Gas Prices in Italy Sky High

The cost of gas has been rising everywhere and in Italy today the price of one liter hit 1.96 euros.

If I do my math correctly a liter is 0.26 gallons or just a little over one fourth of a gallon, so it takes approximately four liters to equal a gallon. One gallon of gas in Italy then would be approximately four times today’s price of one liter, or close to eight euros. At today’s exchange rate of 1 euro = 1.31 US dollars, then one gallon of gas in Italy would cost close to $10.50. It makes the $3.80 a gallon price I paid today for gas a bargain. It’s all relative.

I am renting a car in Rome and driving to Sicily and then back to Rome (I know, call me crazy). I guess I’d better plan on a few hundred more euros to cover the gasoline costs. Supposedly it is going to be a Fiat 500 and at least the gas mileage of those cars is good, somewhere between 33 and 38 mpg. We’ll see.

4 Responses

  1. Marilyn

    Was shocked to see the price of gasoline in Italy. Plan to fly into Palermo and rent a car to explore the island. Three weeks visiting smaller towns and villages, no highway travel. Appreciate the info… glad I saved for “extras.” Do hope we get one of those 5-speed gumball machines.

  2. margieinitaly

    It coast a lot more than I had thought when all was said and done. You can read my post about it here, http://margieinitaly.wordpress.com/2012/06/04/italy-travel-leaving-colle-danchise-and-driving-to-sicily/.

    They did not have the Fiat 500 and gave us a Mercedes class A instead which turned out to be better for the luggage. All in all, the care rental for 5 days was $500 because I had to have an automatic transmission. Between the gas and tolls, I think it was another $500.The mistake was driving from Rome to Sicily and back in 5 days.We could have flown there for a much more economical price,rented the car in Sicily and flown back. I drove 1200 miles in 5 days. Good luck! You do however definitely need a car in Sicily.

  3. Anonymous

    I rented a Fiat 500 last time I was there; it was like driving a 5 speed gumball machine with wheels…but it did get great mileage! Have fun!!!

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