Guide
The best driving roads in Italy
Italy has glacier passes in the north, the Dolomite hairpins and a cliff road along the Amalfi Coast, and then Sardinia and Sicily on top. These are the best of the 57 Italian roads we have mapped, icons first, from the 2,757 m Stelvio Pass down.
Narrower cuts of the same question: the Dolomites on their own.
Orientale Sarda27 mi · 57 min · 1,029 m summitView the roadbook ›
Why it makes the list
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1
27 mi57 minOrientale Sarda
Often called the best driving road in the world, 50 km through the limestone Supramonte above the Gulf of Orosei on near-perfect asphalt, over a succession of named mountain passes.
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2
28 mi1 h 6 minStelvio Pass
The cathedral of mountain passes, 48 stacked hairpins to a 2,757 m sky.
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3
9 mi21 minPasso Sella
A Dolomites pass beneath the sheer Sella massif.
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4
8 mi16 minPasso Pordoi
Flowing Dolomite hairpins on the legendary Great Dolomites Road.
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5
27 mi1 h 7 minPasso di Gavia
A wild, narrow, high pass for the brave, barely two cars wide near the top.
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6
12 mi26 minPasso Gardena
Part of the Sella Ronda at 2,121 m, hairpins tightening and releasing under pale Dolomite towers, with snow walls beside the road in spring.
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7
12 mi28 minPasso Giau
A wild, hairpin-stacked Dolomites pass above Cortina.
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8
15 mi32 minGreat St Bernard Pass
The historic Alpine climb of The Italian Job’s opening titles.
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9
7 mi20 minTarga Florio, Collesano Descent
The closing miles of the world’s oldest road race, Collesano to the sea.
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10
23 mi51 minAmalfi Coast
The cliff-hugging Amalfitana above the Tyrrhenian Sea.
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11
17 mi37 minGardesana Occidentale
A tunnel-and-cliff road along the west shore of Lake Garda.
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12
19 mi40 minPasso Brocon
Scenic Lagorai pass of hairpins from Castello Tesino toward the Vanoi valley.
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13
3 mi7 minPasso Croce d’Aune
Belluno climb from Pedavena famous as the birthplace of the quick-release skewer.
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14
14 mi26 minPasso di Lavazè
Forested plateau pass linking Val di Fiemme and Val d’Ega beneath the Latemar.
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15
23 mi42 minPasso Monte Croce di Comelico
The Kreuzbergpass at 1636 m, a well-graded SS52 saddle between the Sesto Dolomites and the Carnic Alps, linking San Candido to Santo Stefano di Cadore.
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16
13 mi27 minPasso della Mendola (Mendel Pass)
Historic 17-hairpin wine-road climb from Caldaro up to the Mendel ridge.
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17
8 mi18 minPasso di Pramollo
The Italian side of the Nassfeldpass, a steep, demanding 1530 m climb from Pontebba up through tight hairpins to the Austrian border in the Carnic Alps.
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18
9 mi17 minForcola di Livigno
A 2315 m border pass linking Livigno to the Bernina, long straights through a craggy glacier-rimmed valley.
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19
7 mi17 minPasso del Maniva
The Giogo del Maniva at 1664 m, the celebrated Brescia hairpin road on the SP345 delle Tre Valli, climbing from Collio in the Val Trompia.
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20
3 mi8 minPasso di Stalle (Staller Sattel)
Single-lane Italy-Austria pass with light-controlled one-way traffic above Anterselva.
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21
12 mi24 minPasso Valles
A quiet WWI supply road over a 2032 m saddle below the Pale di San Martino, linking Paneveggio in Trentino to Falcade in the Veneto.
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22
25 mi52 minPenser Joch (Passo Pennes)
Long high South Tyrol pass on the most direct Bolzano to Sterzing road.
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23
16 mi34 minPasso Cibiana
A winding southern-Dolomite pass at 1530 m crowned by Fort Monte Rite and Reinhold Messner’s mountain museum, linking the Zoldo and Cadore valleys.
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24
7 mi12 minColle del Sestriere
A wide, fast Piedmontese climb to the chocolate-box ski resort of Sestriere, woven into Tour and Giro folklore.
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25
7 mi13 minPasso San Pellegrino
A flowing, fully paved Dolomite pass between Moena and Falcade, topping out at 1918 m beside the Trevalli ski area with the Costabella and Cima Uomo walls overhead.
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26
14 mi28 minForcella Staulanza
A scenic Dolomite pass at 1766 m wedged between Monte Pelmo and the Civetta massif, on the SP251 between the Zoldo and Cadore valleys.
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27
8 mi16 minPasso della Presolana
Every Bergamo rider knows this one: curves and long straights over the 1,297 m saddle between the Presolana massif and Monte Scanapa.
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28
18 mi39 minPasso San Marco
An old salt road over the Orobie Alps, quiet and high.
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29
10 mi20 minPasso del Foscagno
The high pass guarding the duty-free enclave of Livigno.
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30
26 mi1 h 1 minPasso di Croce Domini
Narrow high pass linking three Brescian valleys in the Adamello foothills.
Common questions
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