Europe
Italy
Dolomite passes, lake corniches and cypress-lined Tuscan ridges.
Why drive here
Driving in Italy
Italy is the country every serious driver eventually has to visit. The Dolomites alone hold a cluster of hairpin passes, the Stelvio, Gavia, Sella, Pordoi and Giau, tight enough together that a single week can string four or five of them into one continuous drive. Further south, Tuscany offers a completely different pleasure: rolling cypress lined roads through vineyards, with none of the altitude or drama but all of the charm.
The Amalfi Coast Road delivers the country's most photographed drive, a cliffside ribbon above the Tyrrhenian Sea that rewards an early start and punishes anyone who arrives after the coach tours. Lake Garda adds a third character entirely, with tunnel like corniche roads carved directly into the rock above the water.
Italy's roads are generally well maintained and its passes well signed, but the passion for driving here is real: expect to share the best hairpins with local sports car clubs on any clear Sunday morning.
Regions
Where to drive in Italy
Featured drives
Great roads in Italy
Italy, Dolomites
The Great Dolomites Drive
Distance
187 km
Time
4h 15m
Driving
9.6
Four legendary passes strung between limestone cathedrals, the definitive alpine day.
Italy, Italian Alps
Stelvio Pass
Distance
49 km
Time
1h 30m
Driving
9.4
Forty-eight numbered hairpins stacked like a staircase into the sky.
Italy, Lake Garda
Lake Garda Mountain Loop
Distance
142 km
Time
3h 20m
Driving
9
Gardesana corniche tunnels, then a climb into olive terraces above the water.
Italy, Amalfi
The Amalfi Coast Road
Distance
78 km
Time
2h 40m
Driving
8.4
The most photographed coast road in the world, and still worth it if you drive it at dawn.
Italy, Tuscany
Chianti Ridge Road
Distance
142 km
Time
3h 05m
Driving
8.8
Vineyard ridges, cypress avenues and a rhythm that suits a classic more than a supercar.
Editors' picks
Top 5 roads in Italy
Lombardy and South Tyrol, Italy
Passo dello Stelvio
Eighty four hairpins stacked above the treeline make this Europe's most theatrical mountain pass.
Bormio to Prato allo Stelvio · 49 km · SS38
Driving
9.8
Scenery
9.9
View full route
Veneto, Italy
Passo Giau
Twenty nine hairpins climb to a wide open saddle ringed by the jagged Cinque Torri.
Cortina d'Ampezzo to Colle Santa Lucia · 17 km · SR638
Driving
9.4
Scenery
9.8
Trentino and South Tyrol, Italy
Passo Sella
Sheer Dolomite towers on both sides make this short link one of the world's great scenic drives.
Canazei to Selva di Val Gardena · 11 km · SS242
Driving
9.3
Scenery
9.9
Campania, Italy
Amalfi Coast Road
A cliffside ribbon of hairpins clinging above turquoise water and pastel towns.
Sorrento to Vietri sul Mare · 50 km · SS163
Driving
9.3
Scenery
10
View full route
Tuscany, Italy
Chianti Classico Road
Rolling cypress lined curves through vineyards link two of Tuscany's finest cities.
Florence to Siena · 45 km · SR222
Driving
8.2
Scenery
9.5
View full route
Quick facts
Planning your trip
When to go
June and September give the clearest mountain weather with fewer crowds than the July and August peak.
What to drive
A light, agile coupe suits the tight Dolomite hairpins, while a comfortable GT is better suited to the longer Tuscan and Amalfi routes.
Sample itinerary
The Great Dolomites Drive to Lake Garda
6 days
Start in Bolzano, thread the Sella Ronda passes over three days, then descend to Lake Garda for a final loop above the water.
Keep reading
Related
Italy · 14 min
The 25 Greatest Driving Roads in Italy
From the Stelvio's staircase to Sicilian coast roads nobody writes about, our definitive ranking.
Lake Garda · 9 min
The Best Roads Around Lake Garda
Escape the shoreline traffic: seven climbs that begin within twenty minutes of the water.
Grand Touring · 11 min
The Perfect Driving Weekend in the Dolomites
Friday night arrival, two dawn passes, one very good dinner.
Italy · 6 min
The Amalfi Coast Belongs to Whoever Wakes Up First
One hour of empty corniche, then the coaches. A dawn plan for the most crowded great road in Europe.
Drivers clubs
Drivers clubs in Italy
Supercar, classic, motorbike and track day clubs to join near your route.
The library
Every great road we have mapped in Italy
18 roads, scored for driving quality and scenery, with seasonal notes where they matter. Any of these can be threaded into a journey in the planner.
