence to Bari, covering the A1, A24, and A14 motorways, toll advice, and driving conditions.
- Drive time
- 7h 34m
- Distance
- 752 km
- Same day?
- Yes, doable
- under 8 h
- Fuel cost
- ≈ €101
- petrol · diesel ≈ €92
- Tolls
- ≈ €56
- per-km
- EV charging
- Unknown
- not yet surveyed
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.
Shortest
+3m- Distance:
- 705 km (−47 km)
- Duration:
- 7h 38m
Via: A1 · A16 · A14 · A30
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.
7h 34m
752 km · €101 fuel
See details ↓
Not realistic
752 km is far beyond a typical multi-day cycle tour. Try a shorter pair like a day or weekend stage.
9h 15m
FlixBus-eu
See details ↓
What the drive is like
Drafted from the route's computed data on April 25, 2026 and reviewed against the route summary card. Read our methodology.
You depart Florence by joining the A1 southbound, carving through the rolling Tuscan hills before turning east onto the A24 at the Rome orbital junction. This stretch across the spine of Italy is a dramatic shift in character as the highway transitions from the classic cypress-lined landscapes of Tuscany to the rugged, high-elevation mountain tunnels of the Abruzzo region. Be prepared for rapid changes in weather here, as the peaks often trap moisture that can bring sudden fog or rain, necessitating a drop from the standard 130 km/h motorway limit to 110 km/h for safety. The infrastructure throughout this segment is dominated by long bridges and deep tunnels, requiring constant focus despite the long, sweeping curves.
Once you reach the Adriatic coast at Teramo and merge onto the A14, the driving experience flattens out into a long, straight run south through the Marche and Abruzzo regions. The sea appears on your left as you track the shoreline toward the heel of the Italian boot. Traffic here is frequently heavier with commercial trucks hauling goods between northern industrial hubs and southern ports, so maintain a steady pace and keep your distance. The A14 is a toll-based motorway, so keep your entry ticket handy for the final exit near Bari, as the system charges based on the distance covered.
As you approach Bari, the scenery opens up into the olive groves and expansive coastal plains of Apulia. Watch for the city's suburban sprawl which can create dense bottleneck conditions during the morning and evening rush. Parking in central Bari is notoriously tight, so check if your accommodation provides a dedicated space before you navigate the narrow historic streets. Always keep a buffer in your schedule for the heavy traffic near the major interchanges, and remember that fuel is generally more expensive at motorway service stations compared to those found on the provincial roads just off the main exits.
Route highlights
- The Gran Sasso tunnels on the A24 route
- The transition from the Tuscan countryside to the Adriatic coastline
- The scenic bridge network crossing the Abruzzo mountains
- Coastal views of the Adriatic Sea along the A14
Trip plan
How to think about the drive: one day, split, or overnight.
Consider splitting over two days
Technically a one-day drive, but it is a slog. Splitting overnight halfway makes it a much better trip and lets you see the middle, not just the endpoints.
A natural overnight stop near the halfway point: Pratola Peligna (it).
- Distance:
- 752 km
- Duration:
- 7h 34m (free-flow, no traffic)
Where to stop
Places along the route that make natural breaks for coffee, lunch, or a night.
-
Chianciano Terme 🇮🇹 it
≈125 km≈ 17.1 km detour from the main route
-
Monterotondo 🇮🇹 it
≈251 km≈ 3.3 km detour from the main route
-
Pratola Peligna 🇮🇹 it
≈376 km≈ 18.6 km detour from the main route
-
Casalbordino-Miracoli 🇮🇹 it
≈502 km≈ 2.9 km detour from the main route
-
Foggia 🇮🇹 it
≈627 km≈ 5.6 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.
Long rural stretch on Strada dei Parchi
Plan for about 113 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 knowFlorence
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
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.
-
A14 Autostrada Adriatica298 km
-
A1 Autostrada del Sole260 km
-
A24 Strada dei Parchi60 km
Route character
How much of the drive is motorway vs. secondary vs. rural.
