Portugal Toll Guide for Dummies

Toll systems in Portugal

The first thing to keep in mind is that tolls only affect highways. If we travel on secondary roads and visit small villages we will not have to pay any toll. In Portugal we will find different types of tolls and different ways to pay a toll. Next, let’s see the types of tolls in Portugal:.

Conventional (manual)

This is the traditional manual toll where the typical barriers are installed where you pay the corresponding amount in the booth. You get there and pay in cash or by card. I always pay by card and I have never had any problems, anyway, try to carry enough cash in case there are still some tolls where only Multibanco cards are allowed (neither VISA, MasterCard, American, etc.).

List of highways with conventional (manual) toll system:

• A1 - Oporto-Lisboa
• A2 - Albufeira-Lisboa
• A3 - Valença-Oporto
• A4 - from A3 to Amarante
• A5 - Lisbon-Cascais
• A6 - Elvas-Lisbon
• A7 - Vila de Conde-Vila Pouca de Aguiar
• A8 - Lisbon-Leiria-South Leiria
• A9 - Outer Lisbon ring road
• A10 - Bucelas-Benavente
• A11 - Barcelos-Penafiel
• A12 - Lisbon- Setúbal
• A13 - Almeirim- Marateca
• A14 - Figueira da Foz- Coímbra
• A15 - Óbidos-Santarem
• A16 - Alcabideche-CRIL
• A17 - Mira-Leiria
• A21 - Ericeira-A8

Electronic Toll Roads

This is a toll without barriers. As we drive we will pass special arches equipped with cameras that read the license plate of our vehicle, marking that we have traveled a certain stretch. The more arches we pass, the more we will have to pay.

This type of toll is the one that raises the most doubts since there are different ways to pay it. This is important because, for example, we can enter a road without there being a way to pay for it because there is no post to register the car’s license plate… and if we have not previously configured it we will not be able to pay in one way and we will have to pay in another way.

First let’s see which highways have this toll system.

• A24 - Chaves - Viseu
• A28 - Oporto - Caminha
• A4 - Oporto - Amarante - Bragança
• A41 - Oporto - Oporto Ring Road
• A42 - Alfenaa - Lousada
• A17 - Mira - Aveiro
• A29 - Estarreja - Vila Nova de Gaia
• A25 - Aveiro and its beaches - Vilar Formoso
• A23 - Torres Novas - Guarda
• IC3 - from A23 freeway to Tomar
• A22 - Lagos - Castro Marim

How can we pay on Portugal’s electronic toll highways?

Each traveler can choose the one that best suits his type of travel and the one that is more economical depending on the use he is going to make.

EasyToll

It is the most popular way to pay electronic tolls and the most recommended for tourists. The EasyToll system is an automatic electronic toll payment solution with the association of a bank card (Mastercard, Visa and Maestro) to the car’s license plate number.

This association can be done in two ways: physical and online.

EasyToll - Physical association

At the beginning of some of the toll highways in Portugal, but not all of them, there is an area with physical terminals where you can associate the bank card to the car’s license plate. It is necessary to leave the road to a special area where we can make the procedure. Areas where we can make the configuration of the service (associate the license plate to your card):

• A28 - Viana do Castelo service station next to the Cepsa gas station.
• A24 - 3,5 km from the border between Chaves (Portugal) and Verin (Ourense)
• A25 - Alto de Leomil service station, after crossing the border in Salamanca; next to the border of Fuentes de Oñoro (Salamanca) and Vilar Formoso (Portugal).
• A22 - next to the border Castro Marim (Algarve) and Ayamonte (Huelva)

In the machine a credit card is introduced and a camera reads the vehicle license plate to associate them. In this way, each time we pass under an arch, the corresponding amount will be added and charged to the card. The association of the card and the license plate is valid for 30 days. This association or adhesion can be modified or changed at any time.

The machine issues a voucher to show that the transaction has been completed. It is important to keep it for more than a month in case we have problems.

EasyToll - Online

We can also do the online membership through this website. There we go to the registration section where we will introduce the data of:

• The license plate of our vehicle (also for rent)
• Our email address
• The data of the bank card

If you have entered the previous toll website, you will have already seen the other 3 modalities to pay tolls:

• Prepaid card or Tollcard
• 3 days Virtual Card
• Multiviajes Virtual Card

Let’s see what they consist of.

Prepaid card or Tollcard

It is a prepaid card in which the driver has the possibility of acquiring a card pre-loaded with 5, 10, 20 or 40 euros from which the balance is spent when using the tolls. Therefore, before buying it you have to estimate how much the tolls are going to cost you and ask for the card that best suits your spending.

The card is purchased before the trip at another website. There we will enter our vehicle details, our cell phone number and payment details.

In this way the Tollcard balance will be associated with the license plate number of our vehicle. As we drive along the highways, the amount of each arc is deducted from the amount on the card.

The Tollcard can also be bought in the offices of Correios de Portugal (CTT) and in some gas stations.

• All the service areas of the A23
• All A22 service areas
• Celorico, Vouzela and Aveiro service areas on the A25
• Service areas of Viana do Castelo and Vila do Conde of A28
• Almodôvar service area of the A2
• Estremoz service area of the A6
• Service area of Barcelos on the A3
• Seide service area of the A7

3-day virtual card (TollService)

This is a card that allows to circulate without any limits on electronic payment Portuguese highways for three days. The card costs €20 plus the membership fee of €0.74 and can be obtained from the Correios de Portugal (CTT) website.

Of course, the 3-day virtual card is also associated with a license plate. However, it has a limitation, it can only be purchased a maximum of 6 times a year for each vehicle.

