Tolls

Since you posted under Italy, I'll assume you are asking about Italian Autostrada's. If you plan with viamichelin.com the tolls are noted. For us, we keep a ATM card in the console, look for the toll booth with a card picture above it, swipe and go.

Don't do what I did and think I had to put a credit card into the machine that dispenses the tickets when you enter the autostrada! Just click the button, take the ticket and be on your way ...

We made sure we had change on us to pay to at the manned ticket booth, usually with correct change. I didn't want to have to worry about my card not working for whatever reason and holding up traffic. Tolls weren't very expensive. Via Michelin can give you an idea of the estimated cost for the drive.

I was driving 110km/hr thinking that was the speed limit and had cars flying by me (some going 130km/hr... some going much, much faster!)

Driving in Italy is fun :)

The general driving limit is 130 km/h, unless differently posted. There are frequent radar controls and on some stretches (for example, Milan to Bologna) not only your top speed is measured but also your average speed. The system measuring average speed is said to be switched off 18 hours out of 24, or it would automatically generate so many fines to overwhelm police offices.

We always carried cash and coins. I simply do not want to mess with a cc that might or might work. Our highest toll was about 22/23 Euro on one long stretch. Actually thought that the traffic on the highways was very orderly. It is very obvious that you only drive in the left lane to pass unlike the US where people cruise in any lane they like. We held it right at the limit regardless of the traffic around us. We have read too many postings dealing with delayed and expensive traffic tickets in Italy. We are on vacation so what is an extra 30 minutes or an hour? The rest stops are very nice with good services and clean restrooms but the stops are not as frequent as the US.

You don't say exactly where you are entering the freeway in Milan, but let's say you enter the A1 freeway at Milano Sud and exit at Salerno to go to Paestum, the toll is €57.80.
If you go directly from Milan Malpensa airport, which is farther, it would be a handful of euro more.
There are no tolls south of Salerno.
From Salerno to Roma Sud, it's another €16.70.
Italian autostrade work like a parking lot. When you enter, you pick up a ticket at the machine at the toll booth (just like when you enter a parking lot). When you exit, you hand that ticket to the toll booth attendant who inserts it in a computer and, based on the distance traveled, the display will show how much you owe.
I always pay cash. To pay cash you must exit through the booths with a white sign displaying a cash logo (a money bill and two coins). If the sign has a black hand holding the money, then the booth is manned, otherwise it's a machine. If you use a machine, it accepts both bills and coins. Just insert the ticket in it, then insert the money like you would do in a soda vending machine. The machine gives change, so don't worry about having exact change.
The cash booths with the attendant don't accept cards of any type.
The blue signs saying CARTE accept only cards. You need to enter a PIN, therefore a credit card that is not chip and PIN won't work.
The yellow sign saying TELEPASS is only for people with remote transponders. You won't have one, so don't go there.
Observe the speed limits because it's all checked by cameras and laser technology. The speed limit on the autostrada is 130km/h (~80 mph) unless otherwise posted.
Stay on the right lanes. The left lane is passing only (no cruising in the left lane is permitted). Passing a vehicles from the right (using the slower lanes) is also prohibited. Always pass vehicles using the lanes to the left of the vehicle you are passing. Doing otherwise is also dangerous because people move back to the right lanes without looking since they don't expect someone passing them from the right.

a tiny elaboration on Roberto's excellent account - I never pay cash on Italian motorways. I have a co-pilot (because my steering wheel is on the opposite side) who uses a British chip and pin (Citibank) card denominated in Euro. We use the blue lane.

Pop in the ticket, it asks for so much money. Pop in the card, chip end first. It says (in a really cheesy metallic female voice) Grazie, and she pulls out the the card and punches the receipt button. Out comes a receipt, the gate goes up and she says in her metallic voice, arrivederci, and drive off.

No pin numbers. Like many machines for small amounts it doesn't need a pin.

I haven't tried it because I don't have such a primitive card, but there's a chance that a chip and signature card might work the same way.

Far better would be to have a telepass account but I haven't done that yet. We do use the bip and go tag in France where we just have to slow to 30 kph on the toll booths for Autoroutes and that is a wonder.

Nigel, how much does a Telepass cost and where do you get one?

Thanks for all the tips! I'll be printing this thread and re-reading this before I leave for Italy :)

The information (Italian only) for Telepass is at https://www.telepass.it/ecm/faces/public/telepass/index.html and do note that you need an Italian bank account.

So in America we use "Primitive cards".
How true!
They should come up with the
Jurassicard.

Here's another link for the Telepass (in English). It's a German company that offers the Telepass transponder. You don't need an Italian bank account.
http://www.tolltickets.com/country/italy/telepass.aspx?lang=en-GB&mnu=c

It looks like they even send the transponder to the US. Here is the shipping page where you can actually select US as the destination for shipping:
http://www.tolltickets.com/shop/priceshipment.aspx?lang=en-GB&mnu=c

Maybe this is an option that works for you.

We used it last year when driving from Germany to Italy through Switzerland (having the device sent to an address in Germany). By the way, you can also order the vignette for Switzerland (and other countries) together with the Telepass device. You don't have to care about buying a vignette or paying tolls while travelling then.
Using the Telepass we had additional costs of about 18 Euros including shipment for having the transponder for three weeks. At first the transponder was not much of a time saver when driving to our destination. The non-Telepass-lanes had only queues of 3 or 4 cars waiting. But on our way back there were very, very long queues of cars. We were really glad to pass all these cars.
You can easily lose an hour per paying station. On Telepass lanes you only had to slow down but didn't have to stop. A friend of mine confirmed that he had spent at least two to three hours waiting in car queues in Italy few weeks before we travelled.
I assume that this is basically on weekends during high season.

After your vacation you send the transponder back together with the VIAcard, which is a backup solution they provide without extra costs in case there is a problem with the transponder.
It was worth spending the extra money for the transponder. Even if it didn't save us time, we would use it again because it's very convenient.

Here's another link for the Telepass (in English). It's a German company that offers the Telepass transponder. You don't need an Italian bank account: Telepass

It looks like they even send the transponder to the US. On the shipping page you can actually select US as the destination for shipping: Telepass shipping page

Maybe this is an option that works for you.

We used it last year when driving from Germany to Italy through Switzerland (having the device sent to an address in Germany). By the way, you can also order the vignette for Switzerland (and other countries) together with the Telepass device. You don't have to care about buying a vignette or paying tolls while travelling then.

Using the Telepass we had additional costs of about 18 Euros including shipment for having the transponder for three weeks. At first the transponder was not much of a time saver when driving to our destination. The non-Telepass-lanes had only queues of 3 or 4 cars waiting. But on our way back there were very, very long queues of cars.
You can easily lose an hour per toll booth. On Telepass lanes you only had to slow down but didn't have to stop. A friend of mine confirmed that he had spent at least two to three hours waiting in car queues in Italy (going from south to north) few weeks before we travelled.
I assume that this is basically on weekends during high season.

After your vacation you send the transponder back together with the VIAcard, which is a backup solution they provide without extra costs in case there is a problem with the transponder.
It was worth spending the extra money for the transponder. Even if it didn't save us time, we would use it again because it's very convenient.