Motorway drive — fast, predictable, uneventful.
- Motorway
- 82%
- Secondary
- 0%
- Other / rural
- 18%
Drive difficulty
At-a-glance feel: how demanding is this drive for one driver?
Overall
Challenging
Long day with at least one complicating factor. Split into two days or share the driving.
- Long drive: 7h 34m behind the wheel at free-flow speeds.
- About 113 km on non-motorway roads where speeds and conditions vary.
Fuel & tolls
Rough cost expectation for a typical EU passenger car. Treat as an estimate — pump prices change weekly.
Petrol (RON 95)
≈ €101
56.4 L × €1.79 / L · 7.5 L/100 km
Diesel
≈ €92
45.1 L × €2.05 / L · 6 L/100 km
Electric (DC fast)
≈ €86
132 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
≈ €56
- IT — €0.08/km on the motorway network (≈ 752 km in-country ≈ €56)
Prices last refreshed 2026-05-04.
Weather by month
Average daytime high / overnight low and typical monthly rainfall, over the past five years.
🇮🇹 Florence
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
12°
4°
|
13°
4°
|
16°
7°
|
19°
8°
|
23°
12°
|
30°
17°
|
33°
19°
|
33°
19°
|
27°
16°
|
22°
13°
|
16°
7°
|
12°
4°
|
| 105mm | 109mm | 146mm | 84mm | 132mm | 51mm | 35mm | 61mm | 104mm | 169mm | 129mm | 76mm |
hot mild cold
🇮🇹 Bari
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
15°
8°
|
15°
7°
|
18°
9°
|
20°
11°
|
24°
15°
|
30°
20°
|
33°
23°
|
32°
22°
|
28°
20°
|
24°
16°
|
19°
11°
|
15°
8°
|
| 89mm | 37mm | 75mm | 54mm | 73mm | 41mm | 16mm | 37mm | 29mm | 50mm | 74mm | 61mm |
hot mild cold
Next 5 days at Bari
Live forecast — refreshes every few hours.
-
Tue 12
☀️
21° / 18°
—
-
Wed 13
🌧️
19° / 14°
64.5mm
-
Thu 14
🌧️
19° / 13°
31.3mm
-
Fri 15
☀️
23° / 14°
1.2mm
-
Sat 16
☀️
24° / 17°
0.4mm
Forecast: MET Norway
Directions
Turn-by-turn summary of the main manoeuvres, generated by OSRM.
Show all 21 manoeuvres
- Sottopasso Fratelli Rosselli
- Viale Spartaco Lavagnini 0.8 km
- Piazza Ravenna
- Viale Donato Giannotti
- Viale Europa
- Via Marco Polo 1.0 km
- Autostrada del Sole 0.8 km
- Autostrada del Sole (A1) 260 km
- — 2 km
- Strada dei Parchi (A24) 60 km
- Strada dei Parchi 113 km
- — 0.6 km
- Autostrada Adriatica (A14) 294 km
- Raccordo A14-Tangenziale di Bari (A14) 0.2 km
- Raccordo A14-Tangenziale di Bari (A14) 4 km
- — 0.5 km
- Tangenziale di Bari (SS16) 1 km
- Viale Domenico Cotugno
- Viale Orazio Flacco
- Viale Antonio Salandra
- Via Sparano da Bari
By coach from Florence to Bari
Indicative duration of the fastest direct long-distance coach found in the FlixBus and BlaBlaCar Bus EU schedules.
- Travel time
- 9h 15m
- 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
Is a vignette required for motorways in Italy?
No, Italy uses a distance-based toll system. You collect a ticket upon entering the motorway and pay when exiting.
What is the speed limit on Italian motorways?
The standard speed limit is 130 km/h, but this is reduced to 110 km/h during rain or other adverse weather conditions.
Are there specific traffic concerns for this route?
The A14 can be quite congested with heavy goods vehicles, and the approaches to Bari can experience significant commuter traffic.
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, and Google Gemini drafts the narrative and FAQ from the computed route data. See our methodology for refresh cadence and limitations.