🇫🇷 Cross-border drive · France → Italy 🇮🇹
Driving from Strasbourg to Venice
Essential road trip advice for the drive from Strasbourg, France to Venice, Italy, covering mountain passes, toll roads, and cross-border tips.
- Drive time
- 8h 14m
- Distance
- 742 km
- Same day?
- Long day
- under 12 h
- Fuel cost
- ≈ €105
- petrol · diesel ≈ €91
- Tolls
- ≈ €75
- mixed
- EV charging
- Plenty fast
- 28 of 117 ≥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.
Alternative
+1h 1m- Distance:
- 849 km (+107 km)
- Duration:
- 9h 16m
Via: A22 · A 8 · A 7 · A4
Avoids motorways
+3h 44m- Distance:
- 730 km (−11 km)
- Duration:
- 11h 58m
Via: B 31n · B 33 · B179 · B186
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.
8h 14m
742 km · €105 fuel
See details ↓
Not realistic
742 km is far beyond a typical multi-day cycle tour. Try a shorter pair like a day or weekend stage.
12h 5m
FlixBus-eu
See details ↓
9h 28m
Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français · Schweizerische Bundesbahnen SBB
See details ↓
What the drive is like
Drafted from the route's computed data on May 10, 2026 and reviewed against the route summary card. Read our methodology.
Exit Strasbourg via the A5 and cross the Rhine into Germany, where the Autobahn will carry you south toward the Swiss border. While the route relies heavily on the German A5, you will eventually transition onto the Austrian and Italian motorway networks. Be prepared for a sharp change in driving culture; German speed limits are advisory in many sections, but once you clear the border into Austria, observe the strictly enforced limits and remember that a prepaid vignette is mandatory for all motorway travel there. The climb toward the Italian border brings significant elevation, peaking near 1796 meters, which demands respect during the shoulder seasons when sudden snow flurries can turn dry tarmac into a slick, hazardous surface.
The descent into Italy via the A22 Brenner Motorway provides a dramatic transition from the high Alpine peaks to the flat plains of the Veneto. Unlike the French motorway system, which relies on intermittent toll barriers, the Italian autostrade involves collecting a ticket upon entry and paying at a toll booth upon exit; keep your ticket accessible to avoid delays at the final gate. Traffic density increases significantly as you approach the coastal region, and the motorway signage will shift to include the distinctive green color coding used for Italian high-speed routes.
Fuel prices are generally more competitive on the Italian side of the border, so plan to stretch your tank through the mountains rather than filling up at the premium-priced service stations along the Alpine passes. Be aware that most major Italian cities, including Venice’s mainland gateway of Mestre, enforce strict restricted traffic zones. Unless your accommodation provides specific vehicle registration, you must park your car in the designated garages at Piazzale Roma or Tronchetto before proceeding into the historic center by vaporetto.
Route highlights
- The transition from German Autobahn speeds to the scenic Austrian Alpine corridors
- The Brenner Pass descent offering panoramic views into Northern Italy
- Navigating the complex approach to the Venice Mestre mainland
- The contrast between French, Austrian, and Italian motorway tolling systems
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: Altdorf (ch).
- Distance:
- 742 km
- Duration:
- 8h 14m (free-flow, no traffic)
Where to stop
Places along the route that make natural breaks for coffee, lunch, or a night.
-
Schliengen 🇩🇪 de
≈124 km≈ 5.8 km detour from the main route
-
Hergiswil 🇨🇭 ch
≈247 km≈ 1.2 km detour from the main route
-
Bellinzona 🇨🇭 ch
≈371 km≈ 5.2 km detour from the main route
-
Cavenago di Brianza 🇮🇹 it
≈494 km≈ 1.9 km detour from the main route
-
Lugagnano 🇮🇹 it
≈618 km≈ 2.5 km detour from the main route
Key moves
Things to know before you set off — borders, sides of the road, tolls.
Multi-country chain · FR → CH → IT
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 FR / 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 CH
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 Straßburger Straße
Plan for about 11 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
Order your Crit'Air sticker before the trip
Must knowParis, Lyon, Strasbourg, Marseille, Toulouse and a growing list of cities require a Crit'Air air-quality sticker visible on your windscreen — even for a single drive-through. It's €4.51 from the official site and ships by post (allow 2–6 weeks abroad). Without it, expect on-the-spot fines from €68. Your registration document tells the issuer your emission class.
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.
