 Poster: A snowHead
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So I drove last year from Friedrichshaven to St Anton, got stopped by the Austrian police for not stopping at a motorway stop thing (I'd never seen one before) and got fined by the unhelpful Austrian policeman, who also dressed me down re the physical state of my driving licence (in fairness, he was right)
I also then got a speeding ticket from the Arlberg tunnel posted back to me about a month later  . Expensive drive that one.
Anyway, I read online that you need to buy some kind of carnet tax thing in order to drive in Austria. This was not a problem when I was stopped last year, but I presume that's because renting a car in Germany prob covered me.
This week I'm renting from Zurich and am thinking that because its not in the EU I won't have the sticker in my car
Does anyone know if Zurich car rentals include the sticker as standard? If not is there any way to buy them on line or in Zurich airport, or anywhere else handy?
Thanks in advance
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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8611, You need to have a vignette to use the motorway in Austria. You can buy one at motorway services as youn approach the border. You can get one online as well but just as easy to get it on the road. Price for 10 days is about 8 euros. A car hired outside of Austria won't have one. Don't foret you'll need a Swiss one as well for motorways in Switzerland
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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€8.30 I think for the Austrian 10-day sticker.
Swiss rental car ought to have the Swiss vignette, but won't have the Austrian one. Rental car co. might sell the Austrian sticker? Worth asking - saves the effort of stopping en route.
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Swiss car will have a Swiss vignette.
Whatever you do DON'T think that just because there is nowhere obvious selling the Austrian vignette before the border that you'll be able to pick one up on the other side. Our 5 minute drive through Austria cost about E90 last year. <insert>
*I don't really mean it, one of my best friends is from Austria.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I can't rate this group highly enough, I have bought both Swiss and Austrian through them. It saves messing around when you get there and you can get the Austrian one exactly for when you need it - nice 10 day window and sent to arrive exactly when you need it https://www.tolltickets.com/
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Thanks everyone, boo to such encumberances by the way
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boo to such encumberances by the way
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I have no problem with toll roads - seems a reasonable way to fund them. Somebody has to pay! The Austrian and Swiss ones are pretty cheap compared to a long drive in France.
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A friend got caught out by this last month. They're about €8 in advance, but the fine for getting caught without (likely) is around €110.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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8611, sorry, but the fact that you need a vignette is quite clearly signposted on all Austrian borders coming from Switzerland and / or Germany. Not sure how you can miss it tbh.
Not many people know this but if travelling along the A14 Rheintalautobahn from Germany through the Pfändertunnel to Switzerland you can get a special vignette for the section up to the border crossing in Hohenems. Cost is €2 one way. They call it the Korridorvignette.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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8611, pity you didn't try that website yesterday, they can be incredibly quick at posting you one. Years ago I used to rely on exchanging Swiss francs with the person at the boarder and they you one in. It probably still works that way.
Last edited by snowHeads are a friendly bunch. on Tue 12-03-13 9:19; edited 1 time in total
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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especially since no-one (apart from ) tells you about it.
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Or the massive signs before you go on to a motorway with a picture of a vignette and the word MAUT underneath in big letters.
Ask at the hire point. If not any petrol station within 50km of the boarder will probably sell them.
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Megamum, how much is the postage?... seems like a really good service!
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You know it makes sense.
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pam w, i am going to guess that th price difference, at leat in part is that everyone in CH and AT have vignettes while French tolls are optional -i.e. There is always a toll free alternative.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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flangesax, I've checked my bank statement the entire cost charged to me for the 10 day Austrian vignette inc. delivery was £8.80 - they even let you say when you want to receive it so you can order in advance, but delay the delivery until closer to your holiday in case you think you might lose it. If you get guests that drive I would have no hesitation in suggesting that you could recommend their service to them. It has been excellent every time I've used them.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Not a big deal to stop at motorways service near the border. Usually about 3-4 hours drive from here to Austria, depending on which way I go, so it makes a handy break anyway. Just buy it for €8.30 in the cafeteria when cashing in the Sanifair voucher for the loos. (edit: that last bit only applicable to those travelling thru Germany.)
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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They call it the Korridorvignette
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they could do with one of those for the Swiss stretch between Bardonnex and Gva airport!
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th price difference, at leat in part is that everyone in CH and AT have vignettes while French tolls are optional -i.e. There is always a toll free alternative.
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yes, I guess so. That requirement is probably what led to the annoyingly short "non-toll" section on the new autoroute round Reims. And the nice long non-toll section south from Calais. I don't really mind the tolls - the French motorway system is usually such a pleasure to drive after battling round the M25! Sometimes gets so boring you welcome seeing a lorry in the distance. I do head off the péage when it makes sense, and invariably go across the Jura route from Poligny if weather is OK. It's more pleasant, significantly cheaper and only a few minutes longer.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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8611, you can pick them up at the border crossings as well - I usually buy my Swiss vignette at the first border crossing I come to. The Austrian border crossings also have booths selling the vignettes as well. This is particularly true where you continue on a motorway, for example at the A8/A1 crossing by Salzburg and the A93/A12 at Kiefersfelden/Kufstein. The signs are massive and unavoidable.
