🇮🇹 Cross-border drive · Italy → Greece 🇬🇷
Driving from Mestre to Kozáni
Essential driving advice for your road trip from the Venetian mainland to Northern Greece, covering key border crossings and toll navigation.
- Drive time
- 15h 33m
- Distance
- 1,478 km
- Same day?
- Split it
- 12 h+, plan a stop
- Fuel cost
- ≈ €215
- petrol · diesel ≈ €188
- Tolls
- ≈ €47
- mixed
- EV charging
- Plenty fast
- 11 of 31 ≥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
+9h 55m- Distance:
- 1,359 km (−118 km)
- Duration:
- 25h 28m
Via: M-6.1 · R1305 · SH1 · M-I 116
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.
15h 33m
1.478 km · €215 fuel
See details ↓
Not realistic
1.478 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.
What the drive is like
Drafted from the route's computed data on October 11, 2026 and reviewed against the route summary card. Read our methodology.
Exit Mestre via the A57 and merge onto the A4 toward Trieste, leaving the Venetian plains behind as the landscape begins to tighten into the karst plateaus of the border region. The transition into Slovenia occurs along the RA13 and A3, where the character of the road shifts from the dense industrial corridors of Northern Italy to the winding, mountainous terrain of the interior. While the speed limits remain consistent with Italian standards, keep a sharp eye on your speedometer during the descent toward the coast, as variable limits are common near the tunnels and sharp curves of the Karst plateau.
The route pushes through a significant elevation profile, peaking at over 700 meters, which means that winter travelers must be prepared for sudden weather changes and potential snow-covered sections as you transit toward the Greek border. Once you enter Greece, the A1 and A2 motorways provide high-quality, modern infrastructure, though you should budget for the distance-based tolls that appear frequently along the Egnatia Odos. The asphalt here is generally well-maintained, but the long, sweeping climbs through the northern mountains require a steady engine and a watchful eye on your cooling system during the height of summer.
Fuel pricing is notably more favorable in Greece compared to the Italian mainland, so it is strategic to arrive at the border with only enough fuel to reach the first major service station on the Greek side. Unlike the alpine regions of Central Europe, neither Italy nor Greece requires a motorway vignette, though you must be ready for manual or electronic toll collection at every major junction. Remember that in both countries, legal limits for alcohol consumption are strictly enforced, and the local driving culture in Greece can be more aggressive on mountain passes than the disciplined flow of the Italian autostrade.
Route highlights
- The transition from the Venetian plains to the Karst terrain near Trieste
- The Egnatia Odos highway sweeping through the mountains of Northern Greece
- The frequent, modern service stations on the A2 motorway in Greece
- Navigating the mountain passes during the climb to the interior plateau
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: Jagodina (rs).
- Distance:
- 1,478 km
- Duration:
- 15h 33m (free-flow, no traffic)
Where to stop
Places along the route that make natural breaks for coffee, lunch, or a night.
-
Postojna 🇸🇮 si
≈185 km≈ 0.9 km detour from the main route
-
Velika Gorica 🇭🇷 hr
≈370 km≈ 5.5 km detour from the main route
-
Slavonski Brod 🇭🇷 hr
≈554 km≈ 2.7 km detour from the main route
-
Dobanovci 🇷🇸 rs
≈739 km≈ 2.1 km detour from the main route
-
Paraćin 🇷🇸 rs
≈924 km≈ 9 km detour from the main route
-
Vranje 🇷🇸 rs
≈1,108 km≈ 14.1 km detour from the main route
-
Bogdanci 🇲🇰 mk
≈1,293 km≈ 13.2 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 Α2 Εγνατία Οδός
Plan for about 84 km of two-lane country roads. Slower than motorway, but often the pretty part — fewer overtakes after dark.
Long rural stretch on Α1 Αθήνα - Θεσσαλονίκη - Εύζωνοι
Plan for about 59 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.
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 Serenissima115 km
-
A2 —104 km
-
Α2 Εγνατία Οδός84 km
-
Α1 Αθήνα - Θεσσαλονίκη - Εύζωνοι59 km
-
RA13 —16 km
-
Α1; Α2 Εγνατία Οδός12 km
-
A57 Tangenziale di Mestre11 km
-
A1; A2 Južna obvoznica8 km
Route character
How much of the drive is motorway vs. secondary vs. rural.
Motorway drive — fast, predictable, uneventful.
- Motorway
- 87%
- Secondary
- 0%
- Other / rural
- 13%
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: 15h 33m behind the wheel at free-flow speeds.
- Cross-border: it → gr. Keep documents accessible and check border rules.
- About 171 km on non-motorway roads where speeds and conditions vary.
Elevation profile
Highs, lows, and the total climb / descent along the route.
- Lowest point
- -2 m
- Highest point
- 706 m
- Total ascent
- ↑ 1,945 m
- Total descent
- ↓ 1,244 m
Fuel & tolls
Rough cost expectation for a typical EU passenger car. Treat as an estimate — pump prices change weekly.
