🇮🇹 Cross-border drive · Italy → Austria 🇦🇹
Driving from Rome to Vienna
Drive from Rome to Vienna via A24, A1, and Brenner Pass. Plan tolls, vignettes, speed limits, and border specifics for your epic journey.
- Drive time
- 11h 42m
- Distance
- 1,131 km
- Same day?
- Long day
- under 12 h
- Fuel cost
- ≈ €158
- petrol · diesel ≈ €133
- Tolls
- ≈ €78
- mixed
- 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
+1h 12m- Distance:
- 1,209 km (+78 km)
- Duration:
- 12h 55m
Via: A1 · A4 · A23 · A10
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.
11h 42m
1.131 km · €158 fuel
See details ↓
Not realistic
1.131 km is far beyond a typical multi-day cycle tour. Try a shorter pair like a day or weekend stage.
16h
FlixBus-eu
See details ↓
2h 23m
from €40
See details ↓
11h 45m
TRENITALIA · Trenitalia
See details ↓
What the drive is like
Drafted from the route's computed data on April 24, 2026 and reviewed against the route summary card. Read our methodology.
Your drive from Rome to Vienna begins by picking up the A24 motoroay heading north out of the city, soon merging onto the Grande Raccordo Anulare, the A90 ring road, before swinging onto the A1 Autostrada towards Florence. Keep an eye on speed limits as you leave the Lazio region; they're generally 130 km/h on autostradas unless otherwise posted. As you progress north, the landscape shifts from rolling hills to more dramatic scenery, especially as you approach the A14 section, which will take you further towards the Italian Alps. Be prepared for toll booths along the Italian autostrada network; these can be paid with cash or card, and often have dedicated lanes for electronic payment systems like Telepass.
Leaving Italy means crossing the Brenner Pass, a significant geographical and logistical marker on this route. Once you clear the Italian side of the border, the road transitions onto the Austrian Autobahn A13, which then connects to the A12 and finally the A1 heading towards Vienna. Austria operates on a vignette system for its motorways, so purchase this before or shortly after crossing the border to avoid fines. You can buy them at border crossings, petrol stations near the border, or online in advance. Speed limits in Austria are typically 130 km/h on Autobahns, but be mindful of reduced limits in construction zones or through certain tunnels.
Fuel prices can vary significantly between Italy and Austria, with Italy generally being more expensive. It's worth considering topping up your tank before reaching the border if you find a good price in Italy. The stretch through the Alps, particularly around the Brenner Pass, is stunning but can be subject to weather conditions, especially outside of summer. While this route is largely motorway, there are always possibilities for minor diversions into charming villages if time permits, though the focus here is the direct link between these two historic European capitals.
Route highlights
- A24 heading north from Rome
- Florence and the A1 Autostrada
- The scenic Brenner Pass crossing
- Austrian Autobahn A13 and A12
- Vignette purchase for Austrian motorways
- Potential for varied fuel prices
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: Gemona (it).
- Distance:
- 1,131 km
- Duration:
- 11h 42m (free-flow, no traffic)
Where to stop
Places along the route that make natural breaks for coffee, lunch, or a night.
-
Orvieto 🇮🇹 it
≈141 km≈ 15.5 km detour from the main route
-
Scandicci 🇮🇹 it
≈283 km≈ 1.5 km detour from the main route
-
Ferrara 🇮🇹 it
≈424 km≈ 6.7 km detour from the main route
-
Noventa di Piave 🇮🇹 it
≈565 km≈ 3.9 km detour from the main route
-
Tarcento 🇮🇹 it
≈707 km≈ 24.1 km detour from the main route
-
Wolfsberg 🇦🇹 at
≈848 km≈ 16.2 km detour from the main route
-
Fürstenfeld 🇦🇹 at
≈989 km≈ 16.2 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 → AT → SI
You'll cross 3 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
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 AT / 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.
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.
Centro Storico ZTL is permit-only, day and night
Must knowRome
Rome's historic centre ZTL operates Mon–Fri 06:30–19:00, Sat 14:00–19:00, plus Fri/Sat night party hours. Cameras at every entrance, no booth. Hotels inside the ZTL register your plate for the duration of your stay — but only if you ask, the day you arrive, with the registration document. Trastevere and Testaccio have their own night ZTLs.
