Hire cars · Zones and tolls

Zones, vignettes and toll badges in a hire car

Checked 18 September 2026 against each company's own published terms · skynomad

Low-emission zones: the rental company will not check for you

Nothing in a rental contract makes the company responsible for getting you legally into a low-emission zone. The country-by-country picture is on the zone pages; two cases show how differently the job falls.

In France, the Crit'Air disc comes from certificat-air.gouv.fr and only to whoever holds the registration document: on a hire car, the rental company. The sticker is €3.11; with postage it comes to €3.85 posted to a French address or €5.11 posted abroad, and it takes about ten working days. You cannot fix a missing one from the car park, so I look at the glass before I sign.

In Belgium, the opposite. Brussels registers foreign plates through lez.brussels, free, in a few minutes, and anyone holding the registration certificate can do it, including you, next to the car. Skip it and the fine is €150 even in a spotless Euro 6 petrol car.

Vignette, toll badge, and the lane that is not yours

Austria's 2026 vignette, valid from 1 December 2025, costs €9.60 for a day, €12.80 for ten days, €32.00 for two months and €106.80 for a year. The digital one is tied to the number plate. Buy a two-month or annual online from ASFINAG and consumer-withdrawal law makes it valid only from the 18th day after purchase: useless for a trip next week, which is exactly when people buy it. Caught without, the replacement toll for a car is €200 since 1 January 2026 (it was €120); ignore that and the reminder of up to €365, and the administrative penalty runs €300 to €3,000. The vignette also misses the special toll sections, the Brenner and Tauern motorways and several tunnels, which are paid at the barrier. Avis Austria states in writing that the renter is responsible for having a valid vignette on the car. The full picture is on the Austria vignette page and the tolls and vignettes overview.

Switzerland charges CHF 40, the 2026 vignette running 1 December 2025 to 31 January 2027, with an e-vignette tied to the plate and sold through the federal Via portal. Driving without it is CHF 200 plus the CHF 40 you still owe. Italy has no vignette, just barriers and a yellow lane reserved for Telepass that photographs anyone using it without a device. Sixt has sold its own Telepedaggio transponder since April 2025; most cars are not fitted with one.

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