Vignettes

Just to add to my previous, here's the sort of sign you should be looking out for ...



... anything else? :)

Jan

Jan I Stenmark wrote:Yep, just before Kufstein there is a motorway service station :

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Kufstein,+Tyrol,+Austria&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=Fby01QIdd4i4AA&ll=47.612094,12.204952&spn=0.020107,0.055618&t=h&z=15

Jan

Vielen dank Jan.

Brilliant Jan! I shall keep my eyes peeled for that sign!

For Switzerland: as mentioned above, it's 40 CHF for a year. Officially it's mandatory just for motorways, but you'll have to take them to go to any ski resort.
All Swiss rental cars come with the vignette. If you cross the border with a rental car from another country (or your own), the Swiss border control will stop you, and make you pay (this is usual, so don't feel offended), otherwise you can't enter the country (very organized people the Swiss, don't you reckon?).

To use a Motorway in Switzerland you need to purchase a Vignette. If you don't intend to use the Motorway, you don't need one. Switzerland has a perfectly good set of main roads and lots of locals don't buy a Vignette because they only drive locally, and don't bother with the Motorway. If you enter Switzerland at a non motorway entry point you won't be stopped and obliged to buy one, since it is not a legal requirement to display one to drive on ordinary roads.

If you enter at Bardonnex (Geneva)you will likely find the border patrol very well organised at spotting cars without vignettes. Have the money ready! You will then be entering Switzerland on the motorway. It is possible to get back to Geneva Airport without using the Bardonnex entry point, which is useful if you have a French registered hire car.

The stickers are very difficult to swop between cars are they disintergrate when you try and peel them off, so the one you buy is yours' to keep unless you are very skilled. There are fines for not sticking them on properly, to stop folks selling them on, when they leave Switzerland.

Each Vignette has a colour code and the year, this years' is yellow and has 08 on it. The validity is from 1 Dec 07 to 31 Jan 09. There is no short term Vignette unlike Austria. Best visit more often to get better value, I know I do :D

Great information here, can someone colate all the separate bits please?

Fine in Austria for driving on the autobahn without a vignette is 120 Euros.

As said previously, I never bother with a vignette since the motorway distance from Kufstein to Woergl is only 15km. It is only a further 15km from Woergl to the Zillertal turn off. The loss in speed is somewhat mitigated since the main road distances for both legs is only 14km. The main reason that I go by old road is because it passes through or by interesting villages, and my Edinburgh~Munich flights allow road travel in daylight.

I guess the journey up the Ziller valley is more of a time issue, you have 29km, we have only 7km from Woergl to Niederau.

Hmm, so that makes it 7+14+29 = 50km Mahrhofen to Niederau....

If you enter Austria on the A3 at Wörth, there is no need to stop at the service station before the border.

At the border crossing there is a seperate lane with a drive through kiosk for buying Vignettes.

Dave Mac wrote:Great information here, can someone colate all the separate bits please?

Fine in Austria for driving on the autobahn without a vignette is 120 Euros.

As said previously, I never bother with a vignette since the motorway distance from Kufstein to Woergl is only 15km. It is only a further 15km from Woergl to the Zillertal turn off. The loss in speed is somewhat mitigated since the main road distances for both legs is only 14km. The main reason that I go by old road is because it passes through or by interesting villages, and my Edinburgh~Munich flights allow road travel in daylight.

I guess the journey up the Ziller valley is more of a time issue, you have 29km, we have only 7km from Woergl to Niederau.

Hmm, so that makes it 7+14+29 = 50km Mahrhofen to Niederau....

Interesting stuff Dave. To be honest, the small cost (of which I was previously unaware) of a 10 day Vignette suggests to me it is worth sticking to the Motorway. Going back to Munich I will be in more of a hurry than getting to Mayrhofen, due to flight times etc, although I may well take the more scenic route in. We are talking about approx 45km of motorway to the German border. The last bit up the Ziller valley is around a further 29km, which has to be taken on the 169 anyway. The journey from Mayrhofen to the motorway junction near Jenbach usually takes around 25 minutes, so another half an hour to the German border I reckon. Last time we did the journey by bus, it took around 2 and a half hours to Munich Airport, so if I allow that I should be ok.
Travelling to Mayrhofen is on a Friday morning/lunchtime, and going back to Munich will be a Wednesday morning (NYE), so I dont expect traffic to be a particular issue.
Some really useful info on this thread. Thanks everyone.