Petrol (RON 95)
≈ €215
110.8 L × €1.94 / L · 7.5 L/100 km
Diesel
≈ €188
88.7 L × €2.12 / L · 6 L/100 km
Electric (DC fast)
≈ €124
259 kWh × €0.48 / kWh · 17.5 kWh/100 km
Public DC fast charging — slower AC charging at home or hotels typically costs about half.
Motorway tolls & vignettes
≈ €47
- IT — €0.08/km on the motorway network (≈ 102 km in-country ≈ €8)
- 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 (≈ 153 km in-country ≈ €12)
- GR — €0.07/km on the motorway network (≈ 153 km in-country ≈ €11)
Prices last refreshed 2026-09-28.
Fuel and EV charging along the route
Stations within a few kilometres of the road, sampled at evenly-spaced waypoints.
EV charging
11 at 50 kW or above (fast / ultra-fast).
Fastest first
- ChargePoint Vega — Venice 150 kW
- Sklavenitis — Κοζάνη 60 kW
- SHELL — Κοζάνη 60 kW
- ELINoil — Κοζάνη 60 kW
- Sede Enel Mestre | EnelX — Venezia 50 kW
- EnelX EVA+ Mestre Park and Ride — Venezia 50 kW
- PETROL A1/E61 Lom Vzhod (Logatec) — Logatec 50 kW
- PETROL A1/E61 Lom Zahod (Logatec) — Logatec 50 kW
- ELEN Odmorište Spačva 50 kW
- charge&go BS Gazprom Velika Plana — Velika Plana Municipality 50 kW
- Chliapas JEToil — Κοζάνη 50 kW
- Vinarija Trdenić — Popovača 23 kW
Weather by month
Average daytime high / overnight low and typical monthly rainfall, over the past five years.
🇮🇹 Mestre
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
9°
2°
|
10°
3°
|
14°
6°
|
17°
9°
|
21°
14°
|
27°
19°
|
29°
21°
|
29°
21°
|
25°
17°
|
19°
12°
|
13°
5°
|
9°
2°
|
| 74mm | 65mm | 118mm | 86mm | 194mm | 71mm | 102mm | 99mm | 142mm | 157mm | 63mm | 50mm |
hot mild cold
🇬🇷 Kozáni
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
9°
1°
|
10°
1°
|
14°
4°
|
17°
6°
|
20°
11°
|
28°
17°
|
32°
20°
|
30°
18°
|
25°
15°
|
19°
10°
|
13°
5°
|
9°
2°
|
| 69mm | 32mm | 63mm | 67mm | 86mm | 33mm | 8mm | 18mm | 59mm | 35mm | 100mm | 96mm |
hot mild cold
Next 5 days at Kozáni
Live forecast — refreshes every few hours.
-
Sun 11
☀️
13° / 13°
—
-
Mon 12
⛅
19° / 12°
3.3mm
-
Tue 13
🌧️
12° / 9°
49.7mm
-
Wed 14
⛅
17° / 8°
0.2mm
-
Thu 15
☀️
16° / 9°
0.1mm
Forecast: MET Norway
Directions
Turn-by-turn summary of the main manoeuvres, generated by OSRM.
Show all 35 manoeuvres
- Via Guglielmo Pepe 0.2 km
- Via Forte Marghera 0.4 km
- Via Giovanni da Verrazzano
- (A57)
- Tangenziale di Mestre (A57) 11 km
- Tangenziale di Mestre (A57) 1.0 km
- Autostrada Serenissima (A4) 108 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) 59 km
- (Α1) 1 km
- Εγνατία Οδός (Α1; Α2) 12 km
- Εγνατία Οδός (Α2) 84 km
- Κοζάνη - Πτολεμαΐδα - Νίκη (Α27) 1 km
- Βόρεια Παράκαμψη Κοζάνης 0.8 km
- Βόρεια Παράκαμψη Κοζάνης
- Κοζάνης - Πτολεμαΐδας (ΕΟ3)
- Μεγάλου Αλεξάνδρου (ΕΟ3)
- Κοζάνης - Πτολεμαΐδας (ΕΟ3)
- Κοζάνης - Πτολεμαΐδας (ΕΟ3)
- Μοναστηρίου (ΕΟ3)
- Πλατεία Λασσάνη
Frequently asked
Do I need a vignette for this drive?
No, both Italy and Greece operate on a distance-based toll system rather than a time-based vignette. You will pay at various toll booths along the motorways.
Is there a risk of snow on this route?
The route reaches elevations over 700 meters, meaning that late-autumn or winter crossings can encounter ice or snow, particularly in the mountainous regions near the Italian-Slovenian border and the northern Greek interior.
Is fuel cheaper in Italy or Greece?
Diesel and petrol are typically more affordable in Greece, so it is best to enter the country with a partial tank and fill up once you have crossed the border.
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, Open Charge Map for EV charging stations, and Google Gemini drafts the narrative and FAQ from the computed route data. See our methodology for refresh cadence and limitations.