Driving in Portugal (2026)electronic tolls, Lisbon's low-emission zone, parking, fines and child seats

Checked on 10 October 2026. Laws below are quoted from the consolidated Código da Estrada and official toll, council and parking pages. Fines are legal ranges, not what a police officer will actually charge. Toll and parking prices change; check current before you drive.

The short answer

• Tolls: many Portuguese motorways have electronic gantries only, no booths. In a hire car the compulsory toll device pays for you [3]. In your own foreign car, set up EasyToll, a TollCard, Via Verde or a compatible EU device before you drive on them [1].
• Free since 2025: the A22 in the Algarve, plus the A23, A24, A13 (Torres Novas to Coimbra) and A13-1, parts of the A4, A25 and A28, under Lei n.º 37/2024 [2].
• Lisbon’s low-emission zone (ZER) only lets in cars meeting Euro 3 (Avenida da Liberdade and Baixa) or Euro 2 (the wider zone), on working days 07:00 to 21:00; in general that means cars built from 2000 or 1996 [4]. Hire cars are fine.
• Parking: Lisbon street parking is run by EMEL (app: ePark) [12][13]; Porto charges in zones I to IV on weekdays 09:00 to 19:00, paid by meter or the Telpark and Via Verde apps [15].
• Limits: 50 km/h in towns, 90 on ordinary roads, 100 on expressways, 120 on motorways; 0.5 g/l alcohol (0.2 for new and professional drivers); no hand-held phone [6][7].
• Kids: under 12 and under 135 cm must ride in a child seat, normally in the back [11].
• Carry a reflective vest and a warning triangle; €60 to €300 per missing item [10].

Planning a loop through the country by car: Portugal road trip.

Tolls: electronic gantries and how to pay

Portugal has two kinds of toll road [1]:

• Traditional toll plazas. You take a ticket and pay at the exit by cash or card. Nothing to set up.
• Electronic-only tolls. Gantries over the road read your plate; there is nowhere to stop and pay. A sign before the gantry shows the charge. Infraestruturas de Portugal’s toll site lists electronic-only stretches on, among others, the A4, A7, A8, A11, A16, A17, A19, A21, A28, A29, A33, A41 and A42 [1].

With a foreign-registered car, the official options (as listed on 10 October 2026) [1]:

Option	How it works	Cost listed [1]	Catch
EasyToll	Links a Visa, Mastercard or Maestro card to your plate, at an EasyToll station or online	€1 + €0.32 admin per trip	Valid 30 days; not on the Lusoponte bridges
TollCard	Prepaid card (€5, €10, €20 or €40), activated by text message; from CTT post offices, service areas or online	€1 + €0.32 admin per trip	Balance valid 1 year; not on the Lusoponte bridges
Go Toll (Via Verde)	Online subscription by card or direct debit	€0.77 in months of use + €0.32 per trip	Online only
Go Toll & Beyond (Via Verde)	Subscription with a Via Verde transponder	€1.99 a month in months of use, no admin fee	Optional roaming add-on for Spain and France
EU toll device	A device from another country that is interoperable in Portugal	Set by the issuer	Confirm activation with your issuer first

At traditional plazas, use the lanes marked for electronic payment if you rely on one of these [1]. Lisbon’s two Tagus bridges (25 de Abril and Vasco da Gama) are run by Lusoponte and are excluded from EasyToll and TollCard [1]; Via Verde and interoperable devices are listed as valid on the whole network [1].

If you drove through without paying: the toll site says to settle with the operator of that stretch, and lists the payment portals of Ascendi, Globalvia, Vialivre and Via Verde [1]. Do it promptly; the site does not state a deadline for foreign plates. For Portuguese plates without a device, post-payment at CTT or Payshop must be made within 15 working days [1].

Before a long drive, the official toll simulator (portagens.infraestruturasdeportugal.pt, linked from [1]) gives the total for your route. We did not run route totals for this page.

