Everything you need to know before driving across Europe
Driving in Europe is amazing — but every country has its own rules for tolls, vignettes, and payment systems. Some use stickers, some use digital vignettes, some charge per kilometre, and some have free highways. This guide helps you understand what you need, where to buy it, and how to avoid fines.
QUICK OVERVIEW
I’ve included just the countries I visited myself by a car!
Country
System
What You Need
Austria
Vignette
Digital or sticker
Czech Republic
Vignette
Digital only
Slovenia
Vignette
Digital only
Slovakia
Vignette
Digital only
Hungary
Vignette
Digital only
Switzerland
Vignette
Sticker only
Italy
Toll gates
Pay per km
Germany
Mostly free
Tolls for trucks only
Poland
Mixed
Some toll gates, some apps
Croatia
Toll gates
Pay per km
🇦🇹 AUSTRIA – VIGNETTE REQUIRED
Type: Sticker or digital
Validity: 10 days, 2 months, 1 year
Where to buy: Petrol stations, border shops, online
Where to buy: Online or petrol stations. The operator of hungary-vignette.eu/en is an official reseller partner of the National Mobile Payment Plc. in Hungary for online highway vignettes (e-vignette) sales.
Important: The Swiss motorway vignette cannot be registered retroactively. The Swiss vignette is always valid from December 1 of the previous year until January 31 of the following year. For example, the annual vignette for the year 2026 is valid from December 1, 2025, until January 31, 2027.
Toll charge tunnels: Munt la Schera Tunnel, Great St. Bernard Tunnel
Tip: Plan your long travel, if you can, on a Sunday. On Sunday, big trucks, whose speed on the autostrada is limited, don’t run.
Beware: The maximum speed on an autostrada is 130 km per hour. There are speed traps called autovelox, and recently the fines have increased for speeding. The posted speed may be slower, especially if road work is being done. You must drive with your lights on.
Pay system: Croatia’s motorways currently operate on a toll system. Upon entering the motorway, you obtain a ticket from the machine. When exiting the motorway, you present the ticket to an attendant in the booths and your toll cost is calculated depending on the distance you have driven.
The eleven highways in Croatia are:
A1: Zagreb to Ploce (via Zadar, Split)
A2: Zagreb to Macelj border crossing with Slovenia
A3: Bregana border crossing with Slovenia to Zagreb to Lipovac border crossing with Serbia (via Slavonski Brod, Osijek)
A4: Zagreb to Gorican border crossing with Hungary (via Varazdin)
A5: Beli Manastir border crossing with Hungary to Svilaj border crossing with Bosnia (via Osijek)
A6: Zagreb to Rijeka
A7: Rijeka to Rupa border crossing with Slovenia
A8: Kanfanar (near Rovinj) to Matulj (near Opatija)
A9: Pula to Kastel/Plovanija border crossing with Slovenia
A10: Nova Sela border crossing with Bosnia to Ploce
Tip: Most highways in Poland are free, there’re some part of A1 and A2 that are private, and therefore there’re tolls. The most expensive highway in Poland is between Katowice and Krakow, but you can use other route to avoid toll.
