Register the car before you drive, or pay within five working days.
Portugal's ex-SCUT motorways have no booths at all. Skip it and the fine is 7.5 times the toll, never less than €25, per passage.
Portugal's ex-SCUT motorways (the A22 in the Algarve, the A24, A25, A28 and their relatives) have no booths at all, and a foreign plate with nothing registered against it simply accrues a debt. The rental desk usually says nothing, then charges the card months later with fees attached.
The three ways to pay
Infraestruturas de Portugal runs the fix, and its site now answers at pttolls.com (portugaltolls.com redirects there).
Product
What it costs
How it works
EASYToll
€1, plus €0.32 a journey
Links your bank card to the plate, valid 30 days
TOLLcard
€5, €10, €20 or €40, plus €0.32 a journey
Prepaid
Go Toll (Via Verde)
€0.77 a month, plus €0.32 a journey
The monthly charge applies only in months you drive
What skipping it costs
None of them covers the two Lisbon bridges. Skip all three and the transport regulator's rule applies: pay within five working days at an authorised point, or the fine is 7.5 times the toll and never less than €25, per passage. A week in the Algarve can turn a €14 motorway bill into three figures.
Where to leave the car, from our sister site. Each card is the short version; the full guide has every car park, the tow pound and the charging points.
ParkingInEurope
Lisbon
The kerb is charged only on weekdays until 19:00, a garage in Chiado stops at €13.05 a day, and the car park by the Benfica stadium at €2.60.
Best bet
€2.60 a day at Colégio Militar, on the blue metro line to Baixa-Chiado. In the old centre, EMEL's Calçada do Combro garage caps at €13.05.
Watch out
Red streets: two hours maximum, and paying again does not reset it. The ZER bars cars older than 2000 in the Baixa on working days 07:00–21:00.
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