Which motorways are free since 2025

Since 1 January 2025, under Lei n.º 37/2024, these former SCUT motorways charge no tolls [2]:

• A22 (Via do Infante, Algarve)
• A23 (Beira Interior), A24 (Interior Norte)
• A13 between Torres Novas and Coimbra, and A13-1 (Pinhal Interior)
• A4 in the Transmontana concession and the Marão tunnel
• A25 (Beiras Litoral e Alta); the stretches between Aveiro and Albergaria (A1), in the Costa da Prata concession, followed on 1 January 2026, according to Infraestruturas de Portugal [17]
• A28 (Minho), only from Esposende to Antas and from Neiva to Darque

The A13 between Santarém and Marateca (Brisa) is still tolled [2], and so are the classic Brisa motorways such as the A1 (Lisbon-Porto) and the A2 (Lisbon-Algarve), whose 2026 tolls went up in January, according to ECO (31 December 2025) [16]. Guides written before 2025 that tell you to sort out A22 tolls are out of date; the Algarve detail is in our Algarve car hire guide.

Hire cars and the toll device

Decreto-Lei n.º 84-C/2022 requires rental cars in Portugal to carry an electronic toll device [3][18]. The company bills the tolls used plus any administrative costs for the toll service; articles 27 and 43 leave those costs to a ministerial order and link them to use of the service. Check the rental terms for the charges quoted by your company. [18] Our Algarve car hire guide compares examples, and covers excess insurance, deposits and licences. Picking up in Lisbon instead: Lisbon airport car hire adds the bridge tolls into the city and the ZER.

What to check at the desk:

1. The device is fitted and active.
2. The device fee per day and its cap.
3. How and when tolls are billed to your card.

Lisbon’s low-emission zone (ZER)

Lisbon’s ZER started in 2011 on the Avenida da Liberdade and Baixa axis. Lisbon City Council describes the third phase as the one in force (page read 10 October 2026) [4]:

Zone	Area	Who may drive in, working days 07:00 to 21:00
Zone 1	Avenida da Liberdade and Baixa axis	Euro 3 or newer: in general cars built from January 2000
Zone 2	South of Avenida de Ceuta, Eixo Norte-Sul, Avenida das Forças Armadas, Avenida EUA, Avenida Marechal António Spínola and Avenida Infante Dom Henrique	Euro 2 or newer: in general cars built from January 1996

In practice this matters only if you drive your own older car (or a classic camper) into the centre. There is no sticker to buy. We did not find the fine amount or how the zone is enforced on the council’s page.

Parking in Lisbon and Porto

Lisbon (EMEL). Street parking is run by the city company EMEL, with colour-coded zones (green, yellow, red, brown) that differ in price and maximum stay [12]:

• EMEL says its tariffs are being updated from 4 August 2026, in phases, so some meters and apps may still charge the old rate [12]. The new hourly rates are published only as an image on EMEL’s page; a July 2026 press report of the council proposal gave €0.85 (green), €1.25 (yellow), €1.70 (red) and €2.10 (brown) an hour [14]. Check the meter or app.
• Daily ticket zones: a fixed €2.15 (green) or €3.15 (yellow) for the whole day, Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 19:00, in signed zones near public transport [12].
• ePark app: start, extend and stop parking from your phone; you pay only the minutes used after a 15-minute minimum; top up by Multibanco, PayPal or credit card [13]. EMEL’s page does not say whether a foreign phone number or plate works; we did not test it.

Porto. Street parking is paid in zones I to IV, Monday to Friday 09:00 to 19:00, and in zone I also on Saturdays 11:00 to 16:00, except public holidays. Maximum stay is 2 to 10 hours as signed. Pay at the street machine or with the Telpark or Via Verde apps [15]. Hourly rates listed by the city on 10 October 2026: €1.20 (zone I), €0.60 (zone II), €0.40 (zones III and IV); daily tickets €3.60 (zone II) and €2.40 (zone III) [15].

Elsewhere, most towns run their own paid zones, often through a municipal company; follow the street signs and meters. For a city stay in Lisbon or Porto, many visitors find public transport easier than parking; see the regional pages.

Speed, alcohol, phones: the rules and the fines

Speed limits for cars without a trailer (Código da Estrada, art. 27, as republished by ANSR) [6]:

Road	Limit
Shared-space zone (zona de coexistência)	20 km/h
Built-up area	50 km/h
Other roads	90 km/h
Roads reserved for motor vehicles	100 km/h
Motorways	120 km/h (minimum 50 km/h [5])

Speeding fines for cars [5]: €60 to €300 for up to 20 km/h over in town (30 km/h outside), rising to €500 to €2,500 for more than 60 km/h over in town (80 km/h outside). Average-speed sections count: if your average between two points is too high, that is an offence too [5].

