LEZ & vignette guide for vans in Europe
Two completely different stickers, both easy to forget, both expensive to get wrong. A clear, country-by-country guide to low-emission-zone passes and motorway vignettes for vans and motorhomes — what you need, where to buy it, what it costs, and the fine if you skip it.
If you're planning a European trip in a van or motorhome, two paperwork problems will trip you up before any actual driving issue does. The first is the low-emission-zone (LEZ) sticker — a vehicle-emissions badge required to enter many city centres. The second is the motorway vignette — a national road-use pass required in several countries to drive their motorways at all. They sound similar, get conflated constantly, and the rules for each are different in every country.
This guide treats them as the two distinct things they are. We'll cover what each one is, where you need it, what it costs, how to get it without falling for a scam site, and the country-by-country specifics — current for 2026.
LEZ stickers and motorway vignettes are not the same thing
This is the single biggest source of confusion, so let's settle it first.
A low-emission-zone sticker certifies that your vehicle meets local air-quality standards and is allowed into a particular city's restricted zone. It's about emissions. Different countries have different schemes — Germany's Umweltplakette, France's Crit'Air, Spain's distintivo ambiental. The sticker is a vehicle classification, not a payment, and most cost only a few euros.
A motorway vignette is a national road-toll pass — proof that you've paid to use the country's motorway network. It's about tolls. Austria, Switzerland, Czechia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria all use this system. Vignettes are time-limited (typically 10 days, a month, or a year) and cost between a few euros and over a hundred. Without one, you can't legally drive their motorways at all.
One is for cities, one is for motorways
If you're avoiding cities, you may not need an LEZ sticker at all. If you're avoiding motorways, you may not need a vignette. But almost every European trip uses both, so check both for every country on your route.
Part one: low-emission zones
Most major European cities now have one. Some are well-marked and politely enforced; others use cameras with little warning and fine you before you've finished pulling away. LEZs have proliferated across Europe over the last few years, and the trend is toward stricter rules each year, not looser.
The basic mechanic is the same everywhere: your vehicle's Euro emissions class determines whether it can enter, and a sticker, registration, or camera plate-read proves it. The differences are in what counts as the proof.
What you actually need to know
- Your van's Euro emissions class — usually Euro 4, 5, or 6 for diesel, sometimes Euro 3 or higher for petrol. Find it on your registration document (V5C in the UK, carte grise in France, Fahrzeugschein in Germany). For diesel vans, anything pre-2015 is likely Euro 5 or lower — and increasingly restricted.
- Whether your van counts as a car or a truck. Under 3.5 t it's a car, and standard car rules apply. Over 3.5 t and it's a truck, with different (often stricter) rules.
- Where you're going. If your route avoids LEZ cities entirely, you don't need stickers. If it doesn't, sort them before you leave — most can't be bought at the border.
Country by country: the LEZ schemes you'll meet
🇫🇷 France LEZ sticker
€3.72–€4.67 incl. postage.
Buy fromOnly the official site: certificat-air.gouv.fr. Do not use any other URL — scam sites overcharge by 10×.
FineAround €68 for missing or wrong sticker.
Vehicles registered before 1 January 1997 cannot be issued a Crit'Air at all, which means they're banned from ZFE zones outright when restrictions are active. Older diesels are progressively banned from inner Paris and Lyon, and the trend is tightening every year. Order well before travel — postage can take weeks to a foreign address.
🇩🇪 Germany LEZ sticker
€5–€15 depending on where you buy.
Buy fromTÜV, DEKRA, vehicle workshops, registration authorities. Online for foreign vehicles.
FineAround €100 for entering without a sticker.
The sticker is one-per-vehicle and lasts the life of the vehicle (the colour doesn't change). It only certifies emissions class — it's not a fee for driving in the zone, just permission. Practically every diesel motorhome that meets Euro 4 or better qualifies for green. Pre-Euro-4 diesels won't qualify and are effectively shut out of most German city centres.
🇪🇸 Spain LEZ sticker
€5; foreign-vehicle pre-registration usually free.
Buy fromSpanish post offices (Correos), or via DGT online. Foreign vehicles register at each city's website.
FineFrom €90 to several hundred euros, depending on city and vehicle.
Spain is the trickiest because rules vary city-by-city and region-by-region. Foreign-registered vehicles often have to pre-register online for each city's zone (Barcelona requires this for the ZBE Rondes). The DGT sticker itself is straightforward, but city-specific authorisation is a separate step that catches many travellers out.
