Vignette rules by vehicle type

Car: the standard category

In all 9 countries, the car is the base category on which most vignette prices are set. This applies to ordinary cars up to 3.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight. If your vehicle is heavier, it no longer falls under the standard vignette but under a separate, distance-based toll system for heavier traffic (for example, the Austrian mileage-based toll or the Slovenian DarsGo system).

Motorcycle: free in some countries, cheaper in others

Rules for motorcycles vary widely. In three of our 9 countries, a motorcycle is fully exempt from the vignette requirement; in the other four you do pay, but usually at a lower rate than for a car.

Country	Rules for motorcycles
Czechia	Exempt: no vignette needed
Slovakia	Exempt: no vignette needed
Bulgaria	Exempt: no vignette needed
Austria	Own, lower rate
Slovenia	Own, lower rate + own validity periods
Hungary	Own, lower rate
Switzerland	Same rate as a car

In Czechia, Slovakia and Bulgaria, the exemption applies to motorcycles (single-track vehicles); the vignette requirement there is limited to vehicles with at least four wheels. In Switzerland, a motorcycle pays exactly the same annual vignette as a car. There is no separate, cheaper motorcycle category.

Motorhome: often a pricier class

For motorhomes, whether you pay the same rate as an ordinary car or fall into a pricier class depends heavily on the country. Two countries apply an explicitly higher motorhome class, based on height or vehicle category:

• Slovenia: cars and motorhomes are classified based on height measured above the front axle. Up to 1.30 metres you fall into the cheaper class 2A; from 1.30 metres you fall into the pricier class 2B, the class most motorhomes and campervans fall under.
• Hungary: motorhomes up to 3.5 tonnes fall, together with cars with more than 7 seats and light commercial vehicles, under vehicle category D2, a pricier class than the standard D1 category for cars.

In Austria, Czechia, Slovakia and Bulgaria, a motorhome up to 3.5 tonnes largely pays the same rate as a car (in Slovakia there is only a small price difference for the 1-day vignette, and in Bulgaria for the weekend vignette). In Switzerland, a motorhome without a trailer pays the same annual vignette as a car. The higher motorhome price you sometimes see there applies to the combination with a separately registered trailer or caravan (see below).

Trailer and caravan: usually included, not in Switzerland

Whether your trailer or caravan needs its own vignette depends on the country, and on whether the trailer has its own number plate:

In most of the other countries on this site, a light trailer without its own number plate is covered under the vignette of the towing vehicle, and no separate vignette is needed. If your trailer or caravan does have its own number plate, check per country if you're unsure whether a separate registration is required. Rules can change, so consult the official source for the country in question for any unusual combination.

Rental or lease car: responsibility lies with the driver

A vignette is linked to a specific number plate, not to a name. If you drive a rental or lease car, in practice you are personally responsible for making sure a valid vignette is registered on that number plate, unless your rental company or leasing company explicitly arranges this for you.

• Rental car: you usually only find out the exact number plate after picking up the keys. Check this plate carefully and only order your vignette once you're certain it matches the registration document of the rental car.
• Lease car: if your lease car changes (and with it the number plate), a vignette on the old plate is not automatically valid for the new car. After a recent change, always check that the number plate on your vignette still matches your current lease car.