Whole-city paid parking — no free street spaces inside the Gürtel
Must knowVienna
Vienna extended its short-term parking zone (Kurzparkzone) to all 23 districts in 2022. Foreign plates pay via Handyparken app or paper "Parkschein" tickets at trafiks (newsagents). Daytime parking is €2.50/hour, max 2 hours per ticket — meaning practically you need a private parking garage for any stay over 2 hours. Garages average €4–6/hour or €25/day.
Tolls, vignettes & road payment
Digital vignette before crossing the border
Must knowAustrian motorways need a vignette — €10.10 for 10 days, €30.40 for 2 months, or €103.80 annual. The digital version (linked to your plate) is bought online at asfinag.at and activates from a chosen date — if you buy on the Austrian side of the border, it's only valid 18 days later under consumer-protection rules. Buy ahead.
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.
Brenner, Tauern and Karawanken tunnels are extra
UsefulEight Austrian routes charge separate tolls on top of the vignette: Brenner (A13, ~€11.50), Pyhrn (A9, ~€6.50), Tauern (A10, ~€14), Karawanken (A11, ~€8.50) and others. Pay at the booth — no vignette discount. If you're heading south to Italy via the A13, budget for it.
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.
Bicycles on the right — turn right with extreme care
TipVienna
Vienna built out a Copenhagen-style bike network from 2020–2024. Most major streets now have a separated bike lane on the right. Right-turning cars must yield to a bike going straight in the bike lane — the rule that catches most foreigners. Look over your right shoulder before turning.
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.
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.
-
A2 Süd Autobahn368 km
-
A1 Autostrada del Sole298 km
-
A23 Autostrada Alpe-Adria127 km
-
A4 Autostrada Serenissima124 km
-
A13 Autostrada Bologna-Padova116 km
-
A1var Variante di Valico33 km
-
A1dir Diramazione Roma Nord21 km
-
A14 Ramo Casalecchio10 km
-
A90 Grande Raccordo Anulare8 km
-
A24 —5 km
-
B227 Schüttelstraße3 km
Route character
How much of the drive is motorway vs. secondary vs. rural.
Motorway drive — fast, predictable, uneventful.
- Motorway
- 98%
- Secondary
- 0%
- Other / rural
- 2%
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: 11h 42m behind the wheel at free-flow speeds.
- Cross-border: IT → AT. Keep documents accessible and check border rules.
Fuel & tolls
Rough cost expectation for a typical EU passenger car. Treat as an estimate — pump prices change weekly.
Petrol (RON 95)
≈ €158
84.8 L × €1.87 / L · 7.5 L/100 km
Diesel
≈ €133
67.8 L × €1.96 / L · 6 L/100 km
Electric (DC fast)
≈ €121
198 kWh × €0.61 / kWh · 17.5 kWh/100 km
Public DC fast charging — slower AC charging at home or hotels typically costs about half.
Motorway tolls & vignettes
≈ €78
- IT — €0.08/km on the motorway network (≈ 694 km in-country ≈ €52)
- AT — Vignette (motorway sticker / e-vignette) — €10.10 for 10 days Annual vignette is €103.80 if you drive often
- SI — Vignette (motorway sticker / e-vignette) — €16.00 for 7 days Annual vignette is €117.50 if you drive often
Prices last refreshed 2026-05-11.
Weather by month
Average daytime high / overnight low and typical monthly rainfall, over the past five years.
🇮🇹 Rome
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
14°
6°
|
15°
5°
|
17°
8°
|
20°
9°
|
23°
13°
|
31°
19°
|
34°
22°
|
33°
22°
|
28°
18°
|
24°
14°
|
17°
9°
|
14°
6°
|
| 72mm | 73mm | 120mm | 63mm | 115mm | 48mm | 21mm | 57mm | 106mm | 106mm | 98mm | 62mm |
hot mild cold
🇦🇹 Vienna
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
5°
-1°
|
8°
1°
|
13°
4°
|
16°
7°
|
20°
10°
|
26°
16°
|
28°
18°
|
28°
17°
|
23°
13°
|
17°
9°
|
9°
3°
|
5°
1°
|
| 37mm | 28mm | 49mm | 76mm | 74mm | 62mm | 62mm | 47mm | 130mm | 53mm | 50mm | 46mm |
hot mild cold
Next 5 days at Vienna
Live forecast — refreshes every few hours.
-
Fri 22
⛅
23° / 16°
—
-
Sat 23
⛅
26° / 14°
—
-
Sun 24
⛅
31° / 16°
—
-
Mon 25
⛅
29° / 19°
—
-
Tue 26
☀️
31° / 20°
—
Forecast: MET Norway
Directions
Turn-by-turn summary of the main manoeuvres, generated by OSRM.
