Vignettes and toll roads: Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Poland, Slovakia

Five neighbouring countries charge for road use in five different ways, and carrying a habit from one country into the next is the most common mistake on a cross-border route. Here’s where you need a vignette, where tolls are charged by actual distance travelled, and where a passenger car pays nothing at all.

In short. The Czech Republic and Slovakia use an electronic vignette tied to the car’s licence plate. Austria combines a vignette with a separate charge on five specific tunnels and passes. Germany charges passenger cars nothing. Poland splits car and truck traffic: state motorways are free, and some private stretches have a barrier.

Who pays what

Czech Republic: the vignette is a register entry

Since 1 January 2021, the Czech vignette exists only as an electronic entry tied to the car’s registration number (SPZ) — there’s no windscreen sticker anymore. You can buy one for 1, 10, or 30 days, or a year, up to 30 days in advance, with activation deferrable by up to a further 30 days.

The key point for a rental car: the vignette is tied to a specific car, not to the driver or the trip. The operator’s own official FAQ directly addresses whether a vignette can be transferred to another car when the old one is sold — and the answer is no. If the driver switches to a different car during the trip (a warranty replacement, a breakdown, different cars used by the same family), the new car has no cover and needs its own vignette.

Changing the registration plate on the same car is a different situation: the system natively supports updating it through the register, or via a separate notification if automatic matching isn’t possible. The two shouldn’t be confused: transferring cover to a different car isn’t supported at all, while changing the plate on the same car is a routine procedure.

An electronic vignette for a car with foreign plates can be bought on the official portal, at post office branches, at several petrol station chains, and at self-service terminals — the system is built for foreign drivers too. The fine for not having a valid vignette runs up to 20,000 crowns; for falsely claiming a discounted status, up to 100,000 crowns.

The rest of the traffic rules — speed, alcohol, equipment — have nothing to do with vignettes and are covered separately in the article on Czech traffic rules.

Germany: nothing needed for a passenger car

The German model is the exact opposite of the Czech one. An attempt to introduce a toll for passenger cars (Infrastrukturabgabe) was ruled unlawful by the Court of Justice of the EU in 2019 and never came into force. Today there’s no vignette, no toll, and no other charge for passenger cars on the Autobahn — there’s nothing to buy before a trip to Germany.

A separate system, Lkw-Maut, does exist, but it applies exclusively to commercial vehicles with a technically permissible gross weight over 3.5 tonnes, and works not as a time-based pass but as a per-section charge based on actual distance travelled, tracked via an onboard satellite unit. It has nothing to do with renting a passenger car.

Austria: a vignette plus five separate stretches

The Austrian vignette (sticker or digital, tied to the plate) is sold for 1 and 10 days, 2 months, and a year; the 2026 annual vignette runs from 1 December 2025 to 31 January 2027. It can be bought at ASFINAG outlets, petrol stations, tobacco kiosks, motoring clubs, or online — the requirement is the same for every car regardless of country of registration.

An important caveat: the vignette doesn’t cover five specific tunnel and pass stretches — Pyhrn (A9), Tauern (A10), Karawanken Tunnel (A11), Brenner (A13), and Arlberg (S16). A separate electronic per-section charge, Streckenmaut, applies there on top of the ordinary vignette. A driver with a valid annual or ten-day vignette who assumes “everything is paid for” risks a claim on exactly these stretches.

The immediate substitute toll for driving without a vignette is €200 for a passenger car; if unpaid within four weeks, administrative proceedings follow with a fine of €300 to €3,000. The substitute toll is charged on the spot — when passing a control point without a valid vignette — and it’s a separate procedure from the later administrative fine, not two names for the same thing.

Poland: no vignette at all

The state electronic system e-TOLL applies only to trucks and buses over 3.5 tonnes — it doesn’t touch passenger cars at all. Since July 2023, passenger cars have driven the state motorway network (GDDKiA) for free.

Separately from this, several private concession stretches exist — part of the A1, part of the A2, part of the A4 — where a passenger car pays at an ordinary barrier, in cash or by card, for a specific section. That’s a classic toll motorway, not a nationwide system, and it has nothing to do with e-TOLL. Even Poles themselves often confuse these two independent layers: the state system for commercial traffic, and private toll stretches for everyone.

The practical takeaway for a driver: before a trip through Poland, don’t look at the general rule of “is the motorway tolled or not” — look at the specific stretch of the specific route. The status changes section by section, and the same road number can be free for part of its length and run through a private operator’s barrier for the rest.

