Betsy_B

My husband and I are traveling next week to Switzerland and Austria and would like to know if you would advise us to get an international drivers license and a vignette. We drove throughout Italy last summer without one and didn't run into any problems.

Thanks!
Betsy

baby108

We were just in Germany and Austria in April and one must buy a vignette to use the highway in Austria. You can get one very easily at any gas station near the boarder or at the office at the boarder. The price of it depends on your stay. You can check the rental car you are picking up for any non-expired old ones on the windshield and if one is still good, you don't have to buy a new one. We went to Switzerland couple years ago and I remember a vigtnette is required also but it was a fixed price as far as I remember. My husband always get a int.license before the trips but never was being checked though. But it's only take a small fee at AAA to get one so it's probably a good idea to have one if anything happens.

chicagolori

We just returned from driving in both countries. It is highly recommended to get a vignette in both countries and the fines are very high if you dont have one.

Although they dont literally stop you at the border from one country to another, there are guards at each crossing who look at your car and wave you through. Our vignettes were visible.

We rented the car in SW so the car came with a Vignette. We bought a vignette for Austria at a gas station for the minimum stay (4 days I think) and it cost 8E.

WallyKringen

I would ask the rental company to give you a car that has the vignette for Austria and the vignette for Switzerland already affixed to the windshield (they stay with the vehicle and are not transferable). If you go to the Czech Republic, you'll need to buy theirs at the border, too.

If the rental company doesn't have that, how about asking for reimbursement, especially for the Swiss vignette which can only be bought for the duration of an entire calendar year (no matter how few days you'll be driving the car)? Can't hurt to ask...

It is technically feasible to get around secondary roads that don't require the vignette, but you'd need an excellent map, a patient co-driver-slash-pilot, and more luck and time than you're likely to have at your disposal.

WK

Budman

<"It is technically feasible to get around secondary roads that don't require the vignette, but you'd need an excellent map, a patient co-driver-slash-pilot, and more luck and time than you're likely to have at your disposal.">

Or a GPS which worked wonders in Switzerland. Never drove on any toll road, and my wife could enjoy the scenery without having to open a map.

ira

Hi BB,

An IDP is required in Austria.

It is like insurance, you only need it when you need it.