Also available in: Deutsch

Motorhome tolls over 3.5 tonnes in Europe (2026)

By Rovee · Reviewed and updated 2026-07-10

Two systems, one threshold

Below 3.5 tonnes you buy a normal e-vignette. Above 3.5 tonnes you either pay distance-based via an on-board unit (Austria, Slovenia, Czechia) or a flat heavy-vehicle charge (Switzerland). Hungary used to be distance-based and switched back to e-vignette in January 2026.

What it costs you

Distance-based systems range from roughly €0.20 to €0.65 per kilometre depending on country, axles, and Euro class. Switzerland's PSVA is a lump-sum annual charge calibrated to weight. Brenner section toll adds €11–€16 on top in Austria. Fines for non-compliance start around €120, and in Switzerland an unpaid heavy-vehicle charge means the charge plus a penalty on top — confirm the current figure with the operator.

Order before you cross

OBUs and lump-sum permits cannot be reliably bought at the border on a weekend. Order online from the official portal — ASFINAG (Austria), DarsGo (Slovenia), MYTO CZ (Czechia), or BAZG (Switzerland) — or pick one up at a major service station before you leave the previous country.

The standard motorhome vignette guide ends at 3.5 tonnes. Above that, every country in the Central European vignette belt switches you to a different payment system, none of them the same as the next. This is what changes when your PTAC ticks over 3,500 kg, country by country, for the 2026 driving season. Rovee tells you which system applies in the next country on your route and warns you when your on-board unit stops being useful at the border.

The two-system model

Most European vignette systems were originally designed for cars: a flat sticker (paper or digital), valid for a period (10 days, two months, a year), bought once at the border and forgotten about. The car logic stops working when you ask the same system to handle a 5-tonne motorhome that does the same kilometres as a freight truck.

Every country in the Central European vignette belt has resolved this tension in a slightly different way. Three (Austria, Slovenia, Czechia) treat heavy motorhomes the same as freight: distance-based per-km toll with an on-board unit, identical hardware to what hauliers run. Switzerland goes the opposite way: a flat lump-sum charge (PSVA) calibrated to weight, with no per-km charge above 3.5T for non-commercial leisure vehicles. Hungary, until December 2025, was on the distance-based side. From January 2026 it is back on the vignette side, with the heavy-vehicle tariff layered onto the standard e-vignette purchase.

Austria: GO-Box

The GO toll system (ASFINAG) applies to every vehicle above 3.5 tonnes on the Austrian motorway and expressway network. You buy a GO-Box (the on-board unit) at any major ASFINAG distribution point (border-area service stations, Verkehrsamt offices, freight terminals) for a one-off deposit, then pre-pay or post-pay the per-kilometre toll. Rates are calculated per axle (2-axle motorhome is the cheapest tier) and adjusted by Euro emission class and, since 2024, CO₂ emission class.

The Brenner motorway is the most-asked-about section. The A13 between Innsbruck and the Italian border has its own additional section toll on top of the per-km GO charge, with separate day-rate and night-rate (22h to 5h) tariffs. From 1 January 2026, the Brenner section toll increased by approximately 3.5%. There is no way around the section toll if you take the A13; the alternative is the B182 Brenner Pass road, which is free but is closed to vehicles above 7.5 tonnes (so most heavy motorhomes can still take it).

Switzerland: PSVA

Switzerland does not use a vignette for vehicles above 3.5 tonnes. Above that threshold, two systems apply depending on use case. LSVA (Leistungsabhängige Schwerverkehrsabgabe, performance-related heavy vehicle charge) applies to goods-transport vehicles and is calculated per kilometre driven, weight, and emission class. PSVA (Pauschale Schwerverkehrsabgabe, lump-sum heavy vehicle charge) applies to non-commercial heavy vehicles, including most leisure motorhomes above 3.5 tonnes, and is a flat annual fee.

The PSVA is what you want if your motorhome is above 3.5 tonnes and you are not transporting goods commercially. The annual tariff is calibrated to your total vehicle weight (some sources give roughly CHF 650 to CHF 3,250 per year depending on class; verify the current rate with the Swiss Federal Office for Customs at bazg.admin.ch). You can also buy short-term PSVA permits for occasional transits, which is the common choice for foreign-registered motorhomes that cross Switzerland a few times a year. There is no vignette to display; enforcement is camera-based and weighbridge-based at the border.

Slovenia: DarsGo

Slovenia switched its standard vignette system to a digital e-vignette in 2022, but the change only applies up to 3.5 tonnes. Above 3.5 tonnes you are on the DarsGo electronic toll system, which is per-kilometre, distance-based, and requires a DarsGo transponder on the windscreen. The transponder is available at DARS user points at major border posts, ÖAMTC-equivalent service centres, and online at darsgo.si.

