What driving across Europe costs in tolls, vignettes, bridges and fuel

A Europe-wide comparison of motorway charges breaks charging into four systems - per‑kilometre tolls, time‑based vignettes, individual bridge/tunnel fees and largely toll‑free networks - and reports typical costs per 100 km for cars and motorhomes. France emerges as the most expensive per distance (≈€11/100 km for a car), while Spain ≈€6, Italy ≈€7, Portugal ≈€9, Poland ≈€5, Croatia ≈€8, Greece ≈€4 and Serbia ≈€4. Eleven countries have motorways free for cars but several of those still levy tolls for bridges, tunnels or city congestion charges. Vignette examples include Austria (€9.60 one‑day), Bulgaria (€5.11 weekend) and Switzerland (CHF 40 annual). Large bridge crossings are costly for campers: Øresund (€139) and Great Belt (€86) together can total €225 for a motorhome - more than all French motorway tolls on a long Helsinki-Costa del Sol route.

Mountain and fuel costs change the picture further: Mont Blanc and Fréjus tunnels are roughly €55-€56 one‑way for cars (higher for motorhomes), Brenner about €12.50, while Gotthard has no extra charge beyond the Swiss vignette. Fuel price variation is frequently bigger than tolls: a 60‑litre petrol fill runs from about €91 in Poland to €156 in Denmark, a €65 gap greater than many crossings or vignettes. All figures come from operators’ published tariffs checked on stated dates; rates vary by road, vehicle class and operator, and several countries lack published tariffs.