As the others say, a stop at any of the service areas between Munich and the borders for eastern Tirol and Salzburgerland and the service areas and garages between the A96 and the Arlberg routes. When rolling down the A5 into Switzerland, you can also buy the vignette at the service areas as you approach the border, or actually at the border.
But it is more difficult at Basel to sort out which lane takes you to the booths as I found out a couple of years ago. I had my windscreen checked by the customs fellows and they pointed me off to the side, slapped a vignette on the screen as soon as I lowered the window and held out thier hand for the cash. I only had a 50 Euro note, so my change in Swiss Francs was a "rough calculation" I suppose because I worked out I paid 40 Euro that time! I now buy my vignettes over a "second-hand" exchange that is operated on the German side. A friend who lives down that way got one for me last summer for 10 Euro! Illegal but hey ho, I happily stick the vignette on my windscreen for that price, especially as I only use the Swiss motorways as a transit route to France 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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pam w, I usually drive through the Jura if visiting Besancon clients although nearly got caught out in the first snows in December - only winter tyre or chain equipped 4x4 cars being let through. Oh and locals lorries and vans of course 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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only winter tyre or chain equipped 4x4 cars being let through
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where was that checkpoint? I don't go near Besancon - more or less a straight line from Gva up to Poligny, and thence onto the motorway again. I did once drive over northbound in a bit of snow, as it was a beautiful sunny day and it seemed a shame to just sit on the péage. I wouldn't have done it without winter tyres, but with just a bit of fresh snow and good vis it wasn't a problem.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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We got done for no Austrian vignette heading from Munich to Mayrhofen. Although I knew it was needed I forgot all about it when we picked up the hire car. I think I assumed that the hirer/driver knew and had sorted it. I was asleep in the back of the car when it was stopped. The driver and front passenger claimed not to have noticed a motorway service station near the border. The copper was quite pleasant about the whole affair and stung the driver for 120euro. Cost 8.30 euro for the ticket to come back to Munich.
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In fairness to those have got done and claimed innocence. I only knew about the Austrian Vignette because I was familiar with Switzerland thought to check before I went. I knew about the Swiss ones because I have Swiss friends.
In terms of spotting the motorway signs for the Austrian ones they are not in English, and to be honest, I have only realised what they were about because I knew about the Austrian vignette. I have been into the service stations and seen the machines, but to be honest unless I actually went up to one and started looking around they could easily be vending machines for err....other things! from a distance. Had I been an English driver entering Austria for the first time with no prior knowledge I could easily get to the passport control without one, and even if I was looking for one as someone with no German or Austrian it wouldn't even occur to me that they were the sort of thing you could get from a vending machine.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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If you think a vignette is bad then be thankful you're not driving something weighing 3.5 tonnes or over. In this case you have to buy a GO Box which is a GPS tracker that talks to gantries on the autobahns. You then get charged by the kilometre (20 cents per km in my case):
http://www.go-maut.at/
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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andy, well I've always assumed that is what the vending machines sell though I've never checked, perhaps they do sell something else. All I know is that I'm always glad to have mine ready before I need to worry about finding out how to obtain one when I get there. If I buy it from the website I can sort out the whole thing in English too
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I think the only reasonable thing to do is for someone on the thread who is familiar with the situation to come and pick me up in a car with the vignette and drive me to the Arlberg.
Least that way I wouldn't end up in Liechenstein like I did the last time. Anyone familiar with the route remember how to make that crucial turn I missed?
Anyone know how to boil an egg, tie my shoelaces, etc etc?
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Had I been an English driver entering Austria for the first time with no prior knowledge I could easily get to the passport control without one, and even if I was looking for one as someone with no German or Austrian it wouldn't even occur to me that they were the sort of thing you could get from a vending machine.
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Had you been an English driver entering Austria with no prior knowledge you'd have been an idiot, frankly. It is the responsibility of any driver heading abroad to educate themselves as to the relevant laws of that land. There is an enormous amount of information available on the internet - from the AA, for example. For someone who speaks absolutely none of the relevant language, some preparatory reading is even more important. Of course Austrian signs are just in German!! Anyone planning to head to Austria for lots of holidays really could learn a bit of basic German - the BBC "Get By In...." series is excellent. Apart from anything else it makes things a lot more friendly and interesting, especially as (IME) Germans and Austrians are extravagantly complimentary if you try.
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You know it makes sense.
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oops.. I blinked...
