Vignettes

The Vignette system is different from road tolls which are based on distance travelled. Vignettes are required for driving along certain roads, like motorways, in the following European countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Austria.
Of these the most commonly used are the routes to the south through Switzerland and Austria.

You can buy a vignette in advance or at certain locations. In Switzerland f.i. you can buy the motorway vignette at filling stations, post offices, and at customs posts at the border. You can also get it online from the Swiss Post website.

Switzerland has a fixed fee valid from Jan 1st to Jan 31st the following year – if you spend every day or 1 day on Swiss motorways, then you pay the same, ie: 42SFR/€45. In return for that you can expect plenty of roadworks and serious delays in busy periods….. You have to stick the sticker in the windscreen on the right hand side. Apparently, a digital version is coming soon.

Austria has a more balanced system with a 10 day rate (€9.90), a 2 monthly (€29), and annual rate €96.40. You can also buy a digital vignette which avoids having a sticker in the window, but need to buy this 18 days prior to travel due to consumer rights legislation.
Slovenia, another key “artery” country has diverse rate, albeit less attractive than Austria.

The rates for cars and caravans is weekly €16, monthly €32, and annual €117.50. However, most campers are higher than 1M30 over the front axle and hence will pay €32 weekly, €64 monthly, and €235 annually. We think many campers will look to avoid motorways.
The Hungarian vignette is 8,000 HFr/€21 weekly, 12,600HFr/€32 monthly.
In Greece you can get a free e-pass (similar to Bip & Go) for Greek motorways.
Italy, France, Portugal and Spain – big sources of traffic, are in the Bip & Go system. France is quite expensive and the rate for vehicles over 2 metres high (most campers) is 50% more than under. Having said that, the roads are usually excellent with limited roadworks. Bip & Go is the French source, you can also get the same through the Italian Telepass, but is slightly more expensive. Bip & Go can also be used in various car parks.
The badge, or transponder, is a vital piece of equipment; apart from saving time at toll booths, and faffing around with payments, they also ensure you register and pay on autoroutes that do not have toll booths but do require payment. These are becoming more and more frequent in France, and may become the norm or even exclusive in future years. This saves you having to go online to make payments and check if you need to. Most autoroutes will advise drivers, but this will not necessarily etch itself in the driver’s memory to paylatey, and a decisive fine will follow.

Note: mentioned prices are subject to change.