Dolomites
Sella Ronda Loop
Canazei to Canazei · 55 km
Four Dolomite passes in a single circuit of the Sella massif, the finest loop in Europe.
All four passes need to be open, roughly May to October
Driving
9.4
Scenery
9.9
Lombardy, Italy
Passo di Gavia
Bormio to Ponte di Legno · 31 km · SS300
A narrow, unguarded ribbon past Lago Nero that feels wilder than its famous neighbour.
Closed roughly October to June
Driving
9.5
Scenery
9.6
Gran Paradiso
Colle del Nivolet
Ceresole Reale to Nivolet · 20 km · SP50
The road from the Italian Job, hairpins to a lake plateau at 2600 metres.
Open June to September, closed to cars on summer Sundays
Driving
9.3
Scenery
9.8
Trentino and South Tyrol, Italy
Passo Pordoi
Canazei to Arabba · 13 km · SS48
Twenty eight numbered hairpins climb to the highest paved point of the Dolomites road network.
Closed roughly November to April
Driving
9.2
Scenery
9.7
Dolomites
Passo Valparola
La Villa to Cortina d'Ampezzo · 33 km · SP24
War tunnels, a small lake and the Lagazuoi towers, quieter than its famous neighbours.
Winter closure in heavy snow years
Driving
9.1
Scenery
9.6
South Tyrol, Italy
Passo Gardena
Corvara to Selva di Val Gardena · 12 km · SS243
Limestone spires of the Sella group frame every one of this pass's flowing bends.
Closed roughly November to April
Driving
9
Scenery
9.6
Dolomites
Passo Fedaia
Caprile to Canazei · 30 km · SS641
A brutal ramp to a dam under the Marmolada glacier, the roof of the Dolomites.
Closed or difficult after heavy snow
Driving
9
Scenery
9.5
Lombardy, Italy
Strada della Forra
Pieve di Tremosine to Lake Garda shore · 7 km · SP38
A tunnel like gorge road carved into rock above Lake Garda, once called the world's best road.
Driving
9
Scenery
9.4
Trentino
Passo Rolle
Predazzo to San Martino di Castrozza · 30 km · SS50
Open meadows under the Pale di San Martino, one of the great Dolomite views.
Kept open in winter but often snowy
Driving
8.8
Scenery
9.4
Piedmont, Italy
Colle delle Finestre
Susa to Usseaux · 19 km
A gravel topped final stretch of tight hairpins made famous by the Giro d'Italia.
Closed roughly October to June
Driving
9.2
Scenery
9
Trentino
Passo Manghen
Borgo Valsugana to Molina di Fiemme · 40 km · SP31
Narrow, savage and empty, a proper hill climb road with no barriers to speak of.
Closed by snow from November to May
Driving
9.2
Scenery
9
Lombardy and Graubunden
Passo dell'Umbrail
Passo dello Stelvio to Santa Maria Val Mustair · 15 km
Switzerland's link into the Stelvio is a quieter alternative with the same drama.
Closed roughly October to June
Driving
8.8
Scenery
9.2
Piedmont, Italy
Colle dell'Agnello
Pontechianale to Chateau-Ville-Vieille · 20 km · SP105
One of the Alps' highest paved passes, remote and narrow near the French border.
Closed roughly October to June
Driving
8.9
Scenery
9.1
Lombardy
Passo Crocedomini
Breno to Bagolino · 45 km · SP345
A wild single track crossing between Val Camonica and the Val Sabbia.
Closed by snow through the winter
Driving
8.9
Scenery
9
Veneto and South Tyrol, Italy
Passo Campolongo
Arabba to Corvara · 6 km · SS244
The gentlest of the Sella Ronda passes but with knockout views of the Sella massif.
Occasional winter closures in heavy snow
Driving
8.5
Scenery
9.3
Lombardy, Italy
Passo del Mortirolo
Mazzo di Valtellina to Monno · 12.5 km
Cycling's cruellest climb doubles as a brutally steep, tightly hairpinned driving test.
Snow possible December to March
Driving
9
Scenery
8.4
Liguria, Italy
Passo del Bracco
Sestri Levante to La Spezia · 38 km · SS1
A ridge top Ligurian road with sweeping sea glimpses above the Cinque Terre coastline.
Driving
8.1
Scenery
8.7
Liguria and Piedmont, Italy
Passo del Turchino
Genova to Ovada · 30 km · SS456
A historic road linking Genoa to the Piedmont plains through wooded Apennine ridgelines.
Driving
7.6
Scenery
8