Hungary by car: what to know before you go

Hungary runs an electronic vignette system, so there's no sticker to buy and stick on your windscreen before you cross the border. Instead, the vignette is registered against your licence plate, and cameras along the motorway network check it automatically as you drive. That means the buying process happens entirely online or through an app, and you get a confirmation rather than a physical document to keep in the glovebox.

The vignette only covers motorways and expressways — the roads with the “M” designation on Hungarian maps. If your route sticks to national roads or you're driving through smaller towns and countryside, you won't need one at all, and a lot of scenic routes through Hungary genuinely avoid the motorway network entirely. It's worth pulling up your actual route on a map before assuming you need to buy anything, since paying for a vignette you don't end up using is a common and avoidable mistake.

One thing that catches people out: the vignette needs to be active before you enter the tolled road, not purchased retroactively after the fact. If you're planning to cross into Hungary and go straight onto the motorway, buy it in advance rather than at the border.