The Slovenian system is one of the simpler ones to understand: rate per kilometre depends on the number of axles (2-axle is the standard motorhome tier) and the Euro emission class. The transponder is pre-paid; you top up the balance online or at a DARS point. The DARS user portal is one of the better-designed in Central Europe, and unlike the Austrian and Czech systems, the registration paperwork is bilingual at the major border posts.

Czechia: MYTO CZ

The Czech system above 3.5 tonnes is MYTO CZ (formerly EDAZ; renamed and updated several times over the past decade). It is the same shape as the Austrian and Slovenian systems: electronic on-board unit, per-kilometre toll, rates by axle and emission class. The OBU is collected at a MYTO CZ distribution point after online registration at myto.gov.cz; walk-in collection without prior registration is not possible at most distribution points.

Two changes took effect on 1 January 2026: the toll-road network was extended by approximately 50 kilometres of newly completed sections (mostly D-class motorway extensions in Moravia and northern Bohemia), and the per-km tariffs were adjusted in line with the standard inflation-indexed government regulation. If you are routing through Brno or Ostrava in 2026, the route may now carry a toll segment that did not exist last season.

Hungary: e-vignette (system changed January 2026)

Hungary is the country where this article has the biggest 2026 update. Until 31 December 2025, motorhomes above 3.5 tonnes were in the HU-GO distance-based system, identical to the Austrian, Slovenian, and Czech model: register online, collect the OBU, pay per kilometre. From 1 January 2026, motorhomes above 3.5 tonnes are no longer in HU-GO and must instead buy a standard e-vignette, the same way as a car, with the heavy-vehicle weight tariff applied to the purchase.

The e-vignette is bought at nemzetiutdij.hu or at any Hungarian motorway service station, with 10-day, monthly, and annual options. If you had a HU-GO OBU for the motorhome, you can return it to the HU-GO portal for the deposit refund. The HU-GO system itself is still active for commercial freight; only the motorhome and bus categories were moved.

This is the single biggest 2026 change in the heavy-rig vignette landscape across Central Europe, and most published guides have not been updated. If you are reading older content that says HU-GO is required for a heavy motorhome in Hungary, that information is out of date as of 1 January 2026.

What's changing in 2026 — five concrete deltas

The matrix below isn't a static snapshot. Five 2026 changes shift specific cells motorhome owners may have memorised from earlier guides. None invalidates the system summary — they update prices, dates, and weight-tier mappings.

• Austria — vignette pricing and Ersatzmaut for ≤3.5T. 2026 annual vignette around €99; 2-month around €33; 10-day around €12.40. Penalty for entry without a valid vignette: €120 Ersatzmaut on the spot, €240 if cited later. ANPR enforcement is unchanged; the price points are.
• Bulgaria — 1-day vignette introduced February 2026. A new single-day e-vignette for ≤3.5T at €4.09 joins the weekly (€7.67), monthly (€15.34), and annual (€49.60) tiers — useful for short Sofia → Greece or Sofia → Romania transits.
• Croatia — free-flow toll launch postponed to 1 March 2027. The HAC ENC free-flow ANPR system, originally scheduled for 2026, was deferred per promobil.de reporting (corroborated by nordbayern.de and kosmo.at). Through 2026 Croatia keeps the traditional toll-booth system — cash, card, or Telepass/ENC transponder at each barrier.
• Hungary — D2 weight tier for motorhomes >3.5T. Heavy motorhomes moved from HU-GO to the standard e-vignette on 1 January 2026 at the D2 tier (€37.12 for 10-day). Cars and ≤3.5T motorhomes stay on D1 at €25.51 (10-day); annual D1 is €228.37.
• Slovenia — 2A vs 2B clarification. Almost all motorhomes are Klasse 2B (≤3.5T with vehicle height >1.30 m above the front axle). Posted vignette prices (€16 / €32 / €55 / €118 for 7-day / monthly / 6-month / annual) refer to 2B. Klasse 2A (≤1.30 m above front axle) pays about half — verified live against evinjeta.dars.si/en.

The matrix

The five countries side by side. "Yes / No" in the OBU column refers to whether you need an electronic on-board unit; "vignette" means a standard sticker or e-vignette purchase with no per-km charge.

What to order before you cross

The recurring foreign-motorhome story across Central Europe is the same: arrive at a border on a Saturday evening, find the OBU distribution counter closed, drive into the country without a valid toll, get fined the next time you hit a camera. The fix is to order the right hardware or permit before you leave the previous country.