🇮🇹 Italy LEZ sticker
€5–€10).
Buy fromCity-specific websites (e.g. areac.atm.it for Milan).
Fine€80–€450, often arriving months later by post.
Italy also has the infamous ZTLs (Zone a Traffico Limitato) — restricted-traffic zones in historic centres that ban unauthorised vehicles entirely during certain hours. These aren't strictly emission zones, but for a van they're functionally similar: don't drive into them. The cameras are unforgiving and fines arrive in the post weeks later. When in doubt, park outside the historic centre and walk in.
🇧🇪 Belgium LEZ sticker
€35 for non-compliant.
Buy fromEach city's official LEZ registration page.
FineFrom €150.
Belgium's system catches a lot of travellers because there's no sticker to remind you. Register your plate online before crossing the border if your route touches Antwerp, Brussels or Ghent. As of 2026, petrol vehicles need Euro 3+ and diesel needs Euro 6 to enter Brussels.
🇳🇱 Netherlands LEZ sticker
milieuzones.nl.
FineAround €100.
Dutch zones often have a hard cutoff by Euro class rather than a tiered sticker system — diesels below Euro 4 (Amsterdam) or Euro 6 (in some zones, future) are simply not allowed. There's nothing to buy in advance, but check your vehicle's eligibility before driving into central Amsterdam.
🇬🇧 UK (Great Britain) LEZ / ULEZ / CAZ
£12.50/day (ULEZ) or similar.
Buy fromPay or register at gov.uk.
Fine£180 (halved if paid within 14 days).
No stickers. Cameras read your plate and check it against the DVLA database. Foreign-registered vehicles still need to pay if non-compliant, and you have to register your plate beforehand or set up automatic payment, or you'll be fined.
Smaller schemes worth knowing
Portugal has a single LEZ in Lisbon (split into two zones with different minimum Euro standards) and a registration-based scheme in Porto's historic centre. Austria, Denmark and several other countries operate emission zones in specific cities — these are smaller and less likely to catch you out unless you're heading specifically into a city centre, but worth a check on your country pages before you go.
Practical rule of thumb
Order the Crit'Air for France and the Umweltplakette for Germany ahead of any European trip. These two cover the vast majority of city-centre situations. Then check by city if you're touching Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy or the UK.
Part two: motorway vignettes
Vignettes are paying for the motorway, not for your emissions. Eight countries currently use the vignette system: Austria, Switzerland, Czechia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. (France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece use distance-based toll booths instead — pay as you go, no sticker needed.)
In 2026, most vignettes have gone digital — your number plate is registered in a database and read automatically by cameras. Austria, Czechia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary all run electronic systems; Switzerland still uses a physical windscreen sticker (with a digital option from 2026). You can buy almost all of them online before you cross the border, which avoids border-station queues and is usually cheaper than the local cash price.
Country by country: vignettes for vans up to 3.5 t
🇦🇹 Austria Vignette
€12.80
2-month€32.00
Annual€106.80 (valid 14 months — buy Dec to Jan following year)
Buy fromOfficial: asfinag.at. Also petrol stations and ÖAMTC/ARBÖ offices.
Fine€120 on-the-spot, up to €3,000 if disputed.
The Austrian vignette is required on motorways and expressways but doesn't cover the alpine tunnel/section tolls (Brenner, Tauern, Pyhrn, Karawanken, Arlberg, etc.) — these are extra, often €10–€15 per crossing. Motorhomes up to 3.5 t pay the standard car vignette; over 3.5 t you need a Go-Box and pay distance-based. Buy online before you reach the border to avoid markup.
🇨🇭 Switzerland Vignette
CHF 40 (~€42) — valid until 31 January of the following year.
Buy fromBorder posts, petrol stations, post offices. Digital via e-vignette.ch.
FineCHF 200.
Switzerland is the only vignette country that doesn't sell short-term passes — if you're driving Swiss motorways for a single day, you still pay for the full annual sticker. Important for vans towing: trailers and caravans require their own separate vignette in Switzerland. Motorhomes over 3.5 t pay a heavy-vehicle tax instead and need to declare at the border.
🇨🇿 Czechia Vignette
~270 CZK (~€11)
30-day~430 CZK (~€18)
Annual~2,440 CZK (~€100)
Buy fromOfficial: edalnice.cz.
FineUp to CZK 20,000 (~€820), though typically much less.
