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➡️ Last Updated on February 6, 2024
If you intend to travel to Portugal by road, either for work or for a more pleasant reason (see the best hotels), such as For example, making a visit to the big Portuguese cities or a getaway to the south of Portugal to see the towns and beaches of the Algarve, surely one of the questions you will ask yourself is related to the tolls in Portugal.
Are there any tolls on my route? How do you pay Portuguese tolls? How do I pay a fine for a toll in Portugal?
After reading this entire article you will have clear ideas and all the questions answered. Let’s go there.
Map of tolls in Portugal, types and zones
Before seeing the entire network of tolls in Portugal, we are going to differentiate them into two large groups:
Manual tolls
They are the traditional toll stations, where there are one or several lanes with manual payment. You can find manual tolls with the typical booth where a natural person manually collects the fee or simply an ATM. Once the payment of the toll fees has been made, the barrier is raised, the traffic light turns green and you can continue your journey.
In both cases you can pay in cash or with credit card. Normally, in manual tolls there is also an exclusive electronic electronic toll lane (ViaVerde).
Tolls Exclusively Electronic
At these tolls you do not have to stop or pass any barrier, that is, there is no physical obstacle that prevents the passage of vehicles. Therefore, it is obvious that the payment of the corresponding fees is made before or after going through the toll.
It is made up of a series of gantries or frames on the road, equipped with electronic systems and video surveillance cameras, which once the vehicle passes under it, detects its passage through an electronic device that users must carry in their vehicles. This typology of tolls is the one that produces the most confusion among users and doubts about how to use them or how to pay in them.
Map of the distribution of the network of roads or routes with tolls in Portugal
Roads with exclusive electronic tolls.
Roads with manual tolls.
Location of the EasyTolls. Exclusive payment system for exclusively electronic tolls.
Point of sale for prepaid cards. It is known as a TollCard.
Point of sale for prepaid services. They are known as TollService.
How to pay tolls in Portugal? Available payment methods
Once the types of tolls existing in the Portuguese country are clear, we enter fully into the heart of the matter, below all the existing payment methods will be explained, when to pay them and which of them can be used on each type of road.
1. EasyToll
This payment method is exclusive for some (not all) ways of the exclusively electronic tolls type, as its name indicates in English (easy toll) It is for me the most comfortable, easy and safe way to pay exclusively electronic tolls.
In addition, it has the particularity that it is only for foreign vehicles, that is, with NON-Portuguese registration.
Where are the EasyToll stations located?
A few kilometers before passing through the gates or electronic frames of a road with exclusively electronic toll you will find a small service road parallel to the main road where you can pay with this system.
The place where you pay with this system is called Welcome Point or Punto de Bienvenido, it consists of several lanes with automatic machines and the corresponding instructions to make the payment. The following graph makes it clearer where the Welcome Point is located:
How does the EasyToll payment method work?
Once at the Welcome Point, you join any free lane and stop at the height of the automatic machine.
The first step is to associate a valid credit card to your vehicle registration. All you have to do is enter the card and the number plate of our car (this step is already automatic), once the operation is confirmed, the machine will issue a receipt that you must keep. You can now merge onto the highway and continue your journey.
And you will ask yourself, How is the payment made?
Very simple, every time you pass under an electronic gate, the system “hunts” your vehicle’s license plate and automatically charges the corresponding fees on the credit card (which you previously associated at the Welcome Point). It’s that simple, hey!
Does the association of the credit card with the registration last forever?
No, the Card-registration association lasts 30 days, after that period if you want to use the EasyToll again you will have to repeat the same process.
There is also the possibility of canceling the association of the card at any time or even modifying the enrollment associated with your card. It can be done online or at the following telephone number: Only for calls from outside Portugal |+351 212879555.
2. Via-T (Spanish electronic toll system)
What is the Via-T electronic toll?
The correct definition is: Interoperable electronic toll system. It is available on all toll motorways throughout Spain.
How does the Via-T electronic toll work?
Before starting to use this system you have to hire it from any authorized issuer, I leave you the link with all the authorized via-t issuers. They are generally the main banks and savings banks in Spain. It costs €36 the first year and €9 from the second year.
Once requested, a small electronic device will arrive at your home that you have to place on the windshield of the vehicle.
In Spain, when you arrive at a toll station, you must go to the lanes marked with Via-T. Automatically, when the system detects your electronic device placed on the windshield, it emits a sound, raises the barrier and turns the traffic light green. The vehicle must not be stopped.
Keep in mind that you have to travel in the Via-T lane at a maximum speed between 20 and 40 km/h.
Can Via-T be used in Portugal?
Yes, this system can be used in all manual tolls in Portugal, the only difference is that in Portugal the electronic toll lanes are not called Via-T, they are called Vía Verde.
