Vignettes and tolls: a country-by-country primer

European motorways are paid for in three main ways: distance-based tolls at barriers or gantries, time-based vignettes that cover a whole network for a period, and electronic systems that read your number plate. Many countries combine two of them, add separate fees for certain tunnels, bridges and mountain roads, and change the rules for vehicles over 3.5 tonnes. Knowing which applies where saves both money and fines.

Distance-based tolls

France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Croatia, Greece and parts of Poland charge by distance on most motorways, usually with a ticket at the entrance and payment by card or cash at the exit. Prices depend on the vehicle class, which for motorhomes is set by height and number of axles, so a tall van can pay more than a car on the same road. Spain has made several former toll motorways free in recent years. Portugal has some electronic-only toll roads where you must register your plate or use a transponder before you drive them.

Vignettes

Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria use vignettes for cars and light motorhomes. Most are now digital and linked to your number plate, and several are available for short periods such as ten days or a month; Switzerland sells only a yearly vignette, as a sticker or digitally. Buy them only from the official websites or at border points of sale before you join the motorway; resellers charge extra, and driving without a valid vignette is fined on the spot or by camera.

Free motorways and special tolls

Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden and Finland charge no motorway toll for cars and motorhomes, although Germany and others have tolls for heavy goods vehicles that do not apply to private motorhomes. Watch for separate charges almost everywhere: Alpine tunnels such as the Mont Blanc, Fréjus, Great St Bernard and several Austrian road tunnels, the Øresund and Great Belt bridges in Scandinavia, many Norwegian roads and ferries with plate-based tolls, and city congestion charges. Norway lets foreign drivers register their plate online to be invoiced.

Heavier motorhomes

Above 3.5 tonnes maximum authorised mass the rules change. In Austria a GO-Box on the windscreen is required for distance-based tolls instead of the vignette. Switzerland charges a flat heavy-vehicle fee instead of the vignette. Slovenia, Hungary, Czechia, Slovakia and Poland use electronic distance tolls with an on-board unit or registration. Speed limits and some road bans can be lower too. The figure that counts is the maximum authorised mass on your registration document, not what the vehicle actually weighs.

Plan the costs

Toll costs on a long trip through France or Italy can rival the fuel bill, while a route through Germany and Austria may cost only a vignette. Sometimes a slower national road saves a lot and is more beautiful. CampingSpirit shows for each country on your route whether it uses tolls, vignettes or neither, in the Details tab of the planner. Prices and systems change, so confirm on the official operator's site before you go, and keep receipts until the trip is over.