Does anyone know what the average cost for fuel in Italy is right now. Around Florence? We are coming in about 5 weeks and just wondering how expensive it will be this year. Grazie!

We were not in Florence but last week around Assisi, Umbria & back to Rome the prices were running between 1.2 & 1.3 euros per liter for gas.
I did not check the diesel.
Regards
Martha

That's 6.43 dollars/gallon. RR

so if we want to tour Tuscany (7 days)from Montepulciano up to Florence and Siena and other great places.....how much should I budget for gas? We will be in a smaller car.

In Europe, diesel is cheaper than unleaded. I always try to get a diesel vehicle because of the lower fuel price and the better mileage. (The Italian word for diesel is "gasolio" and the pump handles are BLACK, Unleaded handles are GREEN ...opposite the color convention for fuel in the US)

The price I paid for diesel in September was 1.15 euro - 1.22 euro and unleaded was about 1.25 - 1.33 euro

Prices for motor fuel have been less volatile in Italy than in the US. It has gone up about 20% since 2002 while in the US it has gone up about 70% -100% in the same period.

We had a diesel car. It was a smallish car (but big enough for 4 adults). We drove all over the place (well over 1000 km). We were shocked that we only spent about 60 euro in gas. Far less than we spent on gelato!

Our local TV station had a feature on the news about the price of gas in Europe. They said it's most expensive in the UK, where the cost of filling up an SUV would now be $265. Obviously this was just to make a point for an American audience, since I don't think you would find many SUVs in the UK.

Well like usual, we have rented a very small car for this year. So we will do our part to contribute to the local economy.

We've just come back from Italy. The price of diesel was generally between 1.10 and 1.15 euros per litre.

quote:

Our local TV station had a feature on the news about the price of gas in Europe. They said it's most expensive in the UK, where the cost of filling up an SUV would now be $265. Obviously this was just to make a point for an American audience, since I don't think you would find many SUVs in the UK.

As of 4/16/2007 the price for Premium Gasoline was as follows:

Belgium 6.71
France 6.56
Germany 6.71
Italy 6.54
Netherlands 7.54
UK 6.93
US 3.08

There may be few SUV’s in the UK, but there is no shortage of BMW’s, Jaguar’s and Mercedes’ autos there. These vehicles usually have a 20 gallon or so fuel tank. So to fill a take of one of these cars in the UK would cost about $140. An SUV tank is not twice the size that these cars have. A Range Rover SUV, for instance, has a fuel tank of approximatel 28 gallons, and, as the autos mentioned above, it also uses premium fuel. I don’t have a calculator handy, but to fill a Range Rover’s tank would cost approximately $200.

I wonder where the TV station's reporter got his/her information?

Peter

I was talking with a co-worker recently. She commutes quite a ways in a rather large, new pick up truck. She told me that she spends $1000-$1200 a month on gas. I told her that's a house payment.

I just can't get my head around a number like that. I commute 100 miles a day on a motorcycle that gets decent, but not great mileage and spend about $200 a month. I recently pulled up to a pump where the previous person had put in 22 gallons @ $75.00. I guess I'd just never done the math before, but I didn't think $75 could possibly be right.

The really funny thing is, these folks think I'm leading an extravagant lifestyle because I travel regularly to Europe.

pete

The sheer difference of consumption between US end European cars always surprises me.

Last month I read some statistics, pointing out the fact that, if te average mileage of US cars were the same as in Europe, the US would save an amount of fuel equal to the whole UK consumption

Anyway, a small car like a Fiat Punto or a Ford Fiesta can easily keep an average of around 40 miles/gallon, considering city and highway use combined. Mileage can be even better, if it's a diesel (possibly 45).

Translating this into $$$, it means that 1000 miles will cost around $165 at current exchange rates, for small gasoline cars.

Also budget for tolls which don't depend on car size, perhaps another 50-75 dollars??
RR

One thing I like about the Via Michelin web site is that when you ask it to plan a route, it also figures the cost of tolls and fuel.

Hertz Chiusi adv 15km per liter on the Mercedez a180. I haven't done the math yet. But the diesel seems the way to go.

Yes, diesel will let you save around 20% on fuel, comparing two similar-sized cars.
Around 10% for better mileage and another 10% for lower price of fuel.

Hi Deb, the cost of fuel might be high, but we have always been pleasantly surprised at how little we spend on petrol/diesel as the distances are so short to get almost anywhere in Italy.

You know, I bet John From Australia could do us one of those clever maps to show the size of Italy inside a map of the US and Australia. In fact, I heard once that Italy is one third the size, or was it one twelth, of New South Wales.

When you look at trips we all do across country in Australia or the US, we do several hundred or up to a thousand or more in a day. It's 1400 kilometres from Canberra up to Brisbane and for years my husband and I did this trip in one day three times a year.

But touring around any of the regions in Italy, we go from hilltown to nearby hilltown with stops along the way. Some days we might do only fifty kilometres.

So a smaller diesel car, even touring each day, will not be as much as we would think. The number of miles or kilometres is so much less.

Last trip we picked up the hire car on leaving Venice, went down to Orvieto for a night, on to Sorrento, up to Montepulciano, to San Gimignano, up to Liguria and finally at the end, to Rome airport to drop it off. This was over five weeeks, and Montepulciano was a whim and got added in during the trip.

We had a Fiat Punto four trips ago, then I don't know what we had for the next two, and this trip was a Lancia. The first car was a manual and all the others have been automatic.

that truck driver is insane.
what happens when gas goes to 4 dollars? It would be cheaper to buy a new car than to continue to drive that rediculous truck. RR

Toll charges are not expensive, even over long distances. Besides, if you need to get from one area to another, it is the best way (although allow time for delays, etc).

Based on a visit in March 2007, I estimate tolls to be approx. 0.05-0.06 euro per kilometre. A 600k journey from the Brenner Pass in N. Italy to near Ancona cost us just over 30 euro in 2006.