Portugal has no vignette. There is no sticker for the windscreen and nothing to buy before you arrive. What Portugal has is a mix: motorways with barriers where you pay as you leave, motorways with no barriers at all that photograph your number plate, and, since the start of 2025, a large stretch of network that charges nothing whatsoever.
That last part is the piece most guides have not caught up with, and it is worth getting right before you plan a route around a cost that no longer exists.
The system in one paragraph
Barrier motorways: take a ticket or drive to the booth, pay by cash or card on the way out. Barrier-free motorways: a gantry photographs your plate and you settle afterwards, which for a foreign plate means registering it first. And a long list of motorways, including the whole of the A22 in the Algarve, now charges nothing at all.
What Went Free on 1 January 2025
This is law, not a promotion, and it names the roads individually.
Lei n.º 37/2024 of 7 August 2024 eliminated the toll on the following motorways. Article 4 of the same law brought it into force on 1 January 2025.
| Motorway | Concession |
|---|---|
| A4 | Transmontana and the Marão Tunnel |
| A13 and A13-1 | Pinhal Interior |
| A22 | Algarve |
| A23 | Beira Interior |
| A24 | Interior Norte |
| A25 | Beiras Litoral e Alta |
| A28 | Litoral Norte, on the Esposende to Antas and Neiva to Darque stretches only |
The A22 is the one that matters to visitors
The A22 runs the length of the Algarve, and it is the road behind almost every "I got a toll bill months later" story you will find online. Those stories were true. They describe a charge that stopped existing on 1 January 2025.
The gantries are still standing over the road, which is why the confusion persists. Passing under one is not a charge any more.
If you have read a guide telling you to buy a toll device before driving to Faro, check its date. A great deal of English-language advice about Portuguese tolls describes the system as it was two years ago.
What Still Charges
Plenty. The free list above is long, but it is a list, not a general rule.
The traditional barrier motorways, the A1 Lisbon to Porto and A2 Lisbon to the Algarve among them, charge as they always did
Lisbon's two river crossings, the 25 de Abril and Vasco da Gama bridges, charge separately
Some barrier-free electronic roads remain outside the free list, and those still need a registered plate
That third line is the one to take seriously. The barrier-free model did not disappear with the ex-SCUT tolls, it simply stopped applying to those particular roads. Which specific motorways still run barrier-free changes with concession arrangements, so rather than trust a list in a blog post, including this one, check your actual route on the official portal at pttolls.com before you set off.
Why a Foreign Plate Is the Complication
On a barrier motorway, nationality is irrelevant. You stop, you pay, you leave.
On a barrier-free motorway there is nothing to stop at. The system reads the plate and looks up who to bill, and for a Portuguese plate that lookup works. For a foreign plate it does not, unless the plate has been registered against a payment method in advance.
Register the plate before you use a barrier-free road
The scheme aimed at visitors is EASYToll, which links your number plate to a bank card for a limited period, so passages are charged automatically. It can be set up at a welcome point near the border or online. Check the current fee and validity on the official portal rather than on a third-party page, because both have changed.
Or use a transponder
A Via Verde device does the same job with hardware instead of a plate lookup, and it also opens the dedicated lanes at barrier plazas. It suits longer stays and repeat visits more than a one-week holiday.
If the car is hired, ask before you leave the desk
Rental companies usually offer their own toll arrangement, and it usually carries a service fee on top of the tolls. Ask what it costs per day and whether it is already active, because a device sitting in the glovebox unactivated is the most common way a hire car ends up with an unpaid passage.
Does Portugal Have a Vignette?
No, and the distinction is worth holding onto if Portugal is one stop on a longer trip.
A vignette is a period of motorway access at a flat price, sold in advance and displayed or registered to the plate. Portugal has nothing of the kind. Where a Portuguese motorway charges, it charges for the passage you actually made.
The seven motorways above cost nothing to drive, but the speed limits, the alcohol limit and the enforcement apply exactly as they do everywhere else in Portugal. A free motorway is still a motorway.
Nowhere near Portugal. Driving out of Iberia and east, the first country that sells a time-based vignette is Switzerland, and after that Austria, Slovenia, Czechia and Hungary. That is a long way from the Algarve, which is precisely why most Portugal trips need no vignette at all.
If Portugal Is One Leg of a Longer Drive
Most people fly in and hire a car, and for them the story ends with the paragraphs above.
If instead you are driving the length of Europe, Portugal is the far end of it and the charging model changes several times on the way back. Spain charges on some motorways and not others. France charges by distance with no vignette either. Switzerland is the first country that sells a sticker rather than a journey, and it is checked at the border, so the Switzerland vignette has to be sorted before you get there rather than after.
Our vignette and toll hub sets out which European countries charge by time and which by distance, which is the only distinction that actually changes what you have to buy in advance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Portugal have a vignette?
No. There is no windscreen sticker and nothing to buy before arriving. Portuguese motorways either charge per journey or, on a growing part of the network, charge nothing.
Is the A22 in the Algarve still tolled?
No. Lei n.º 37/2024 set its toll to zero from 1 January 2025, along with the A4 Transmontana and Marão Tunnel, the A13 and A13-1, the A23, A24, A25 and parts of the A28. The gantries remain over the road but no longer charge.
Which Portuguese motorways still have tolls?
The traditional barrier motorways, including the A1 between Lisbon and Porto and the A2 towards the Algarve, plus Lisbon's two river bridges. Some barrier-free electronic roads outside the free list also still charge. Check your route on the official portal at pttolls.com.
How do I pay a Portuguese toll with a foreign number plate?
At a barrier, simply pay at the booth with cash or a card. On a barrier-free road there is nothing to stop at, so the plate has to be registered to a payment method in advance, usually through EASYToll or a transponder.
What is EASYToll?
The scheme for visiting vehicles: it links a foreign number plate to a bank card for a limited period so that passages under the gantries are charged automatically. It can be arranged at a welcome point near the border or online. Confirm the current fee and validity on the official portal.
Do I need a toll device for a hire car in Portugal?
Usually the rental company offers one, with a daily service fee on top of the tolls themselves. Ask at the desk what it costs and whether it is already active. An unactivated device is a common cause of unpaid passages.
What happens if I do not pay a Portuguese electronic toll?
The passage stays outstanding and is pursued afterwards, with costs added. Because there is no barrier to stop you, drivers frequently do not realise anything is owed until later, which is why registering the plate first is the only reliable approach on a barrier-free road.
Are the free motorways free for foreign vehicles too?
Yes. The law sets the toll rate itself to zero on those roads, so it applies to every vehicle regardless of where it is registered.
Do I need a vignette after Portugal?
Not in Spain or France, which charge by distance where they charge at all. Switzerland is the first country on an eastward route that sells a time-based vignette, followed by Austria, Slovenia, Czechia and Hungary.
