Driving to the Alps: Tolls, Vignettes and Winter-Tyre Rules (Austria, Switzerland, Germany)

Austria charges a vignette to use its motorways and expressways. For a ski week you almost always want the 10-day version. Prices for 2026 (car up to 3.5 t):

• 10-day vignette: 12,80 €. The sensible choice for a single ski trip.
• 2-month vignette: 32,00 €. Worth it if you are making two or more trips in a season.
• Annual vignette: 106,80 €.

One real trap: buy the digital annual or 2-month vignette online or in the app and, by EU consumer law, it is only valid from the 18th day after purchase. The 10-day digital vignette is valid immediately and you can pick the start date, so for a ski trip it is the easy option. Need an annual one this week? Buy it at a petrol station or kiosk near the border instead. Official source: ASFINAG.

This is where families get caught out. Several of the most useful alpine routes are special tolls on top of the vignette, paid per trip at a booth or online. If your route uses one, budget for it separately. Approximate 2026 one-way car prices:

• Brenner motorway (A13), toward Italy/South Tyrol: about 12,50 €.
• Tauern motorway (A10), the Salzburg-Carinthia corridor: about 15,00 € for the full Tauern plus Katschberg run.
• Arlberg road tunnel (S16): about 13 €. The free alternative is the Arlberg Pass over the top, fine in good weather, slow and snowy in a storm.
• Felbertauern tunnel (toward East Tyrol): about 13,50 €.
• Grossglockner High Alpine Road: about 46,50 €, but it is a summer scenic road, usually closed in winter, so not a ski-season concern.

Pro tip: you can often buy these online in advance through the ASFINAG shop and skip the cash lane at the booth. Confirm the exact toll for your route before you go.

Switzerland keeps it simple. There is one product: the annual motorway vignette at 40 CHF. No 10-day option exists, so even a single weekend on Swiss motorways costs you the full 40 francs.

• Validity is generous: the 2026 vignette runs 1 December 2025 to 31 January 2027, fourteen months, so a sticker bought for this winter also covers next December.
• Sticker or e-vignette: both cost 40 CHF. The e-vignette is tied to your number plate and is valid the moment you buy it, which beats the Austrian 18-day rule. Buy it via the official BAZG Via portal.
• Driving past Switzerland? If your route to a French or Austrian resort only clips a corner of Swiss motorway, plan a non-motorway crossing or accept the 40 CHF. There is no cheaper short option.

Good news for the drive south: Germany charges cars nothing. No vignette, no motorway toll, you simply drive. The planned car toll was struck down by the European Court of Justice in 2019 and never came back.

The catch is tyres. Germany has a situational winter-tyre rule (paragraph 2 of the road traffic code): whenever the road is icy, snowy or slushy, you may only drive on suitable winter tyres, marked with the Alpine symbol (a mountain with a snowflake). Old M+S-only tyres no longer count. There are no calendar dates; it depends entirely on conditions, which in the pre-alpine south in January means: have proper winter tyres on. Driving on summer tyres in snow risks a 60 € fine, a point on your record, and your insurer reducing a claim.

Tyre rules tighten as you head into the mountains. Carry chains if your route climbs to a resort, and know the local rule for each country you cross:

• Austria: situational duty from 1 November to 15 April. Winter tyres only when conditions are wintry, with at least 4 mm tread (radial). Chains are an alternative only on a road that is more or less fully snow-covered, so think of them as a backup for pass roads, not a substitute for tyres.
• South Tyrol (Italy): stricter. From 15 November to 15 April you need winter tyres OR chains on board, and on the A22 Brenner motorway and in Bolzano the winter-equipment rule applies regardless of weather. Fines run up to 345 €. If you are skiing the Dolomites, just fit winter tyres and pack chains.
• Switzerland: no fixed-date law, but if you cause an obstruction without suitable tyres you are liable, and individual pass roads can post a chains-required sign in heavy snow. Winter tyres are effectively expected in the mountains.
• Rental cars: never assume. Ask specifically for winter tyres and chains, and check they are actually in the boot before you leave the depot.

The single biggest driving-day mistake is travelling on a Saturday in the middle of the school holidays. Saturday is the resort changeover day across the Alps, when one week of guests leaves and the next arrives, so the same roads fill in both directions. The Brenner (A13), the Tauern (A10) and the Fernpass (B179) are the classic choke points.

• Best move: arrive on a Friday or a Sunday rather than a Saturday if your booking allows it, and you skip most of the changeover crush.
• If it has to be Saturday: leave very early (on the road before 6 a.m.) or late afternoon, and avoid the late-morning peak when everyone sets off after breakfast.
• Watch the holiday calendars: the worst weekends are when several German states (and the Dutch) are off at once. A week that is quiet for your region can be chaos because three other regions are travelling.
• Going home: Sunday afternoon is the return-traffic peak. Either leave Sunday morning or wait and drive Monday.