Which situation are you in?
Portugal has two kinds of motorway toll. Traditional plazas, as on the A1 to Porto and the A2 to the Algarve, have booths plus Via Verde lanes. Electronic-only roads have gantries and no booths at all. Signs at the start of an electronic-only section warn you. Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP), the state road company, publishes maps of these toll points.
| Your car | Booth plazas (A1, A2) | Electronic-only gantries | What to check at pickup |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rented in Portugal, device fitted | Use the Via Verde lane | Pays automatically | The device is on the windscreen; the daily fee on the contract |
| Rented in Portugal, you use a manual lane | Pay cash or card at the booth | Still pays through the device | Nothing extra |
| Rented in Spain or elsewhere, no Portuguese device | Pay at the booth | Needs Easytoll, Tollcard or a Via Verde subscription | Whether the company allows Portugal and has a toll solution |
For a Portuguese rental, the law does the work. Article 27 of Decree-Law 84-C/2022 requires rental companies to equip every car with a toll device. Customers join the toll payment service automatically, and the contract must say so. The company may bill only the tolls you actually use, plus administrative costs.
Companies price that service differently. Hertz Portugal charges €2.21 a day, capped at €22.14 per rental, and refunds the fee 10 days after the contract closes if no toll was recorded. Europcar Portugal's terms (21 January 2025) also make the service compulsory. They charge the tolls and administrative costs to your card once the toll operators report them, and refund the service charge if you used no electronic tolls.
Which Portuguese motorways no longer charge tolls?
Law 37/2024 abolished tolls from 1 January 2025 on:
- A4 Transmontana and the Marão tunnel
- A13 and A13-1 Pinhal Interior
- A22 Algarve (Via do Infante)
- A23 Beira Interior
- A24 Interior Norte
- A25 Beiras Litoral e Alta
- A28 Litoral Norte, between Esposende and Antas and between Neiva and Darque
Older guides that warn about paying for the A22 across the Algarve are out of date. The A2 motorway from Lisbon to the Algarve still has booth tolls.
How much are tolls from Lisbon to Porto and the Algarve?
These are class 1 fares from Brisa's tariff table, VAT included, read in September 2026. Class 1 covers vehicles under 1.10 m high, which includes ordinary rental cars. The fares run between mainline toll plazas: Alverca, just north of Lisbon, and Grijó, just south of Porto, on the A1; Coina, south of the Tagus, and Paderne, in the Algarve, on the A2.
| Route | Toll plazas | Class 1 |
|---|---|---|
| Lisbon to Porto, A1 | Alverca to Grijó | €25.05 |
| Lisbon to the Algarve, A2 | Coina to Paderne | €23.80 |
Brisa rounds each fare to the nearest €0.05. Bridge tolls and any electronic-only roads on your route come on top, and the device handles those too.
Worked example: a week with two long drives
A visitor rents a car in Lisbon for seven days, drives to Porto and back, then to the Algarve and back.
- A1 both ways: 2 × €25.05 = €50.10
- A2 both ways: 2 × €23.80 = €47.60
- Tolls: €97.70
- Service fee at Hertz's published rate: 7 × €2.21 = €15.47, under the €22.14 cap
The total billed after the rental is about €113.17. The A22 along the Algarve coast adds nothing, because it has been free since 2025. With a company that bills by the trip instead of by the day, the service charge will differ, so compare the terms before you book.
How does a foreign-plated car pay Portugal's electronic tolls?
Traditional booths accept cash and cards. Electronic-only gantries do not, and a foreign-registered car needs one of these methods before it passes under one. The prices are from IP's PT Tolls page, read in September 2026.
| Option | How it works | Cost | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easytoll | Links a Visa, Mastercard or Maestro card to the plate | €1 sign-up plus €0.32 a trip | 30 days; not valid on the Lusoponte bridges |
| Tollcard | Prepaid card of €5, €10, €20 or €40, activated by text message | €0.32 a trip | Balance valid 1 year; not valid on the Lusoponte bridges |
| Via Verde Go Toll | Plate-based subscription, no device | €0.77 a month in use plus €0.32 a trip | Online only |
| Via Verde Go Toll & Beyond | Device by subscription | €1.99 a month in use | Whole network |
The Via Verde device has to be posted to you. Via Verde Visitors quotes 2 working days for express delivery within mainland Portugal and up to 15 working days for international shipping, so it suits longer stays. For a short trip across the border, Easytoll or Tollcard is quicker to set up.
What happens if a toll goes unpaid in Portugal?
If you drive a foreign-plated car through an electronic-only section without a payment method, IP's advice is to settle directly with the operator of that road through its payment portal. Pay quickly, because penalties escalate. According to the Ordem dos Advogados, the rules in force since 1 July 2024 set the fine for an unpaid electronic toll at 5 to 10 times the toll. It is never less than €25, and administrative costs are added. Paying within 10 days halves the fine.
Portuguese-plated cars without a device can post-pay at CTT post offices, Payshop agents or by Multibanco reference. According to CTT, a trip can take up to 48 working hours to appear, and you then have 15 working days to pay. IP limits this post-payment route to Portuguese plates, and it adds €0.32 per trip, up to €2.56 per payment. A rental car's device makes this unnecessary. If a toll cannot be collected through the rental contract, the decree-law makes the rental company pay it, and the company then passes it on. Europcar's terms allow up to €40 per toll or fine case in administrative costs on top.
For licence, age, insurance and speed-limit rules when you pick the car up, see renting a car in Portugal as a visitor. If you need cash for a manual booth, see Multibanco, cards and ATMs in Portugal.