EUROPEAN TRAVEL VIGNETTES & CLEAN AIR RESTRICTIONS

[Jubilado Tim]

We are heading off in April touring through eight european countries. I have been researching the need for Vignettes, by country to permit driving on Motorways and Express ways. I have established that one Vignette to cover all Europe does not exist and that you have to buy individual ones for each country! Can any members please advise their experiences with Vignettes, do you buy the as you arrive in each country, or before you travel?

Also, with regard to travel in cities with clean air restrictions, do you buy necessary stickers and register as you travel or in advance?
Many thanks for any help on these complex questions, they certainly clip the wings of the carefree campervanner.

 

[sticky1]

I don’t have first hand experience but my son has and bought them at the border crossing, he spent several months driving through some of the countries that need them. He said if you avoid the motorways apparently you don’t need them.
He also said some eastern border crossings can be very thorough with their vehicle checks / paperwork inspections.
I suspect you know about the crit’air sticker for French cities.
Have you looked at Telepass? It’s the French toll road transponder their app allows you to buy the e-vignette via the app and drive through the toll booths without stopping.

 

[mr pg]

We've always pre-purchased our vignettes. Austria, and from memory Switzerland can now be bought as electronic (number plate recognition) versions which don't involve a sticker. This is much better as they're annual and stickers are a pain to remove. You can purchase them from numerous outlest as you enter the country if required. You can also avoid purchasing by not using the respective motorways.
We have a Bipandgo transponder for French, Italian, Portugal and Spain for automatic passing through motorway tolls. It also works for car parks in Italy.
Some French toll roads have already made the switch to number plate recognition so you would need to pay online afterwards (I think), register your number, or use a transponder (there are a few different versions).
The clean air stickers as in France and Germany can be bought for a few pounds from the correct online site (there numerous scam sites) and are permanent so can just be left on your windscreen.

 

[Jubilado Tim]

I don’t have first hand experience but my son has and bought them at the border crossing, he spent several months driving through some of the countries that need them. He said if you avoid the motorways apparently you don’t need them.
He also said some eastern border crossings can be very thorough with their vehicle checks / paperwork inspections.
I suspect you know about the crit’air sticker for French cities.
Have you looked at Telepass? It’s the French toll road transponder their app allows you to buy the e-vignette via the app and drive through the toll booths without stopping.

Many thanks, Sticky, for your reply, most helpful. As always, it would be our intention to avoid Motorways wherever possible (although I have read that it can apply to 'expressways' also).

 

[Jubilado Tim]

We've always pre-purchased our vignettes. Austria, and from memory Switzerland can now be bought as electronic (number plate recognition) versions which don't involve a sticker. This is much better as they're annual and stickers are a pain to remove. You can purchase them from numerous outlest as you enter the country if required. You can also avoid purchasing by not using the respective motorways.
We have a Bipandgo transponder for French, Italian, Portugal and Spain for automatic passing through motorway tolls. It also works for car parks in Italy.
Some French toll roads have already made the switch to number plate recognition so you would need to pay online afterwards (I think), register your number, or use a transponder (there are a few different versions).
The clean air stickers as in France and Germany can be bought for a few pounds from the correct online site (there numerous scam sites) and are permanent so can just be left on your windscreen.

 

[Jubilado Tim]

Many thanks Mr PG for your most helpful reply.

 

[Viktorgeorge]

Le site officiel de la vignette Crit'Air (certificat qualité de l'air) - Ministère de la Transition écologique

Le seul site officiel à délivrer la vignette Crit'Air (certificat qualité de l'air), établie en fonction des émissions polluantes du véhicule.

www.certificat-air.gouv.fr

Online-application environmental zone sticker - Berlin.de

www.berlin.de

https://www.fulli.com/en/tollbadge-highway-toll

https://via.admin.ch/shop/dashboard

Vignette

www.asfinag.at

I like Fulli, as above (France, Spain, Portugal & Italy), but then I have not used any others (BipandGo etc). There can be payment issues from the UK for Fulli, as they don't accept credit cards, but a Revolut bank account with a Euro account therein, leaving sufficient funds for the tolls works, a fine. My Revolut account is used only for Fulli charges , keeping my other banking clear of the SEPA international direct debit system. You can however check alternative banks for SEPA/IBAN eligibility here:

Validate an IBAN

Validate an IBAN and find BIC (SWIFT) and the domestic account number and bank code. With correctness guarantee.

www.ibancalculator.com

We always buy the physical stick-on vignettes at the border for Switzerland and Austria - as my wife likes to see them on the car and it impresses (or possibly irritates) our neighbours. However the physical stickers are being phased out after 2026 in Austria and I think Switzerland could be similar.

Delivery times for motorway vignette badges, France/Germany 'congestion' windscreen stickers and the Fulli electronic toll badge (or competitor I would guess) all took a week or two for me, and from other posts here this seems normal.

 

[Adam8374]

For telepass, I use tollbird. Works great.
For zbe/ztl (eco zones): the FR label costs 5eur and is valid in spain too. Definitely worth getting this one.

 

[Viktorgeorge]

For telepass, I use tollbird. Works great.
For zbe/ztl (eco zones): the FR label costs 5eur and is valid in spain too. Definitely worth getting this one.

At a quick glance Tollbird appears slightly more expensive than Fulli but it it will charge to a credit card, unlike Fulli:

Ohne Warten durch die Mautstation, jetzt Mautbox kaufen | 0€ Aufschlag

Save up to 45 minutes at every toll station in Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and soon Croatia. Order your Tollbird and use the reserved Telepass lane, driving past everyone else. We deliver free of charge within the EU and to the UK. Avoid traffic jams, save time and pay all toll charges...

www.tollbird.com

 

[chockswahay]

You can drive through nearly all of Europe without a Vignette if you stay OFF the motorways or toll roads...... it's more fun and you see more. Yes stickers are needed for clean air zones but thats only if you wish to visit/travel through major cities.

 

[Alied]

If you are going through Slovenia you will also need a vignette which you can buy online from the official website https://evinjeta.dars.si/en.

If you plan to go through Austria you can register your vehicle online to pay the toll charge but you need to register for Digital section toll FLEX https://www.asfinag.at/en/

 

[chockswahay]

If you are going through Slovenia you will also need a vignette which you can buy online from the official website https://evinjeta.dars.si/en .

If you plan to go through Austria you can register your vehicle online to pay the toll charge but you need to register for Digital section toll FLEX https://www.asfinag.at/en/

We spent time in both Austria and Slovenia last September, Vignettes are only required for the motorways

 

[mr pg]

If you're over 3.5t (we're 3.88t in our 680) you need a box, which is why we skipped the motorways.

 

[Kayleigh]

For Spain, I suggest registering with the Barcelona clean air scheme. As part of the registration therw is an option for them to automatically register you for any other clean air zones in Spain, so you only have to do it once.

AMB - ZBE

 

[Adam8374]

For Spain, I suggest registering with the Barcelona clean air scheme. As part of the registration therw is an option for them to automatically register you for any other clean air zones in Spain, so you only have to do it once.

AMB - ZBE

Wow, I had jo idea about that sharing. But are you sure about that? The formulation is not so clear, that it allows you to enter other ZBEs automatically. Are you sure it works this way?

 

[Jude]

We are heading off in April touring through eight european countries. I have been researching the need for Vignettes, by country to permit driving on Motorways and Express ways. I have established that one Vignette to cover all Europe does not exist and that you have to buy individual ones for each country! Can any members please advise their experiences with Vignettes, do you buy the as you arrive in each country, or before you travel?

Also, with regard to travel in cities with clean air restrictions, do you buy necessary stickers and register as you travel or in advance?
Many thanks for any help on these complex questions, they certainly clip the wings of the carefree campervanner.

Use AI to find information eg: Chatgpt. Most countries do without, they have scrapped the idea or you will find a portal online. But do ask AI : do I need vignettes to travel around europe and if so which countries and where do I buy them? Easy peasy.