Driving abroad
Driving in Austria means driving on the right, with a drink drive limit of 0.05 percent and motorway speeds of 130 km/h. Everything below is the practical version, the things that actually cost visitors money or time.
The Grossglockner and the Timmelsjoch are toll roads separate from the vignette, and both shut for the winter.
Once the paperwork is sorted, this is what you came for. Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse, Timmelsjoch Hochalpenstrasse, Silvretta Hochalpenstrasse are among the highest scoring roads we hold in Austria, and all of them are open to any road legal car.
Motorway limit
130 km/h
Outside towns
100 km/h
Built up areas
50 km/h
Drink drive limit
0.05 percent
Checked by the Drivers Atlas desk
Scored and written by the Drivers Atlas editorial desk, drawing on driven routes across the UK and Europe, mapping data and member road reports. A planning summary, not legal advice. Check the national road authority before you travel. How we score roads.
Last reviewed 28 March 2026
The detail
A vignette is required on motorways, sold in ten day, two month and annual form, and several alpine tunnels and panoramic roads carry a separate toll on top.
Winter tyres are compulsory from 1 November to 15 April in wintry conditions.
Some Tyrol and Salzburg valleys run night driving bans and sectoral lorry bans that also affect diversion routes.
UK and EU licences are accepted.
Reflective jacket, Warning triangle, First aid kit
112
Now the good part
Salzburg and Carinthia, Austria
Austria's grandest high alpine road climbs to Franz Josefs Hohe beneath the country's tallest peak.
Tyrol and South Tyrol
A high toll road crossing into Italy with a dramatic glass museum perched at the summit.
Vorarlberg and Tyrol, Austria
Thirty four hairpins climb past the turquoise Silvretta reservoir to a glacier ringed summit.
Tyrol
Twenty nine hairpins to a glacier at 2750 metres, one of the great dead end drives.
Tyrol
A narrow Tyrolean pass of relentless corners, a local secret for years.
Carinthia
Six tunnels and a wall of hairpins to Austria's highest dam.
Common questions
Motorways 130 km/h, main roads outside towns 100 km/h, and built up areas 50 km/h. Lower limits are posted and always take priority.
A vignette is required on motorways, sold in ten day, two month and annual form, and several alpine tunnels and panoramic roads carry a separate toll on top.
0.05 percent. Roadside testing is routine and the safest approach on a driving tour is nothing at all before you drive.
Winter tyres are compulsory from 1 November to 15 April in wintry conditions.
Reflective jacket, Warning triangle, First aid kit. Emergency number is 112.
UK and EU licences are accepted.