Czechia activates immediately on purchase (no grace period), so buy it on the day you cross or the day before. Vans over 3.5 t need an OBU (on-board unit) instead — different system, sign up via the haulier portal.
🇸🇰 Slovakia Vignette
€8.10
10-day€10.80
Annual~€60
Buy fromOfficial: eznamka.sk.
FineFrom €100.
Slovakia's system handles trailers (over 3.5 t combined weight) separately — buy a second vignette for the trailer.
🇸🇮 Slovenia Vignette
€16
Weekly (2B)~€32
Annual (2A)~€110
Buy fromOfficial: evinjeta.dars.si.
Fine€300+ for wrong category — the most common mistake.
Slovenia's 1.3-metre rule is the single most common foreign-vehicle mistake in Europe: a motorhome is almost always category 2B, not 2A. Buying the cheaper 2A and being caught in 2B costs more in fines than the difference ever saves. Measure honestly.
🇭🇺 Hungary Vignette
5,550 HUF (~€14)
10-day~6,400 HUF (~€16)
Annual~60,000 HUF (~€150)
Buy fromOfficial: nemzetiutdij.hu.
FineFrom HUF 30,000 (~€80).
Hungary lets you buy by region — if you're only crossing one or two counties, that's cheaper than the national vignette.
🇷🇴 Romania & 🇧🇬 Bulgaria Vignette
~€3, 30 days ~€7, annual ~€28. Official: roviniete.ro.
BulgariaTol Bg — digital. Weekend ~€8, 30 days ~€19, annual ~€48. Official: bgtoll.bg.
Both are inexpensive, fully digital, and easy to buy online ten minutes before crossing the border. Don't get caught out by the lack of physical evidence — there's no sticker, just a database entry.
The countries that don't use vignettes
If you're driving in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal or Greece, you'll pay tolls at booths or via electronic gantries instead — no vignette needed. These are distance-based, charged per the size and weight of your vehicle. Larger motorhomes (especially over 3.5 t) pay considerably more.
Germany uses no vignette and no tolls for vehicles under 7.5 t — free motorways for nearly all motorhomes. The UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, Scandinavia and Ireland also have no vignette and no general motorway tolls (though specific bridges and tunnels are charged, like the Øresund Bridge or the Limfjord tunnels).
The fine print that catches people out
Scam websites
The biggest financial trap isn't the fines — it's the lookalike websites. Search "Crit'Air vignette" and the top results are often paid ads for resellers charging €30–€50 for a €4 sticker. Same problem with German, Czech, Hungarian and Slovak vignettes. Always use the official .gouv.fr, .at, .sk, etc. domains. The country cards above link to the official site for each one.
Weight thresholds
3.5 tonnes is the magic number. Below it, you're treated as a car for both LEZ and vignette purposes. Above it, you're a truck — different stickers, different vignettes, often higher prices, and sometimes a distance-based toll instead of a flat rate (Austria's Go-Box, Czechia's OBU). Know your van's maximum authorised mass, not its empty weight, and have your registration paperwork to hand at borders.
Activation delays
Most digital vignettes activate immediately, but some have a short delay while their camera database syncs. Slovenia advises up to 15 minutes between purchase and full validity. Don't buy a vignette as you approach a toll gantry.
Trailers and caravans
Switzerland and Slovakia explicitly require a separate vignette for trailers and caravans. If you're towing, factor in a second sticker per country.
Let the planner flag the zones for you
WiseTrip checks LEZs and vignettes along your route, flags what your van needs, and warns you which border crossings carry which requirements. Free, no login.
Plan a trip →A printed reference of your route's required stickers, taped to the visor, is the simplest defence against forgetting one in the heat of a border crossing. (We'll add specific product recommendations here once we've found genuinely useful ones — no affiliate links until they're recommendations we'd actually make.)
The bottom line
Two stickers, two systems, easy to confuse. For most European van trips: buy a Crit'Air for France and an Umweltplakette for Germany before you leave home. Buy an Austrian e-vignette if your route crosses the Alps. Add Czech, Slovak, Slovenian or Hungarian vignettes only for the countries you're actually transiting. Avoid scam sites by going only to the official government URLs. Watch the 3.5-tonne threshold. And remember that LEZ rules tighten every year — what worked last summer may not work next summer.
Most importantly: don't conflate the two. A Crit'Air doesn't let you drive on Austrian motorways. An Austrian vignette doesn't let you enter the Paris ZFE. You need both, in the right places, for the right reasons.
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