Borders & documents
You're leaving the EU customs zone
Must knowSwitzerland is in Schengen but NOT in the EU customs union. Random customs stops happen at every border. Personal allowance: €300 in goods (CHF cash equivalent), 5L wine, 1L spirits. Above that you declare and pay duty. If you've loaded the boot with cured meat or cheese in Italy, declare it — confiscation is routine.
Tolls, vignettes & road payment
Mont Blanc, Grand St Bernard, San Bernardino tunnels charge extra
Must knowThe vignette covers most motorways but NOT the major Alpine road tunnels. Mont Blanc tunnel (FR-IT) is roughly €54 one-way for a passenger car, Grand St Bernard about €33, San Bernardino is included in the vignette but Gotthard road tunnel is a vignette-only route in summer (the queue can be 2 hours; the rail-shuttle alternative through the Lötschberg is faster).
Vignette is annual only — CHF 40
Must knowSwitzerland sells one vignette: an annual sticker (or e-vignette) for CHF 40 / about €42. There's no 10-day option. Buy at any border post or online before you leave. The sticker must be physically affixed to the windscreen — keeping it loose in the glovebox earns the same CHF 200 fine as not having one.
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.
Contactless works at every autoroute booth
UsefulFrench autoroutes use a ticket system: take a card on entry, pay on exit. Every barrier accepts contactless tap-to-pay — pull into the "CB / bank card" lane (orange "t" logo means Liber-T transponder only, avoid those). For frequent EU travellers a Bip&Go transponder pays itself off in two trips by skipping the queue.
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 in the cabin, triangle in the boot
Must knowA reflective vest must be reachable without leaving the vehicle (in the door pocket or under your seat — boot is too late). One warning triangle is also mandatory. The 2012 breathalyzer rule was scrapped in 2020 but is still nice to keep. No spare-bulb requirement.
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
Priorité à droite still applies in towns
UsefulOn urban streets without signs, traffic from your right has priority — even from a side street that looks subordinate. Outside cities the rule is mostly retired, but in residential French villages it survives. Slow at every right-hand junction unless a yellow diamond on your road tells you you're on the priority road.
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.
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 —288 km
-
A4 —247 km
-
A 5 —121 km
-
A9 Autostrada dei Laghi31 km
-
A8 Autostrada dei Laghi10 km
-
A57 Tangenziale di Mestre9 km
-
SR11 Via della Libertà7 km
Route character
How much of the drive is motorway vs. secondary vs. rural.
Motorway drive — fast, predictable, uneventful.
- Motorway
- 96%
- Secondary
- 1%
- Other / rural
- 3%
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: 8h 14m behind the wheel at free-flow speeds.
- Cross-border: fr → it. Keep documents accessible and check border rules.
Elevation profile
Highs, lows, and the total climb / descent along the route.
- Lowest point
- 0 m
- Highest point
- 1,796 m
- Total ascent
- ↑ 2,234 m
- Total descent
- ↓ 2,381 m
Fuel & tolls
Rough cost expectation for a typical EU passenger car. Treat as an estimate — pump prices change weekly.
Petrol (RON 95)
≈ €105
55.6 L × €1.88 / L · 7.5 L/100 km
Diesel
≈ €91
44.5 L × €2.04 / L · 6 L/100 km
Electric (DC fast)
≈ €83
130 kWh × €0.64 / kWh · 17.5 kWh/100 km
Public DC fast charging — slower AC charging at home or hotels typically costs about half.
Motorway tolls & vignettes
≈ €75
- FR — €0.10/km on the motorway network (≈ 102 km in-country ≈ €10)
- CH — Vignette (motorway sticker / e-vignette) — €42.00 for 365 days
- IT — €0.08/km on the motorway network (≈ 307 km in-country ≈ €23)
Prices last refreshed 2026-05-04.
Fuel and EV charging along the route
Stations within a few kilometres of the road, sampled at evenly-spaced waypoints.
Fuel stations
Most common brands
Sample of stations along the route
- Totalenergies 24/7 LPG ~0 km
- Auchan LPG ~0 km
- Totalenergies 24/7 LPG ~0 km
- Avia 24/7 LPG ~0 km
- Eni 24/7 ~0 km
- Esso ~0 km
- E.leclerc 24/7 ~0 km
- Shell 24/7 ~0 km
- Intermarché 24/7 ~0 km
- Match 24/7 ~0 km
- Eni 24/7 ~0 km
- Eni 24/7 ~0 km
- Auchan 24/7 LPG ~0 km
- Auchan 24/7 ~0 km
- Système U 24/7 ~0 km
- Totalenergies ~0 km
EV charging
28 at 50 kW or above (fast / ultra-fast).