Alcohol (art. 81) [7]: the limit is 0.5 g/l of blood alcohol, and 0.2 g/l for drivers in their probationary period and for drivers of taxis, ride-hailing (TVDE) cars, buses, lorries, school transport and emergency vehicles. Fines: €250 to €1,250 from 0.5 g/l and €500 to €2,500 from 0.8 g/l (0.2 and 0.5 g/l for the stricter group) [7]. Visit Portugal adds that 1.2 g/l or more is a crime that can mean prison and a driving ban [9].

Phones (art. 84) [7]: you may not use or handle a phone or headphones continuously while driving. A single earpiece or a hands-free system that does not need continuous handling is allowed. Fine: €250 to €1,250. Radar detectors are banned (€500 to €2,500 and confiscation) [7].

Paying a fine as a visitor (art. 173) [8]: if you are stopped and the offence is recorded on the spot, you must pay a deposit equal to the minimum fine, immediately or within 48 hours. If you do not, police can provisionally take your driving licence, or the car’s papers if the fine concerns the vehicle, and issue a temporary replacement. If you later do not contest it, the deposit becomes the payment. Visit Portugal confirms on-the-spot fines are issued [9]. Carry a card that works for this.

What to carry in the car

• Warning triangle and reflective vest, both approved models, in every car; €60 to €300 per missing item. Put the vest on before you get out to place the triangle (at least 30 m behind the car) or repair the car; not doing so is €120 to €600 [10].
• Documents: ID or passport, driving licence, insurance certificate, proof of inspection and the registration papers or equivalent; Visit Portugal lists these as compulsory [9]. In a hire car the papers come with the car.
• Licence rules for UK and US drivers, and minimum rental ages, are in our Algarve car hire guide.

Child seats

Article 55 of the Código da Estrada [11][6]:

• Children under 12 and shorter than 135 cm must use an approved child restraint suited to their size and weight.
• They ride in the back seat. Exceptions: a child under 3 in a rear-facing seat in the front, with the passenger airbag switched off; or a child of 3 or more when the car has no back seat or no rear seat belts.
• In a car without seat belts, children under 3 may not travel at all.
• Fine: €120 to €600 per child [11].

If you hire, decide early whether to rent seats or bring your own, and check the seat (label, size, fit) before you drive off. More for families in the Algarve with kids.

Staying connected on the road

Navigation and the ePark or Telpark apps need mobile data. EU roaming covers EU SIMs; for other visitors, compare a Portuguese eSIM or prepaid SIM in our Portugal eSIM guide.

Sources

1. Portugal Tolls (Infraestruturas de Portugal), accessed 10 October 2026.
2. ANTRAM: Fim das portagens nas ex-SCUT (Lei n.º 37/2024), accessed 10 October 2026.
3. Decreto-Lei n.º 84-C/2022 (PGD Lisboa), art. 27.º, accessed 10 October 2026.
4. Lisbon City Council: Private vehicle, Reduced Emission Zones, accessed 10 October 2026.
5. Código da Estrada, art. 27.º (PGD Lisboa), accessed 10 October 2026.
6. ANSR: republication of the Código da Estrada (PDF, July 2026), accessed 10 October 2026.
7. Código da Estrada, art. 81.º and 84.º (PGD Lisboa), accessed 10 October 2026.
8. Código da Estrada, art. 173.º (PGD Lisboa), accessed 10 October 2026.
9. Visit Portugal: Driving, accessed 10 October 2026.
10. Código da Estrada, art. 88.º (PGD Lisboa), accessed 10 October 2026.
11. Código da Estrada, art. 55.º (PGD Lisboa), accessed 10 October 2026.
12. EMEL: Tarifários, accessed 10 October 2026.
13. EMEL: ePark, accessed 10 October 2026.
14. Contas Poupança: Estacionar em Lisboa vai ficar mais caro (20 July 2026), press, accessed 10 October 2026.
15. Porto City Council: Zonas com estacionamento pago, accessed 10 October 2026.
16. ECO: 2026 toll increases on the A1 and A2 (31 December 2025), accessed 10 October 2026.
17. Infraestruturas de Portugal: Portagens, accessed 10 October 2026.
18. Diário da República: Decreto-Lei n.º 84-C/2022, art. 27.º, accessed 11 October 2026.