They are marked with a green signal and a white V, as in the following photograph:
3. Vía Verde
This payment method is practically the same as Via-T, but only for Portugal. It is compatible for all types of toll roads in Portugal. There are two options:
Due to the numerous comments I have received with the same problem, I have added a solution to the guide for those who have passed through a vía verde lane without paying:
- You have to ewait a minimum period of 15 days from when you went through the toll to be able to pay it online.
- If you passed through any of these tolls: A23 (Torres Novas), A25 (Guarda Sul) or A4 (Vila Real. Stop Cunhos – Quintanilha). You can pay online 48h after having passed.
- And finally, if you passed through any of these tolls less than 5 days ago: Variante Sul de Leiria (A8 / IC36) or Variante da Batalha (A19 / IC2), AELO – West Coast Highways or IC32 (A33) at AEBT – Autopistas de Baixo Tejo, you cannot pay online.
If it is not on the map, you will not be able to pay online the amount of the toll that you have skipped:
Si no está en este listado, no podrás pagar online el importe del peaje que te has saltado:
- A1Auto-estrada do Norte
- A2Auto-estrada do Sul
- A3Auto-estrada Porto/Valença
- A4Auto-estrada Porto/Amarante
- A4A. E. Vila Real/Quintanilha
- A5A. E. da Costa do Estoril
- A6A. E. Mareta/Caia
- A8A.E. Lisboa/Marinha Grande
- A8/IC36Variante Sul de Leiria
- A9CREL (Circular Regional Exterior de Lisboa)
- A10A.E.Bucelas/Carregado/IC3
- A12A.E. Setúbal/Montijo
- A13A.E. Almeirim/Marateca
- A14A.E. Figueira da Foz/Coimbra (Norte)
- A15A.E. Caldas da Rainha/Santarém
- A17A.E. Marinha Grande/Mira
- A19/IC2Variante da Batalha
- A21A.E. de Mafra
- A23A.E. da Beira Interior
- A32A.E. S. João da Madeira/Carvalhos
- A33A.E. Baixo Tejo
- A41A.E. Picoto (IC2)/Nó da Ermida (IC25)
- A43A.E. Gondomar/Aguiar de Sousa (IC24)
- P. 25 de AbrilConcessão Lusoponte
- P. Vasco da GamaConcessão Lusoponte
4. TollCard (prepaid)
Tollcards are prepaid cards with a balance. They can be purchased at all Portuguese post offices (CTT) and at the following service areas or gas stations:
You can purchase Tollcards for €5, €10, €20 or €40. (You will be charged a €0.74 fee when you buy a tollcard)
How do TollCards work?
Once purchased, you have to activate it by sending an SMS with the CODE of the card + vehicle registration to the number indicated in the tollcard instructions. BEWARE, this step is essential to activate the tollcard, otherwise, it’s as if you hadn’t bought it!
Now every time you pass through an electronic gate, the toll fees will be deducted from the balance of the tollcard automatically. The system will send an SMS to your mobile phone when the balance is zero.
More things you need to know about TollCards prepaid cards:
Finally, I leave you the following links that may be useful to you:
Check Tollcard card balance online
5. TollService (Prepaid)
The TollService payment method has in common with TollCards that they are prepaid. These are the modalities that are available with this payment system:
-
Spain – Porto Airport (A28 – A41) (One way or round trip)
-
Spain – Faro Airport (A22) (One way or round trip)
Finally remember:
In addition, you can buy them online from these links:
TOLL SERVICE (3 unlimited days)
Toll prices and vehicle classes in Portugal
You already know the types of tolls in Portugal, in addition to all the payment methods that you can use on each road. Now we go with the different classes of vehicles, because obviously a 12-meter truck does not pay the same as a motorcycle or a car.
Class of vehicles in Portuguese tolls
Portugal differentiates vehicles into 4 classes when applying the rates, these are the 4 classes:
| Clase | Altura desde el primer eje | Nº de ejes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| C1 | Menor a 1,10 m | 2 o más |  |
| C2 | Igual o mayor a 1,10 m | 2 |  |
| C3 | Igual o mayor a 1,10 m | 3 |  |
| C4 | Igual o mayor a 1,10 m | 4 o más |  |
How much do tolls cost in Portugal?
Well, once you know the types of tolls, the existing zones and the types of vehicles, it’s a matter of checking the prices of the roads you’re going to use. We are going to put an example:
We are going to do the following route through the Algarve: Spain – Portimao (round trip) with a car (class 1).
Looking at the image above, you only have to add the rates of the gates you pass through until you reach your destination, in this case portimao portugal, always adding the amount of class 1 (C1);
1,75€ + 0,75€ + 1,30€ + 0,35€ + 1,15€ + 0,70€ + 0,80€ + 0,80€ = 7,60€ + 7,60€ = 15,20 €
calculate all the toll amounts of your routes in Portugal.
