🇮🇹 Same-country drive · Italy
Driving from Genoa to Florence
Road trip guide from the Ligurian coast to the heart of Tuscany, covering the A12 and A11 motorways.
- Drive time
- 2h 41m
- Distance
- 225 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.
Alternative
+23m- Distance:
- 242 km (+17 km)
- Duration:
- 3h 4m
Via: A12 · 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 Genoa via the A12 autostrada, immediately contending with the tunnel-heavy layout that snakes along the rugged Ligurian cliffs. The transition from the dense port traffic to the coastal motorway is abrupt; keep a close eye on your speed, as the frequent speed-control zones inside these tunnels are strictly enforced and the tight curves demand constant attention. The route is defined by this dramatic coastal geography, where the Mediterranean is often visible to your right, framed by steep hills that keep the road narrow and winding until you push further south toward the Tuscan border. Once you approach the junction for the A11 near Viareggio, the landscape shifts from the dramatic cliffs of the Italian Riviera to the flatter, rolling agricultural plains of the Lucca province. You will trade the sea views for the gentle hills of Tuscany, with the tarmac widening and the driving becoming noticeably more relaxed as you cruise inland. This is the heart of Italy’s motorway toll system, so keep your ticket ready when entering the network and prepare for the automated payment gates at the exit; credit cards and cash are widely accepted, but avoid the yellow Telepass lanes unless you have a pre-installed transponder. Reaching the outskirts of Florence, you will navigate the standard urban arterial roads that circle the city center. Be aware that the historic core of Florence is restricted under a strict ZTL or limited traffic zone, where unauthorized vehicles face heavy fines. If your destination is a hotel or parking garage within the UNESCO-listed center, ensure they have registered your plate in advance to avoid these penalties. Rain showers are common in the Apennine foothills even on clear days, and Italian regulations mandate dropping your speed to 110 km/h on motorways if the weather turns, so adjust your pace accordingly as you leave the coast behind.
Route highlights
- The tunnel-heavy, cliff-clinging sections of the A12 near Genoa
- The scenic transition from the Ligurian coast to the Tuscan plains
- The historic architecture of the UNESCO-listed city center of Florence
- The Lucca junction, where the A12 connects to the A11
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:
- 225 km
- Duration:
- 2h 41m (free-flow, no traffic)
Where to stop
Places along the route that make natural breaks for coffee, lunch, or a night.
-
La Spezia 🇮🇹 it
≈75 km≈ 15.3 km detour from the main route
-
Lucca 🇮🇹 it
≈150 km≈ 6.6 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.
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.
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 A12 dir. Livorno - Genova Nervi/Recco121 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
- 94%
- Secondary
- 0%
- Other / rural
- 6%
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
39 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 (≈ 225 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.
🇮🇹 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
🇮🇹 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
Next 5 days at Florence
Live forecast — refreshes every few hours.
-
Thu 21
☀️
26° / 12°
—
-
Fri 22
☀️
26° / 12°
—
-
Sat 23
☀️
27° / 13°
—
-
Sun 24
☀️
28° / 16°
—
-
Mon 25
☀️
29° / 16°
—
Forecast: MET Norway
Directions
Turn-by-turn summary of the main manoeuvres, generated by OSRM.
Show all 27 manoeuvres
- Via Fiume 0.2 km
- Piazza delle Americhe 0.2 km
- Corso Europa 4 km
- —
- A12 - Svincolo di Genova Nervi 0.2 km
- A12 dir. Livorno - Genova Nervi/Recco (A12) 11 km
- A12 dir. Livorno - Recco/Rapallo (A12) 6 km
- A12 dir. Livorno - Rapallo/Chiavari (A12) 7 km
- A12 dir. Livorno - Chiavari/Lavagna (A12) 3 km
- A12 dir. Livorno - Lavagna/Sestri Levante (A12) 8 km
- A12 dir. Livorno - Sestri Levante/Deiva Marina (A12) 11 km
- A12 dir. Livorno - Deiva Marina/Carrodano Levanto (A12) 10 km
- A12 dir. Livorno - Carrodano Levanto/Brugnato Borghetto Vara (A12) 5 km
- A12 dir Livorno - Brugnato Borghetto Vara/Bivio A15 Parma (A12) 18 km
- A12 dir. Livorno - Bivio A15/Sarzana (A12) 15 km
- A12 dir. Livorno - Carrara/Massa (A12) 7 km
- Autostrada Azzurra (A12) 20 km
- Raccordo A11-A12 (A11/A12) 0.3 km
- Diramazione Lucca ovest - Viareggio (A11/A12) 19 km
- Diramazione Lucca ovest - Viareggio (A11/A12) 0.7 km
- Autostrada Firenze-Mare (A11) 67 km
- Viale degli Astronauti 0.2 km
- Viale Alessandro Guidoni 0.2 km
- Via Alessandro Allori 0.5 km
- Via del Ponte alle Mosse
- Piazzale di Porta al Prato
- Sottopasso Fratelli Rosselli
By coach from Genoa to Florence
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 Genoa to Florence
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 31m
- 2 changes
- Lead operator
- TRENITALIA
- Alternatives
- 4
- Itineraries returned by the planner.
Trains on the fastest itinerary
- FB 8613
- RV 4038
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
Is there a vignette required for this route?
No, Italy uses a distance-based toll system paid at booths on the autostrade, rather than a sticker-based vignette.
How do I handle the ZTL zones in Florence?
Florence enforces strict Limited Traffic Zones. If you are staying at a hotel within the historic center, provide your license plate number to the front desk so they can register your vehicle for temporary access.
Are there speed differences during wet weather?
Yes, Italian law requires you to reduce your motorway speed from 130 km/h to 110 km/h during rain.
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.