Swiss Vignette (2026): Official Cost, Where to Buy & Key Rules

Switzerland charges motorway use through one annual vignette. According to the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security, it costs CHF 40 and applies generally to motor vehicles and trailers up to 3.5 tonnes that use the taxable national roads.

The first detail many articles get wrong is validity. The official window is not just the calendar year itself; it runs from December 1 of the previous year until January 31 of the following year. The second mistake is assuming a rental company or airport desk has already handled it for you.

This page is built around the official rule set: what the vignette covers, where to buy it safely, which border mistakes still matter, and where separate operator charges can still appear.

The official system now has two equal products: the sticker vignette and the plate-linked e-vignette. Both cost CHF 40, both cover the same taxable Swiss national roads, and both share the same validity window.

The sticker must be attached directly to the vehicle in the prescribed place; carrying it loose or attaching it incorrectly does not count as compliant use. The e-vignette is linked to the registration plate instead, which is why many travellers prefer it when the car is not their own.

Do not confuse the motorway vignette with access to every Swiss road. Non-motorway pass roads such as Furka, Susten, Bernina and the historic Gotthard pass road are different questions from the motorway vignette itself, and separate operator charges can still exist elsewhere.

For the e-vignette, the official answer is simple: buy it through the FOCBS Via portal at via.admin.ch/shop/. The FAQ also warns that the FOCBS does not have official sales partners for the e-vignette, so third-party sites are not the official route.

For the sticker vignette, the official sources list post offices, most petrol stations and garages, TCS outlets and the road-traffic licensing offices in Switzerland. The R-15 directive also says the sticker can be bought at motorway border crossings and other designated customs offices.

Do not build your plan around buying "somewhere at the airport" later. If you know you will need motorway access, sort it before you enter a taxable road.

The vignette covers the Swiss taxable national roads themselves, including motorway tunnels that sit on those roads. In other words, the motorway vignette is the road charge for the network; it is not a per-tunnel ticket.

That does not mean every tunnel or mountain crossing in a Switzerland itinerary is free of separate charges. The Grand St Bernard Tunnel, for example, is run by its own operator and publishes separate tariffs. Car trains and some non-motorway cross-border facilities can also have their own prices.

The practical rule is simple: first ask whether the road is part of the Swiss taxable national-road network, then separately check whether your route includes an operator-run tunnel, car train or foreign toll road.

The official FOCBS pages repeatedly warn about online fraud, especially for the e-vignette. If you are buying digitally, use the Via portal rather than a random reseller page.

The second common mistake is attachment and timing. The sticker must be attached correctly before you use the taxable road. The R-15 directive also states that using a taxable road without a valid vignette carries a CHF 200 fine, and you still have to obtain the vignette immediately.

The border rule is also stricter than many articles suggest. The FOCBS FAQ says you generally cannot just use the motorway until the first exit without a vignette, except at the specifically named customs-office exceptions.

The FOCBS pages explain the road-charge rule itself, but they do not set one universal rental-car inclusion policy. That means the correct move is always to verify with your rental company whether your vehicle already has a sticker or a registered e-vignette before you use Swiss motorways.

If you pick up outside Switzerland, do not assume the Swiss vignette is already covered. Cross-border rentals can be perfectly fine, but you still need both legal permission from the rental company and the right road-charge setup for Switzerland.

The e-vignette can be convenient for rentals because it is linked to the number plate rather than a physical sticker, but only buy it if the rental company tells you that you need to handle the vignette yourself.