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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The average Englishman/woman (who has done no research) would see the word "Toll" and assume you can just shove some euros into a machine.
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Poster: A snowHead
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you can find the swiss ones on ebay sometimes
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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flangesax, Nope I don't recall seeing that one (though I guess I drove past it), but maggi, is correct, most UK tolls can be paid by handing over cash at a booth esp. as we do have things like the dart tag which looks like the RH piccy and use something similar in France - or stick cash or credit cards in their machines. I have only encountered the windscreen stickers in Switzerland and Austria. Without prior knowledge the word Vignette would be a bit of a puzzle to me as I would see it as a photographic term - it wouldn't scream 'it's something you stick in a windscreen'.
I must admit I was quite surprised years ago when I discovered that I had to put this sticky thing in my windscreen to drive in Switzerland. In fact I was bit afronted the first time the border person reached into my car and stuck it to my windscreen. I had been expecting something like a tax disk not this immovable sticky thing, and they managed to stick it at an angle rather than neat and tidily upright and I couldn't change it. I am not keen on doing possibly permanant things to my car and at the time I had no idea how easy it would be remove.
FWIW I obviously fall into the idiot camp and have done all my life - I don't do a crash course in road signs and laws for every country I drive in - I tend to work them out as I drive along. I would hazard a guess that in doing so I am one of many. I also don't do a crash course in every language I am likely to encounter either. I am currently up to around 18 foreign lands visited, most with unique languages. In total I can get by in French, and have enough German to be polite. The rest I rely on pointing and laughter, and a sheet containing the polite terms for the journey out there.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Had you been an English driver entering Austria with no prior knowledge you'd have been an idiot, frankly. It is the responsibility of any driver heading abroad to educate themselves as to the relevant laws of that land. There is an enormous amount of information available on the internet - from the AA, for example. For someone who speaks absolutely none of the relevant language, some preparatory reading is even more important.
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+1 to this!
Just google 'driving in Austria' and the first result tells you all about the Vignette system.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I'm with Megamum, at least because it makes me feel slightly more justified in my ignorance. I have reasonable german, but it doesn't extend to maut. Also I'd presume, from every single toll experience previous, that a requirement to pay a toll involves passing through a toll booth.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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If you have no problem opening 100.000 threads about "what to take with me to ski holidays" I really don't think "I didn't know about vignette" is excuse. But if someone think it will be cheaper trying this excuse with Asfinag "cop" then feel free to do it. But please don't cry here, when he will laugh at you and charge you few 100eur for this.
PS: Do you have signs in England in French, German or even Slovene, since I don't understand English and I have no idea what those English signs mean. No? So why do you expect Germans would have them then in English? Just because you don't speak German?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| flangesax wrote: |
| Quote: |
Had you been an English driver entering Austria with no prior knowledge you'd have been an idiot, frankly. It is the responsibility of any driver heading abroad to educate themselves as to the relevant laws of that land. There is an enormous amount of information available on the internet - from the AA, for example. For someone who speaks absolutely none of the relevant language, some preparatory reading is even more important.
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+1 to this!
Just google 'driving in Austria' and the first result tells you all about the Vignette system. |
+2 take some responsibility.
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If people are getting confused at signs that say "toll" with a picture of a sticker rather than the sign for a tollbooth, and a picture of a Go Box (which they almost certainly know they don't have), then Slovenia will certainly confuse them!
Tollbooths where the fast lane is always open an unmanned for cars+bikes with a vignette to pass straight thru (at 40kph?), and the other booths for trucks etc. which presumably pay per use? Seemed strange having toll booths like France, but then a vignette system like several other countries. Maybe this has changed now? Not been there for 2-3 years.
Can see the point of such tolls in those countries and in the case of Germany, tolls for HGVs only. Huge amounts of foreign through traffic, to the extent that almost every single truck you'll see on the autobahn is Czech, Slovakian, Lithuanian, Turkish, ...
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andy, it is confusing, but there's some sort of excuse for this. Until recently (about 5 years I think but lost count), we had same system as Italy or France had. Then they changed it, and for cars we have now vignette system, while for trucks it's still old pay when you cross booth system (they are in progress to switch to satelitte system for truck in next X years). And until now, noone managed to remove those booths. They finally started to remove them, last autumn, but it's not done yet completely, and even when it will be done, it's done stupid, so there's still 60km/h speed limit through that part (but please don't get me started on this, since I'm driving by one of such places every day at least twice... and I guess I don't need to mention they put stationary radar there just to annoy people when they need to drive 60km/h on middle of highway)
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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knowing about the vignette doesn't stop your wife driving at 50mph past the border turn off to buy one with me frantically saying pull over, pull over 
Fortunately the nice police person let us off the fine as we took the next exit to try and go back to buy one!
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FAQ