Show all 35 manoeuvres
- Via Luigi Luzzatti
- (A24) 5 km
- Complanare TPU sinistra 2 km
- — 0.8 km
- Grande Raccordo Anulare (A90) 8 km
- — 0.6 km
- Diramazione Roma Nord (A1dir) 21 km
- — 2 km
- Autostrada del Sole (A1) 232 km
- Autostrada del Sole (A1) 36 km
- Raccordo A1-Variante di Valico (A1) 7 km
- Variante di Valico (A1var) 33 km
- Autostrada del Sole (A1) 24 km
- Ramo Casalecchio (A14) 5 km
- Autostrada Adriatica (A14) 5 km
- Autostrada Bologna-Padova (A13) 116 km
- Interconnessione A13/A4 Dir. Venezia (A4) 0.5 km
- Autostrada Serenissima (A4) 124 km
- Autostrada Alpe-Adria (A23) 54 km
- Galleria Lago (A23) 4 km
- Galleria Mena (A23) 12 km
- Autostrada Alpe-Adria (A23) 9 km
- Galleria Raccolana (A23) 8 km
- Autostrada Alpe-Adria (A23) 32 km
- Süd Autobahn (A2) 52 km
- Süd Autobahn (A2) 182 km
- Süd Autobahn (A2) 132 km
- Süd Autobahn (A2) 2 km
- Südosttangente (A23) 5 km
- Hochstraße St. Marx (A23) 3 km
- — 0.4 km
- Ost Autobahn (A4) 0.2 km
- Schüttelstraße (B227) 3 km
- Marc-Aurel-Straße
- Jasomirgottstraße
By coach from Rome to Vienna
Indicative duration of the fastest direct long-distance coach found in the FlixBus and BlaBlaCar Bus EU schedules.
- Travel time
- 16h
- 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.
By plane from Rome to Vienna
Indicative travel time on a non-stop flight, based on great-circle distance, average commercial cruise speed (850 km/h), and a 90-minute allowance for taxi, security, and boarding.
- Total time
- 2h 23m
- Door-to-door from :from airport.
- In the air
- 54 min
- At ~850 km/h cruise speed.
- On the ground
- 90 min
- Taxi + security + boarding (typical short-haul).
- Route
- FCO → VIE
- 765 km great-circle.
Indicative fare: from €40 — fares vary by season, day of week, and how far ahead you book. Always check the airline or a meta-search before planning around this number.
Show flight path on map
Estimate-only. We don't pull live schedules or fares for flights — see the methodology page for how this number is computed.
Air travel emits roughly 5–10× the CO₂ per passenger-km of rail for the same distance.
By train from Rome to Vienna
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
- 11h 45m
- 4 changes
- Lead operator
- TRENITALIA
- + 3 more
- Alternatives
- 5
- Itineraries returned by the planner.
Trains on the fastest itinerary
- FR 9634
- FR 9420
- RJX 130
All operators across alternatives
- TRENITALIA
- Trenitalia
- Deutsche Bahn AG
- OEBB Personenverkehr AG Kundenservice
Includes a high-speed rail leg (TGV, ICE, AVE, Frecciarossa-class).
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
Do I need an International Driving Permit for Italy or Austria?
An International Driving Permit (IDP) is generally recommended for non-EU/EEA citizens driving in Italy and Austria, especially if your home country's driving license is not in Italian or German or does not contain Latin characters. Check specific requirements based on your nationality.
Are there specific requirements for winter tires in Austria?
Yes, mandatory winter tire (or all-season tires with a snowflake symbol) and minimum tread depth regulations typically apply in Austria during winter months (usually November 1st to April 15th), depending on road conditions.
What are the main payment methods for tolls in Italy?
Italian autostradas use a ticket system. You take a ticket upon entering the motorway and pay upon exiting. Payment can be made with cash, credit/debit cards, or through electronic toll collection systems like Telepass.
Where can I buy an Austrian vignette?
You can purchase an Austrian vignette online in advance, at border crossings, or at petrol stations near the border. It's crucial to have it before driving on Austrian motorways to avoid penalties.
Are there low-emission zones in cities along the route?
Some Italian cities and potentially Vienna may have low-emission zones (Zona a Traffico Limitato - ZTL in Italy). Research specific city regulations for any planned stops to avoid fines.
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, EU Weekly Oil Bulletin for cross-border fuel-price bands, and Google Gemini drafts the narrative and FAQ from the computed route data. See our methodology for refresh cadence and limitations.