Vignette or toll gate: what applies in which country?

Travel through several European countries and you'll quickly run into different ways of paying tolls. That's the source of a lot of confusion: a vignette you bought in one country is often completely useless in the next, not because it doesn't work, but because that country has no vignette system at all.

Two different systems, not interchangeable

Broadly speaking, Europe has two ways of having drivers contribute to motorway upkeep:

• Vignette (time-based): you pay a fixed amount up front for a set period (a day, a week, a month or a year) and drive unlimited distances on the vignette-required road network within that period, regardless of the number of kilometres.
• Toll gate (distance-based): you pay per trip, based on the actual distance travelled. This happens either via a barrier toll gate where you take a ticket and settle up later, or increasingly via cameras that automatically register your number plate ("flux libre" / free-flow tolling).

A vignette for one system has no value at all in a country that uses toll gates, and vice versa. They are two completely separate systems that happen to serve the same purpose.

France, Italy, Spain and Portugal: toll gates (péage)

In these four countries you do not buy a vignette. In French this system is called "péage", in Italian "pedaggio" and in Spanish "peaje". In every case, it's a toll road where you pay in proportion to the distance you travel.

On a classic péage road you drive into a toll gate, take a ticket (or have it registered automatically), and settle up when you leave the toll road based on the route travelled. More and more French routes now work with "péage en flux libre": cameras read your number plate as you drive through, with no barrier, and you settle up afterwards: automatically via a toll badge, or manually online if you don't have one.

For these four countries, then, there's no point looking for a vignette. It simply doesn't exist. Use a toll badge instead, or pay per route.

Germany: no toll for cars

On the German Autobahn, cars and motorcycles drive completely free of charge. Germany has neither a vignette nor a toll gate for these vehicles. An earlier plan for a German "Pkw-Maut" (car vignette) was ruled invalid by the European Court of Justice in 2019 and was never introduced.

For freight traffic it's a different story: Germany levies a distance-based toll for vehicles over 3.5 tonnes via the LKW-Maut system, extended since July 2024 to all vehicles from that threshold (previously from 7.5 tonnes). For an ordinary car, motorcycle or motorhome up to 3.5 tonnes, this is not relevant.

The 9 countries we sell: all vignette countries

Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia, Hungary, Czechia, Slovakia and Bulgaria all work with a vignette system. With us, that vignette is digital and linked to your number plate. In none of these 9 countries will you encounter physical barrier toll gates for cars, motorcycles or motorhomes up to 3.5 tonnes; you buy a vignette up front for the period you need and then drive freely.

Overview: which system applies where

Country	System
Austria	Vignette
Switzerland	Vignette
Slovenia	Vignette
Hungary	Vignette
Czechia	Vignette
Slovakia	Vignette
Bulgaria	Vignette
France	Toll gate (péage)
Italy	Toll gate (pedaggio)
Spain	Toll gate (peaje)
Portugal	Toll gate + electronic toll
Croatia	Toll gate
Greece	Toll gate
Germany	No toll (cars)

This overview focuses on cars, motorcycles and motorhomes up to 3.5 tonnes. Freight traffic is subject to separate, distance-based toll systems in almost every country.

Travelling through several countries? Expect a mix

Drive, for example, from the Netherlands to Croatia and along the way you'll pass through both vignette countries (Austria and/or Slovenia) and a toll-gate country (Croatia). Your Austrian or Slovenian vignette is not valid in Croatia, and conversely you won't need a vignette in Croatia but you will need cash or a toll badge for the road. Plan your route in advance and make sure you know which system applies in every country along the way. That way, you avoid a fine for a missed vignette requirement, or unnecessary spending on a vignette you didn't need.