You can simulate the same route that I have calculated by hand with the calculator, to see if they match:
Click on “Calcular Portagens“
And it returns the following screen. All the electronic gates where you pass and at the end of everything, it tells you the kilometers traveled by the A22 and the total amount of the one way, which as you can see coincides with the calculation what i did by hand: 7,60 Euros.
Fines in portugal tolls
As expected, this is one of the points that people are most interested in, perhaps it is also one of the least information available on the Internet, or rather, the one with the most disinformation. Surely you have friends or relatives who say they have gone through the tolls without paying and boast that they have not been fined. ERROR.
Some news related to Portuguese toll fines published in online newspapers:
- https://www.elconfidencial.com/mundo/2014-09-06/portugal-persigue-a-mas-de-300-000-conductores-espanoles-con-peajes-impagados_186676/
- https://elpais.com/elpais/2018/04/24/opinion/1524580386_188695.html
- https://www.lavozdegalicia.es/noticia/galicia/2015/08/28/portugal-perdona-multas-paguen-peajes-saltaron-2010/0003_201508G28P11992.htm
Many people go to the Algarve to save money, since it is relatively much cheaper than other coastal areas in Europe, especially the campsites algarve portugal, and since you save money on the one hand, it is not cool that you spend it for absurd fines that can be avoided.
What happens if you don’t pay the tolls in Portugal?
You have to know that yes, sooner or later the corresponding recipe will come home. It can also happen that after some time you go through Portuguese tolls again, this time paying, but they stop you to check if you have paid and it turns out that you did not pay the previous time. Congratulations, fine to sing.
I remind you that all toll passes are automatically recorded in a database and subsequently, every 48 hours, the license plates that have passed on a given date are crossed with the payment transactions >.
Obviously, this results in a list of drivers who have done everything correctly and do not have to worry, and another list of vehicle registrations that have not paid the corresponding fees. You are booked!
How much is the fine for not paying tolls in Portugal?
The amount of the toll fine is calculated as follows: Total amount of fees x 10 = Amount of fine (Minimum €25)
How do I know if I have been fined or registered in the Portuguese toll database?
The most obvious method is that a letter from the toll road concessionaire has arrived at your home demanding the amount.
If nothing has arrived at your home and you want to make sure that you are not in the toll delinquent database, you must first find out which company is the toll concessionaire, contact them and ask via email or phone.
Can I pay Portuguese toll fines online?
It depends on the concessionaire company, in the case of the A22 del Algarve (Via do infante), the motorway concession is held by a Spanish company, Cintra (ferrovial) until January of 2030.
In this case, they have set up a website where you can check if you have any pending payment , and if so, pay it online. Not another thing, but facilities to pay gives you all of the world.
User opinions about tolls in Portugal
Finally and to close this mega toll guide in Portugal, I would like you to leave a comment telling your own experiences with tolls in the neighboring country or simply that you comment if the information has seemed good or has been useful to you.
Also, if you share it on social networks and rate this content in the stars below, I will greatly appreciate it!
The the toll system in Portugal looks like it has been designed by retarded children. No way that I pay for roads that are payed for with EU money(where part of my taxes go). All the roads in Portugal are payed for by the EU , not by the Portuguese people. When the main roads and bridges were build in the 90’s (payed for by the EU), one of the first things the government did was handing out concessions to their corrupt friends and party members to skim money (tolls) of them. Also they made the toll system on most of the roads electronic to save money, hereby denying locals the change to earn a salary working in toll boots. As a foreigner there are no consequences if you don’t pay the toll, just give them the finger, It is time that Portugal learns to stand on its own feet instead of waiting for handouts from the north of Europe.
Went from Portimao-lisbon by A12, and probably because on the enter of A12 motorway I didn’t press for a ticket I had to pay 45€, I don’t know if this was a fine or this is a normal rate for driving on a motorway for 120km 🤦♀️
I recently went to Portugal and got stung by the tolls despite reading in advance, registering my vehicle online and paying the tolls as I came across them.
I was really annoyed I had to pay a fine of 62.50 euros just to be allowed to leave as despite their system being so fantastic, they couldn’t tell from where I had come, even though I had paid several tolls in Lisbon just hours before.
I wasn’t annoyed at paying the fine. I was annoyed that I had gone to a lot of trouble to register, learn about what I needed to do and the idiot who I spoke to as I left, spoke perfectly to me in English and Spanish until I explained I wasn’t happy, then all of a sudden he only spoke Portuguese and didn’t understand me.
The automatic toll system in Portugal is a disaster in terms of information. That’s why I wrote this little guide, to help as much as possible.