Guide
Tolls in Portugal with a hire car
Portugal has two kinds of toll road, and a hire car handles them differently. Since 1 January 2025 several motorways, including the A22 across the Algarve, no longer charge at all.
Checked 2026-11-05.
Short answer
- Take the hire company's toll device (Via Verde transponder). It works on every toll road and costs about €2 a day, usually capped for the whole rental.
- If you will only drive in the Algarve, Madeira or the Azores, you may not need it: the A22 is free and the islands have no tolls.
- Without a device, electronic-only gantries still record the plate. The bill goes to the hire company, which charges you the toll plus an admin fee.
Motorways that stopped charging in 2025
The 2025 State Budget ended tolls on the former "SCUT" motorways, mostly in the interior and the Algarve, from 1 January 2025:
| Motorway | Where |
|---|---|
| A22 | Algarve, Lagos to the Spanish border |
| A4 | Transmontana and the Marão tunnel (Amarante to Bragança) |
| A13 and A13-1 | Pinhal Interior |
| A23 | Beira Interior (Torres Novas to Guarda) |
| A24 | Interior Norte (Viseu to Chaves) |
| A25 | Aveiro to Vilar Formoso |
| A28 (part) | Esposende to Antas and Neiva to Darque, near Viana do Castelo |
Some old toll signs were left standing after the change. If the gantry is on one of these roads, you are not being charged.
Roads with toll booths
The main north–south motorways (A1 Lisbon–Porto, A2 Lisbon–Algarve, A5 to Cascais, A8 to Óbidos and others) have classic booths. Take a ticket on entry and pay on exit by card or cash, or drive through the green "V" lane if the car has a transponder. Lisbon's two Tagus bridges charge only northbound, into the city.
Electronic-only roads
Several motorways still charge but have no booths, only gantries marked "Electronic toll only" or "Apenas portagem eletrónica". Around Porto that includes the A41, A42, A29 and the A28 between Porto and Esposende. The gantry reads the transponder or photographs the number plate.
How the hire company's device works
Most companies in Portugal offer a Via Verde transponder, often already fixed behind the mirror. You pay a daily rental for it, typically around €1.50 to €4 depending on the company, usually with a maximum per rental. The tolls themselves are charged to your card after the rental, sometimes weeks later, with an itemised list.
Ask at the desk:
- the daily fee and the cap for the whole rental;
- whether tolls are charged at cost or with a per-toll admin fee;
- whether the device is switched on (some are kept in a foil pouch when you decline them).
If you decline the device
You can still use roads with booths and pay there. On electronic-only roads the toll is recorded against the plate and passed to the hire company, which adds its own handling fee, often several euros per toll. For a trip that includes the north, the device almost always works out cheaper.