Virtual Multi-Viagem card (Virtual Multi-Viagem)

This is a prepaid card destined for specific routes. It is only valid for the tolls of the highways that give access to the Sá Carneiro de Oporto airport from Galicia and the Faro airport from Andalusia. It can also be purchased on the website of Correios de Portugal. In addition to the cost of the journey, you have to pay 0.74 euros as a membership fee and 0.32 euros as an administrative fee. After choosing the route and the date on which it will be made, the amount of the trip is paid. It can be purchased one way or round trip:

• Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (via A28/A41 or via A41/A42).
• Faro Airport (via A22).

VIA-T

This is an alternative to all the toll systems we have just seen VIA-T devices carried inside the vehicle allow electronic tolling. You approach the toll booth and the fee is automatically debited from your card or bank account. These devices are well known to Spanish hauliers and drivers who have to spend many hours on the road.

It works in the same way as the system that works in Spain, but it is advisable to inform the issuing entity of your VIA T of your intention to use it in Portugal.

To use it you have to circulate on:

• If the road is a conventional toll road: the lane where the booths are located. There are some signs indicating “reserved to adherents”, there are no barriers.
• If the road is an electronic toll road: it does not matter which lane is used.

Toll road map of Portugal

Below, I leave you a map with the toll roads of Portugal, so you can see the itinerary that suits you to use.

General recommendations

Next, I will order the different systems from easiest to hardest:

1. The easiest and most convenient system is the VIA T. It works for both electronic and conventional tolls, but most of us don’t have the device and have to rent it. In general, if we do not already have it, it is not cost-effective.
2. The next easiest system is the EasyToll. With it, you associate a card with the vehicle’s license plate number and you can forget about it for the whole trip (except for conventional tolls). You can link the vehicle with the bank card physically in 4 points of the country or online.
3. The Prepaid card or Tollcard comes in handy for people who travel to the neighboring country at different times of the year for short trips.
4. The 3-day virtual card (TollService) is perfect for weekend getaways where we are going to travel many kilometers on highways with electronic payment.

Frequently asked questions and most popular routes

Do tolls in Portugal carry a fine?

In Portugal, passing without paying a toll is considered a fiscal infraction, and can be punished with a penalty of up to ten times the amount not paid, with a minimum of 25 euros. Although you can avoid paying it at first, if they claim it through the courts we would have to pay a hefty fine, so it is better not to risk it.

What do I do if I have not been able to pay the toll?

Don’t worry, you can pay it later. However, it is necessary to take into account which roads we have used to go to the correct website (concessionaires of the electronic payment highways).

• On the website of Via Livre it is possible to pay the tolls of the A28 (Porto - Caminha) and A22 (Lagos - Castro Marim) highways.
• On the website of Glovalvia you can do the same for the A23 (Torres Novas - Guarda).
• On the website of Ascendi payments are made for the roads they manage, including the A25 (Aveiro and its beaches - Vilar Formoso), the A41 (Oporto ring road), the A17 (Mira - Aveiro) and the A29 (Estarreja - Vila Nova de Gaia), among others.
• There is another website called Pagamento de Portagens which is used to check if there is any outstanding payment on the highways managed by the three companies mentioned above: Ascendi, Via Livre and Globalvia. If there is such a debt, the web redirects the user to the corresponding concessionaire to make the payment. In all cases it is important to know that, if the trip was made less than thirty days ago, it is possible that it does not appear in any of these portals. For this reason it is necessary to make the consultation after one month.

How can I calculate how much the tolls will cost me?

It is a bit of a mess but if you want you can use the service calculator of portugaltolls. Anyway, keep reading and I will tell you about the most common routes.

How do I associate the card with EasyToll?

It is very easy. When you get to the areas where you can configure the service (see above in which borders you can do it) you will see on the roadside a kind of bus stops, it is there where the operation is done. I think I remember that there is a message similar to “detour foreign vehicles”. The machine gives you a voucher with the time, day, car registration number and the card number with asterisks. It is a good idea to check that everything is correct.

If I am going from Madrid to Lisbon, how do I pay the toll and how much does it cost?

If you enter through Badajoz (the most normal way) the toll is conventional (manual) and costs about 17€ approximately. To cross the bridges to the city you will have to pay another toll, the amount of which depends on the bridge you cross, but it is usually around 4€. So in the end you will spend about 20€ in tolls (each way).

You have to take into account that if you move within the country and use a toll road, you will have to use a prepaid system, since you will not have associated the license plate of your car to any card (EasyToll system). This is the most problematic situation, as many people think that you will be able to make the EasyToll or pay at the conventional toll booths, but there are many times that you will not be able to do it and if you have not taken out a prepaid system (TollService or TollCard) it is very possible that you will be fined.

I am going to the Algarve, how much does the toll cost me?

If you are going to the Algarve and you access Portugal from Ayamonte (Huelva); you will have a zone to make the toll through EasyToll. There you will associate your card to the license plate of your vehicle. The price… if you are going to drive through the Algarve from one end to the other, the price is a little less than 10€ (in each direction). However, there is also a national road, the N-125, which runs through the Algarve from end to end, and it is free. It is a bit slower but passes through very picturesque villages.

If you go to Lisbon before and then go down the coast it will be much more expensive. Also keep in mind that if you enter from Badajoz you will have to pay conventional toll and prepaid toll (TollService or TollCard).

I’m going from Plasencia to Nazaré, what toll will I find?

Unfortunately there is no EasyToll toll at the border so you will have to use a prepaid system (TollService or TollCard) to travel on the A23. If you are not in a hurry, you can take the conventional roads through very interesting villages.

Update

Recently more than 30 speed cameras have been installed on Portuguese roads. Take a look at the link to see if you get caught en route (as it is possible that you might get caught if you don’t have the updated speed camera database).