Swiss motorway vignette validity question
A traveler named Paulus is planning a summer road trip through the scenic mountain roads and passes of Airolo, Obergoms, Andermatt, and the Valais-Uri-Ticino-Graubunden region. They want to know if the Swiss vignette provides toll-free access to all motorways and which tunnels, passes, or bridges may have additional tolls. This thread provides clarity about the coverage of the vignette.
- The Swiss vignette covers all motorways in Switzerland, including tunnels and bridges, except for the Grand Saint Bernard tunnel which has a separate toll.
- While most mountain passes are accessible without extra fees in summer, consider using car-carrying trains like Lötschberg for specific routes if needed.
- The vignette costs CHF 40 and is valid until January 31 of the year after purchase.
AI-generated summary-
Does the swiss vignette give toll free access to ALL motorways in the country? Which, if any, tunnels, passes, bridges demand additional toll?
-
Hello Paulus and Welcome to MySwissAlps,
Nice to hear you’re planning to come to Switzerland.
As usual, I will recommend reading below link regarding “car vs. train” to support the superb Swiss travel system as well as the environment, having in mind that each traveler has their own needs and reasons for traveling accordingly.
– http://www.myswissalps.com/carversustrainThe simple answer to your question is YES, it covers ALL the motorways in the country and I personally (being Swiss and resident), don’t know of any other tolls at mountains passes or similar.
– http://www.myswissalps.com/car
– http://www.myswissalps.com/motorwayvignetteSome car-trains, which you’ll find in Switzerland, will have an additional cost, but as you don’t share your itinerary I can’t say if they are relevant for you.
– http://www.myswissalps.com/car/cartrainsHope this answers your question.
Get back to us anytime for further input.
Best,
Steph
Thank you Steph. I wish to extensively drive around the beautiful mountain roads and mountian passes of Airolo, Obergoms, Andermatt and others in the Valais-Uri-Ticino-Graubunden region, in summer. I am not counting on car-trains, maybe occasionally if running late.
Hi Paulus –
Since you’ve been there before (thanks for that post about the GoldenPass special seats) you probably understand that “motorway” means what we would call a limited access expressway in the US.
Slowpoke
The only car carrying train (with fee) you might use would be the Lötschberg, if you wanted to travel direct from Lake Thun to the Valais near Visp. Otherwise in summer all drives can be done via the mountain passes, although as you seem to realise the Furka tunnel car carrying train would save a lot of time as the Furka pass road is quite slow in comparison.
Hi Paulus,
The Vignette costs CHF 40 and is valid until Jan 31 of the year following the year printed on it.
It is indeed valid for all Swiss motorways, be they on open ground, tunnel, bridge, dam. The only exception is the Grand Saint Bernard tunnel, which is international (Switzerland/Italy) and for which there is a toll, which would be the same whether you have a vignette or not.
The vignette is not the only source of funds for highway construction and maintenance. In addition, there is a tax on fuel, and other public funds are involved especially when it comes to big investments such as alpine tunnels.
In addition, there are a few (very few) private toll roads in the Alps.
- The thread ‘Swiss motorway vignette validity question’ is closed to new replies.
