🇮🇹 Same-country drive · Italy
Driving from Florence to Genoa
Essential driving guide for the 226km route from Florence to Genoa via the A11 and A12 motorways.
- Drive time
- 2h 40m
- Distance
- 226 km
- Same day?
- Yes, half day
- under 4 h
- Fuel cost
- ≈ €33
- petrol · diesel ≈ €27
- Tolls
- ≈ €17
- 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.
Avoids motorways
+2h 24m- Distance:
- 266 km (+40 km)
- Duration:
- 5h 4m
Via: Strada di Grande Comunicazione Firenze-Pisa-Livorno · SS1 · SS225 · Fi-Pi-Li
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 April 25, 2026 and reviewed against the route summary card. Read our methodology.
You leave Florence by joining the A11 motorway toward Lucca, navigating the initial congestion of the Tuscan capital before the landscape opens into the rolling vineyards and olive groves of the Pistoia plain. This stretch requires patience as commuter traffic is heavy; stick to the speed limits, as fixed camera enforcement is frequent. As you pass Lucca, the scenery begins to shift, and you prepare to transition onto the A12 toward the coast. Remember that Italian motorways operate on a toll system where you collect a ticket upon entering and pay when exiting, so keep a card or cash ready for the barrier gates.
Merging onto the A12, the character of the drive undergoes a dramatic transformation as you encounter the rugged Ligurian coastline. Here, the road becomes a series of tunnels and viaducts that carve through the mountains, drastically changing the driving dynamic compared to the flat Tuscan stretches. Visibility within these tunnels can fluctuate, so keep your headlights on even during daylight hours. The speed limit drops during wet weather to 110 km/h, which is a critical rule to respect given the sharp curves and frequent heavy vehicle traffic on this engineering-heavy route.
Approaching Genoa, the complexity of the motorway network increases significantly. The junctions leading into the city are tight and frequently congested, requiring full attention as you navigate the transition from the intercity A12 into the dense urban fabric of the port city. Ensure you have your destination clearly mapped, as the exit signage for the Genoa city center can be confusing amidst the multi-level flyovers. While there is no vignette required for Italian motorways, the toll costs will accumulate over this distance, so factor that into your travel budget.
Route highlights
- The transition from the rolling Tuscan countryside of the A11 to the dramatic tunnel-heavy coastline of the A12
- The historic architecture of Florence at your departure point
- The dense, complex motorway interchanges surrounding the port city of Genoa
- Navigating the numerous viaducts that offer brief, fleeting glimpses of the Ligurian Sea
Trip plan
How to think about the drive: one day, split, or overnight.
Easy one-day drive
Comfortable as a single day for one driver. Leave after breakfast, arrive with time to settle in.
- Distance:
- 226 km
- Duration:
- 2h 40m (free-flow, no traffic)
Where to stop
Places along the route that make natural breaks for coffee, lunch, or a night.
-
Lucca 🇮🇹 it
≈75 km≈ 5.4 km detour from the main route
-
La Spezia 🇮🇹 it
≈151 km≈ 15.2 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.
Italian historic-centre ZTL — confirm your hotel registers your plate
Must knowGenoa
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.
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.
-
A12 Autostrada Azzurra113 km
-
A11 Autostrada Firenze-Mare67 km
-
A11/A12 Diramazione Lucca ovest - Viareggio19 km
Route character
How much of the drive is motorway vs. secondary vs. rural.
Motorway drive — fast, predictable, uneventful.
- Motorway
- 89%
- Secondary
- 0%
- 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.
Fuel & tolls
Rough cost expectation for a typical EU passenger car. Treat as an estimate — pump prices change weekly.
Petrol (RON 95)
≈ €33
16.9 L × €1.93 / L · 7.5 L/100 km
Diesel
≈ €27
13.5 L × €2.02 / L · 6 L/100 km
Electric (DC fast)
≈ €26
40 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
≈ €17
- IT — €0.08/km on the motorway network (≈ 226 km in-country ≈ €17)
Prices last refreshed 2026-05-11.
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
🇮🇹 Genoa
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
12°
6°
|
13°
7°
|
15°
8°
|
18°
10°
|
21°
14°
|
26°
19°
|
28°
21°
|
30°
21°
|
25°
17°
|
21°
14°
|
15°
9°
|
12°
7°
|
| 162mm | 146mm | 197mm | 109mm | 122mm | 83mm | 55mm | 69mm | 160mm | 257mm | 119mm | 116mm |
hot mild cold
Next 5 days at Genoa
Live forecast — refreshes every few hours.
-
Thu 21
⛅
25° / 15°
—
-
Fri 22
☀️
25° / 16°
—
-
Sat 23
☀️
27° / 17°
—
-
Sun 24
☀️
28° / 19°
0.1mm
-
Mon 25
⛅
29° / 20°
—
Forecast: MET Norway
Directions
Turn-by-turn summary of the main manoeuvres, generated by OSRM.
Show all 27 manoeuvres
- Sottopasso Fratelli Rosselli
- Viale Filippo Strozzi
- Viale Filippo Strozzi 0.1 km
- Viale Belfiore
- Via del Ponte di Mezzo
- Via Umberto Maddalena
- Viale Alessandro Guidoni
- Autostrada Firenze-Mare (A11) 67 km
- Diramazione Lucca ovest - Viareggio (A11/A12) 19 km
- — 0.3 km
- — 0.7 km
- Autostrada Azzurra (A12) 20 km
- A12 dir. Genova - Massa/Carrara (A12) 6 km
- A12 dir.Genova - Carrara/Sarzana (A12) 16 km
- A12 dir. Genova - Bivio A15 Parma/Brugnato Borghetto Vara (A12) 18 km
- A12 dir. Genova - Brugnato Borghetto Vara/Carrodano Levanto (A12) 6 km
- A12 dir. Genova - Carrodano Levanto/Deiva Marina 9 km
- A12 dir. Genova - Deiva Marina/Sestri Levante (A12) 11 km
- A12 dir. Genova - Sestri Levante/Lavagna (A12) 8 km
- A12 dir. Genova - Lavagna/Chiavari (A12) 3 km
- A12 dir. Genova - Chiavari/Rapallo (A12) 4 km
- Galleria della Maddalena (A12) 2 km
- A12 dir. Genova - Chiavari/Rapallo (A12) 3 km
- A12 dir. Genova - Rapallo/Recco (A12) 6 km
- A12 dir. Genova - Recco/Genova Nervi (A12) 11 km
- Corso Europa 4 km
- Via Fiume
By coach from Florence to Genoa
Indicative duration of the fastest direct long-distance coach found in the FlixBus and BlaBlaCar Bus EU schedules.
- Travel time
- 2h 40m
- Direct
- Operator
- FlixBus-eu
- Departures / day
- ~2
- 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.
By train from Florence to Genoa
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
- 3h 47m
- 2 changes
- Lead operator
- TRENITALIA
- Alternatives
- 2
- Itineraries returned by the planner.
Trains on the fastest itinerary
- RV 4029
- IC 674
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.
Frequently asked
Are there tolls on the road between Florence and Genoa?
Yes, this route primarily uses the A11 and A12 motorways, which are toll roads. You will collect a ticket when entering the motorway and pay based on the distance traveled when you exit.
What is the speed limit on Italian motorways?
The standard speed limit on Italian motorways is 130 km/h under clear conditions. If it is raining, this limit is automatically reduced to 110 km/h.
Is the drive from Florence to Genoa difficult?
The first half through Tuscany is straightforward and flat. The second half via the A12 along the coast involves many tunnels and bridges, requiring higher focus due to the varying light conditions and tighter curves.
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.