Europe’s ‘motorways’ are fast roads. Many of them are paid with tolls drawn while you drive. From time to time in Italy or France, you will stop and get a ticket to start your trip on the autostrada or the motorway or pay the tolls accrued by traveling on it. In Germany, the motorway does not have tolls, although a German law was passed threatening to charge foreigners for using the road.
But traveling on these roads in Austria and Switzerland requires a ‘bullet’ or sticker that you stick on your windshield in the appropriate place so authorities can see if you have paid for one.
These stickers record that you have paid the road tax that allows you to drive on the highways. In Austria, tourists can buy a vignette valid for ten days. Currently, this ten-day sticker costs € 9. You can also buy them for a duration of two months (€ 26.20) or one year (€ 87.30).
The sticker is designed so that you cannot peel it off and put it back on. You need to buy a sticker and stick it to the designated place on the back of the bullet, either on the top left of the windshield or in the center below the rear view mirror attachment point on the inside of the windshield. If the top of the windshield is tinted to keep out sunlight, the vignette should be positioned below the tinted area so that it can be seen clearly.
A motorcycle also needs a vignette.
Where do I buy a vignette in Austria?
You can buy a vignette in border countries at petrol stations, tobacco shops (“Tabaktrafik”) and motorway rest stops before arriving in Austria. You can buy one at border crossings if there is a border station, but the safest thing to do if you are outside of Austria is to buy your vignette well in advance of reaching it, at least 10 km from the border. You see, there are traps set up so that when you get on the ramp and cannot turn around, you have gone too far and you will not be allowed to buy a vignette and you will be subject to the fine.
The fine called “special tax” is currently 240 euros. It is paid on the spot, otherwise special procedures occur and the fine increases.
Make sure to get a vignette before entering Austria via the motorway.
Additional tolls in Austria
There are other roads and passes in Austria that require payment of a toll at a toll booth. Many of these are through tunnels, so you will be stopped before the tunnel to pay the toll.
- A9 – Pyhrn Highway: Bosruck Tunnel
- A9 – Pyhrn Highway: Gleinalm Tunnel
- A10 – Tauern Highway: Tauern and Katschberg Tunnels
- A11 – Karawanken Highway: Karawanken Tunnel
- A13 – Brenner Highway: full route
- A13 – Brenner Highway: Stubai exit
- S16 – Arlberg Highway: Arlberg Road Tunnel
