Gas prices have hit record highs in the center of Italy, according to a story in Fastweb. You might pay up to 2.013 euros per liter for regular unleaded gas, or 7.62 euros per US gallon or $9.54 per gallon.
If you’ve been smart enough to rent or lease a diesel car, the highest prices are to be found in the south, where diesel fuel peaks at 1.85 euros per liter, or 7 euros per US gallon, or $8.77 per gallon. (Diesel fueled cars also get somewhat better milage as well, remember).
Taxes account for more than half of the price of gas in Italy, and additional taxes levied by Mario Monti’s government have pushed pump prices higher.
Italians are driving less due to these higher prices, which means less congestion on the highways, a plus for visitors. In these trying times, one must look on the bright side occasionally. If you like to look on the dark side, you’ll notice that the 2 euro per liter psychological barrier has been broken, so the sky’s the limit until it hits 3.
To figure out how much it will cost you to go from say Rome to another city, Numbeo has a nifty crowd sourced calculator for that, as long as you know the fuel efficiency of your car (and be aware that, unlike the US, European cars are actually road tested for efficiency, so the numbers are much more in line with reality than US numbers, which are derived from computer simulations). Gas Prices in Rome, Italy
You can also find estimated trip prices for Cagliari, although the gasoline price seems low, given the above numbers.