Vienna to Salzburg 2026: a Vignette, No Toll Booths

There is no toll booth between Vienna and Salzburg. Austria charges for its motorways with a vignette linked to the number plate, so the 295 km A1 run via Linz — about 3 hours — needs nothing more than a valid vignette bought before you join the motorway. A single day costs EUR 9.60 and ten days EUR 12.80. Driving it without one triggers a EUR 200 substitute payment on the spot.

Route Overview

The drive from Vienna to Salzburg covers approximately 295 km and takes around 3 hours under normal traffic conditions, entirely on the A1 West Autobahn via Linz.

What this drive actually costs

Austria does not use toll plazas on the A1. Everything is a vignette, registered against your plate and checked by camera. The 2026 tiers, from ASFINAG:

For a one-way run the 1-day tier is enough. For anything resembling a weekend, the 10-day tier costs EUR 3.20 more and removes the question entirely.

Buy it in the right place. A 2-month or annual vignette bought online is only valid from the 18th day after purchase, a consequence of the statutory right of withdrawal. The 1-day and 10-day tiers are valid immediately online, and any tier bought at a petrol station or border point is valid at once.

If you skip it: ASFINAG offers a substitute payment, the Ersatzmaut, of EUR 200 for a car or camper van and EUR 100 for a motorbike. Decline it and the administrative penalty runs from EUR 300 to EUR 3,000.

Separate charges exist on Austria’s alpine tunnel routes — Brenner, Tauern, Arlberg and Karawanken — but none of them is on this route.

Key Facts at a Glance

Estimated Fuel Cost

Based on average consumption of 7 litres per 100 km:

Use our Fuel Cost Calculator for a precise estimate based on your vehicle.

Required Equipment

Austria:

• Required: Warning Triangle, Reflective Vest, First Aid Kit
• Recommended: Fire Extinguisher, Spare Bulbs

Use our Travel Checklist to make sure you have everything.

Winter on the A1

The earlier version of this page said winter tyres were not mandated on this route. That is wrong, and it is the most expensive thing to get wrong here.

Austria’s obligation runs 1 November to 15 April and is condition-based within those dates: whenever there is snow, slush or ice on the road, a car must be on winter tyres with at least 4 mm of tread, or have chains fitted on the driven axle where the road is snow-covered. Fines start at EUR 60, and where other road users are endangered they can reach far higher.

The A1 is a valley route and rarely the worst road in an Austrian winter, but the stretch through the Voralpen between Amstetten and Linz collects fog, freezing rain and black ice, and the Salzburg approach sits under weather coming off the Alps.

Summer

Peak season means longer journey times. Motorway service areas fill quickly, particularly on the Salzburg approach on Saturday mornings in July and August when the Tauern traffic is building.

Rest Stops and Breaks

At 295 km, a single mid-route break is enough. Service areas are spaced roughly every 50 km, and fuel on the motorway is typically dearer than at off-ramp stations.

Driving Tips for This Route

• Section speed controls operate on parts of the A1. Cruise control at the posted limit is the simple answer.
• Austrian police can issue on-the-spot fines. Carry a payment method that works locally.
• Keep right except when overtaking; lane discipline is enforced.
• Download offline maps before departure — signal is patchy in the Voralpen cuttings.

Plan This Route

Use our Route Planner for turn-by-turn directions, the Vignette Calculator to compare tiers, or the Fuel Cost Calculator.

Country guide: Austria