Slovakia: closest to the Czech model

The Slovak e-známka works the same way as the Czech vignette — an electronic entry tied to the plate, no physical sticker, for vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes. The durations are the same: 1, 10, 30, or 365 days. The only official sales channel is the eznamka.sk portal and its associated apps and retail network; the requirement doesn’t depend on the car’s country of registration.

The fine for not having a vignette is €100 to €500 for the driver in standard proceedings, or €50 to €200 on the spot under the simplified procedure; the car’s owner separately faces an administrative penalty order of €150, reduced to €100 if paid within 15 days.

For a rental car with Czech plates, this means the Slovak vignette is bought separately from the Czech one and is entirely unconnected to it — a shared registration number doesn’t carry cover across from one national system to another, even though both systems are built the same way.

How to buy a vignette in advance

For a rental car, buying in advance is more convenient than doing it at the border: the Czech and Slovak vignettes can both be arranged on the official portal before the trip, using the registration number, with activation immediate or deferred. The Austrian vignette is also sold in advance, through the official ASFINAG shop and app, but watch the start date more closely there — a digital vignette doesn’t become valid the instant you pay, but after a set delay, built in specifically to rule out buying “just in time” during a roadside check.

It’s also worth remembering the difference between changing the registration plate on the same car and swapping to a different car. The first is natively supported by the system through the register or a separate notification; the second isn’t supported at all, either in the Czech Republic or in Slovakia.

Common misconceptions

“The Czech vignette is just on your phone now, but otherwise the same as before.” Not quite. It used to be a physical sticker on a specific car — enforcement was done by checking the sticker. Now it’s a register entry tied to the plate, checked automatically by cameras, and it doesn’t carry over to a different car within the same trip.

“Germany must have some kind of sticker too.” No: for a passenger car, no toll system exists in Germany at all — there’s nothing to buy.

“Poland’s e-TOLL is the equivalent of the Czech vignette.” No: e-TOLL is built for commercial traffic. For a passenger car, whether you pay is decided separately for each specific stretch of the route — free in some places, a barrier in others.

“The Austrian vignette covers everything.” It doesn’t cover five separate tunnel and pass stretches — Streckenmaut applies there on top of the ordinary vignette.

What changes, and how to check

Vignette prices in every country listed here are reviewed annually, and the boundaries of individual toll zones and the rules for specific vehicle categories can change faster than that. Before a trip, check the official portal of the country you’re entering — edalnice.gov.cz for the Czech Republic, oesterreich.gv.at for Austria, eznamka.sk for Slovakia, gov.pl for Poland — rather than going by figures from a year-old article.

If a trip crosses several countries at once, the difference between the systems is most noticeable on a route where a vignette is needed in one country and not in the next; for specific routes and current models, see the catalogue section. Differences in the traffic rules themselves (as opposed to road charges) among the same neighbours, and the paperwork needed to take a rental car across a border, are covered elsewhere — for current models and terms, check the catalogue.

For long cross-border routes, where part of the journey runs through the toll networks of several countries at once, a comfortable car for long stretches is usually the choice — for example, the Mercedes-Benz S 350 d or the Audi A5. Current terms are on the model pages and in the catalogue section.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a vignette to drive through Germany? No. For a passenger car, Germany has neither a vignette nor any other Autobahn toll — that system applies only to commercial vehicles over 3.5 tonnes.

Can I use my Czech vignette on a different car if I switch cars mid-trip? No. The vignette is tied to a specific car’s registration number and doesn’t carry over to another car, even within the same trip.

Does the Austrian vignette cover every toll stretch in the country? No. Five separate tunnel and pass stretches — Brenner, Tauern, Pyhrn, Karawanken Tunnel, Arlberg — are charged separately through Streckenmaut, on top of the ordinary vignette.

Does a passenger car have to pay on Polish motorways? Not on the state GDDKiA network — since July 2023 passenger cars drive it for free. Several private concession stretches still charge at an ordinary barrier.

What is Poland’s e-TOLL, and does it affect a tourist in a rental car? It’s the state electronic system for trucks and buses over 3.5 tonnes. It doesn’t affect passenger cars.

How do I buy a Slovak vignette for a car with Czech plates? Through the official eznamka.sk portal or its associated apps and retail points — the requirement and purchase process are the same regardless of the car’s country of registration.

What happens if I drive a Czech motorway without a vignette? A fine of up to 20,000 crowns for not having a valid vignette.

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