Fastest first
- Autohof Bremgarten an der BAB 5 — Hartheim-Bremgarten 350 kW
- TotalEnergies - Relais Esplanade — Strasbourg 300 kW
- TotalEnergies - Relais Cronenbourg — Strasbourg 300 kW
- TotalEnergies - Super U - Fessenheim — Fessenheim 300 kW
- [IPlanet] San Martino Buon Albergo — San Martino Buon Albergo 300 kW
- Tesla Supercharger Morbio Inferiore 250 kW
- Tesla Supercharger Telgate 250 kW
- Engie-Vianeo - Strasbourg - Quai Saint Thomas — Strasbourg 150 kW
- Bump - Monoprix - Neudorf - Strasbourg — Strasbourg 150 kW
- PowerDot - Supermarché Match - Bischheim — Bischheim 150 kW
- Engie-Vianeo - Schiltigheim - Avenue de L'Europe — Schiltigheim 150 kW
- GoFast AdS San Gottardo Sud — Airolo 150 kW
Weather by month
Average daytime high / overnight low and typical monthly rainfall, over the past five years.
🇫🇷 Strasbourg
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
6°
1°
|
9°
2°
|
13°
4°
|
16°
6°
|
20°
11°
|
26°
15°
|
26°
16°
|
26°
16°
|
22°
13°
|
17°
9°
|
9°
4°
|
6°
2°
|
| 82mm | 53mm | 83mm | 88mm | 99mm | 84mm | 136mm | 82mm | 99mm | 115mm | 110mm | 81mm |
hot mild cold
🇮🇹 Venice
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
8°
2°
|
10°
3°
|
14°
6°
|
17°
9°
|
21°
14°
|
27°
19°
|
29°
20°
|
29°
20°
|
25°
17°
|
19°
12°
|
13°
5°
|
9°
2°
|
| 74mm | 65mm | 118mm | 86mm | 194mm | 71mm | 102mm | 99mm | 142mm | 157mm | 63mm | 50mm |
hot mild cold
Next 5 days at Venice
Live forecast — refreshes every few hours.
-
Tue 12
⛅
14° / 13°
—
-
Wed 13
☀️
17° / 12°
—
-
Thu 14
🌧️
16° / 11°
51.5mm
-
Fri 15
🌧️
16° / 10°
14mm
-
Sat 16
🌧️
14° / 13°
32.6mm
Forecast: MET Norway
Directions
Turn-by-turn summary of the main manoeuvres, generated by OSRM.
Show all 24 manoeuvres
- Rue du Fossé des Tanneurs 0.1 km
- Rue du Port du Rhin
- Route du Petit Rhin 0.2 km
- Avenue de Vitry-le-François
- Straßburger Straße 11 km
- (A 5) 121 km
- (A2) 14 km
- (A2) 28 km
- (A2) 9 km
- (A2) 43 km
- (A2) 64 km
- (A2) 123 km
- (A2) 7 km
- Autostrada dei Laghi (A9) 31 km
- Autostrada dei Laghi (A9) 1 km
- Autostrada dei Laghi (A8) 10 km
- (A4) 247 km
- Tangenziale di Mestre (A57) 9 km
- Tangenziale di Mestre 0.2 km
- Tangenziale di Mestre 0.4 km
- Via della Libertà 2 km
- Via della Libertà (SR11) 3 km
- Ponte della Libertà (SR11) 4 km
- —
By coach from Strasbourg to Venice
Indicative duration of the fastest direct long-distance coach found in the FlixBus and BlaBlaCar Bus EU schedules.
- Travel time
- 12h 5m
- 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 train from Strasbourg to Venice
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
- 9h 28m
- 4 changes
- Lead operator
- Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français
- + 4 more
- Alternatives
- 6
- Itineraries returned by the planner.
Trains on the fastest itinerary
- K200
- IC3
- EC 23
- FR 9757
All operators across alternatives
- Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français
- Schweizerische Bundesbahnen SBB
- TRENITALIA
- SNCF VOYAGEURS
- Trenord
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 a vignette for this route?
You need a vignette for Austria. France and Italy use a distance-based toll system where you pay at gates, not a sticker-based vignette.
Is it safe to drive this route in winter?
The high mountain passes can see heavy snow. Ensure your vehicle is equipped with winter tires and carry chains if you are traveling between late autumn and early spring.
Where should I park for Venice?
You cannot drive into Venice proper. Most travelers park in the large multi-story garages at Piazzale Roma or the Tronchetto island car parks.
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, OpenStreetMap via Overpass for fuel stations, 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.