Frankfurt → Vienna: vignettes & tolls

Frankfurt – Nuremberg – Passau or Salzburg – Vienna runs almost entirely on German and Austrian motorways (A3/A8/A1), a straightforward single-day drive with only one border and one vignette to worry about. It is one of the most-driven business and family corridors between Germany and Austria.

Tips & tricks

• ✓Buy the 10-day digital vignette online before crossing at Passau or Salzburg — it is valid immediately if you set the start date, so there is no need to stop at the border.
• ✓The vignette does not cover the Brenner, Tauern or other tunnel sections — irrelevant on this specific route since it stays on free-flowing motorway, but worth knowing before any Alpine detour.

On the road — good to know

• •The Frankfurter Kreuz, where the A3 crosses the A5, is one of Germany's busiest interchanges and regularly slows traffic even outside rush hour; bridge repairs there in 2026 add overnight lane closures on top.
• •Between Nuremberg and Passau the A3 has long-term expansion works, so expect single-lane stretches near the Austrian border rather than a clean run-through.
• •Once past Suben into Austria the A1 (Innkreisautobahn/West Autobahn) runs fast and well-maintained, but there's no blanket Autobahn speed limit in Germany, only an advisory Richtgeschwindigkeit of 130 km/h — plenty of drivers cruise well above it, so mirror checks before overtaking matter more than the signs.
• •Fuel is usually noticeably cheaper in Germany than in Austria on this stretch, so many drivers top up the tank one last time before crossing at Suben rather than after.

Watch out for

• 🇦🇹The vignette does not cover Sondermaut sections like the Brenner or Tauern tunnels — drivers who only buy the vignette get fined at those separate toll points.