When do you need to renew your Hungarian motorway vignette?
Many drivers only think about their vignette once they're already on the road — but a few simple rules can help you avoid starting a trip with an expired one. This page summarises when and what to renew.
If you have an annual or county vignette
Annual and county vignettes don't expire at the end of the calendar year — they run through January 31st of the FOLLOWING year. So if you bought this year's vignette back in December, you don't need a new one on January 1st; it's still valid through the end of January. The reverse is also true: if you buy "this year's" annual vignette in December, it still only covers you through next January 31st — you'll need next year's vignette after that.
If you only drive occasionally, or mainly in summer
If you're only taking the motorway a handful of times a year — say, during a summer holiday — an annual vignette rarely pays off. A daily or 10-day vignette is usually cheaper if you only spend a few days on the motorway across the whole year. OptimÚt's official price list page shows the current prices, and the "How often do you drive this route?" calculator on the results page helps you work out which option actually pays off for your own habits.
What happens if your vignette expires before you renew it?
If you enter a tolled road without a vignette, you have 60 minutes to buy the one you need retroactively — miss that window, and the surcharge is 28,840 Ft (within 60 days) or 99,580 Ft (after 60 days), regardless of vehicle category.
How to find out exactly what you need
Open OptimÚt, enter your From/To — OptimÚt tells you whether you already have a valid vignette for the route, or what you should buy.