• Austria: register your motorhome on the ASFINAG portal, pay the GO-Box deposit, collect the OBU at any major service station inside Austria within the first few kilometres. If you are coming from Germany or Italy, do the registration online before you cross; if you are coming from Slovenia or Hungary, do it before you leave the previous country.
• Switzerland: the PSVA permit is bought at the border itself, but the counter can be closed at night. The Swiss Federal Office for Customs (BAZG) allows online pre-purchase for short-term PSVA. Do that if your border crossing is outside business hours.
• Slovenia: the DarsGo transponder can be ordered online from darsgo.si with home delivery (allow 7 to 14 days), or collected at a DARS user point at the border. The portal is bilingual.
• Czechia: register online at myto.gov.cz before you collect the OBU; walk-in registration is not supported at most distribution points. The English portal is functional but spartan.
• Hungary: buy the e-vignette at nemzetiutdij.hu with credit card before you cross. Heavy-vehicle tariff is selected at purchase; you specify your weight class and the system charges accordingly.

Rovee tells you which heavy-rig system applies in the next country on your route, predicts the cost, and warns you if your OBU is going to stop being useful at the border. Closed beta now, public launch Friday August 7, 2026; waitlist below.

What happens if you do not pay

All five heavy-rig systems above are camera-enforced on the autoroutes. Austria’s GO-Box reads its own signal at the gantries; Switzerland’s PSVA is checked at the border and at toll-belt points along the major autoroutes; Slovenia’s DarsGo and Czechia’s MYTO CZ are gantry-scanned; Hungary’s e-vignette is plate-read from cameras across the motorway network. Fines for driving without a valid heavy-vehicle vignette or OBU range from a few hundred to over a thousand euros, depending on the country and how long you have been driving without coverage. A motorhome (or RV, by the US label on some heavier rigs) registered outside the country is not protected from the fine; the enforcement agency cross-references plates against the EU vehicle-registration network, and the notice arrives by mail at the registered owner’s address.

Where a foreign motorhome does get caught, the notice usually comes with an order to obtain the OBU and pay the arrears before continuing. The cheapest way to avoid this is to order the OBU or e-vignette online before you cross, which the previous section covers.

If you're running navigation through CarPlay, the choice of app matters: most CarPlay-capable motorhome apps don't surface vignette or OBU requirements on the dash at all. See our CarPlay navigation for motorhomes matrix for which apps actually flag these signals vs which leave you to track them yourself.

FAQ

Do I need a vignette for a motorhome over 3.5 tonnes?

Yes, but not the standard sticker vignette. Above 3.5 tonnes, the rules change country by country: Austria switches you to the GO-Box on-board unit, Switzerland to the PSVA permit, Slovenia to DarsGo, Czechia to MYTO CZ, and Hungary to a weight-tiered e-vignette (system changed January 2026). Each requires online pre-registration or in-country pickup; the standard sticker vignette does not cover heavy motorhomes.

How is my weight class measured?

By PTAC (also called MAM, GVM, or "maximum permissible mass") as printed on Part I of your vehicle registration. The number that matters is what the rig is allowed to weigh, not what it actually weighs on the day. A 3,499 kg PTAC rig is a "light" motorhome everywhere; a 3,501 kg PTAC rig is a heavy motorhome everywhere, even if you are driving empty. Enforcement is camera-based plus weighbridge spot-checks at border posts.

Can I just buy an OBU at the border?

In theory yes, in practice not always. Austrian GO-Box and Slovenian DarsGo OBUs are available at ASFINAG and DARS toll points on major border crossings, but weekend opening hours are limited and stock runs out at peak travel periods. Czech MYTO CZ requires online registration before you collect the device. Order in advance for any planned heavy-rig trip.

What if I forget to top up the OBU balance?

The OBU stops authorising new toll sections and you are technically driving without a valid toll, which is fineable. Most systems will send a low-balance notification by email or SMS if you registered a contact; Austria and Slovenia also have a small grace credit (a few euros) that buys you time to top up at the next service area.

My motorhome is in Hungary right now — what changed in 2026?

As of 1 January 2026, motorhomes over 3.5 tonnes are no longer in the HU-GO distance-based system. You now buy a standard e-vignette online or at a service station, the same as a car, with the heavy-vehicle tariff applied to your weight class. The HU-GO OBU you had previously is no longer needed for the motorhome category. If you also drive a goods vehicle in Hungary, the HU-GO system is still active for those.

Is the Brenner included in the Austrian GO-Box system?

Yes, but the Brenner has its own additional section toll on top of the per-km GO charge. The Brenner A13 section between Innsbruck-Amras and the Italian border (35 km) and between Innsbruck-Wilten and the border (34 km) carry day and night rates, with higher rates between 22h and 5h. From 1 January 2026, the Brenner section tariff increased by approximately 3.5%.

What does Rovee do here that an OBU does not?

An OBU charges you accurately for the road you are on. Rovee predicts the cost before you drive and tells you whether the OBU you already have works in the next country on your route. The toll-cost prediction layer is the work the OBU and the vignette systems do not do for you. Join the waitlist.