There are no tolls on the A22 in 2026. The Algarve motorway has cost €0 since 1 January 2025. Law 37/2024 abolished the charges on the whole road, from Bensafrim near Lagos to the Spanish border at Castro Marim, and it applies to every vehicle: rental cars, foreign plates and motorhomes. The drive that cost €4.65 end to end in 2024 is now free. Two things still cost money around it. The A2 from Lisbon is €23.80 each way, and rental companies charge a toll device fee of about €2.20 a day, which you can usually avoid if you never leave the Algarve.
No. Law 37/2024 of 7 August 2024 ended toll collection on seven former SCUT motorways, and its last article sets the date: 1 January 2025. The A22 is on the list as “A22, Algarve”, together with the A4 (Transmontana and Marão Tunnel), the A13 and A13-1, the A23, the A24, the A25 and two sections of the A28.
We checked three official sources on 11 October 2026 to see whether anything has changed since. The 2026 toll tables of IMT, the Portuguese transport regulator, list every tolled section in the country and contain no A22 rates. The 2026 toll map of Infraestruturas de Portugal draws the whole A22 as “No Toll”. And PT Tolls, the state site for foreign drivers, no longer names any Algarve motorway among the roads with electronic tolls. We found no proposal to bring the charge back.
| A22 (Via do Infante) | Until 31 December 2024 | Since 1 January 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Toll, class 1 car, end to end | €4.65 (€6.60 in 2023) | €0 |
| How it was paid | Electronic only, no booths | Nothing to pay |
| Rental car | Toll device needed | Device not used on the A22 |
| Foreign-plated car | EasyToll, Toll Card or similar | No registration needed |
| Tolled sections | 10 | 0 |
A22 toll checker: pick your drive
Junction names follow the official section list. The 2024 column shows what the same stretch cost in the last year of tolls, for a class 1 car.
The Algarve itself is toll-free. The costs start when you arrive from Lisbon or drive back there.
| Road | Stretch | Class 1 car, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| A22 | Bensafrim (Lagos) to Castro Marim (border) | €0 |
| A2 | Fogueteiro to Paderne, 13 sections, 225 km | €23.80 |
| 25 de Abril Bridge | Almada to Lisbon, charged northbound only | €2.25 |
| Vasco da Gama Bridge | Montijo to Lisbon, charged northbound only | €3.40 |
| A-49 (Spain) | Seville, Huelva, Portuguese border | €0 |
So a Lisbon to Algarve return costs €49.85 in tolls: €23.80 down, €23.80 back and €2.25 for the bridge into the city. The A2 has classic toll plazas where you take a ticket and pay by card or cash at the exit, and a rental car’s device opens the green Via Verde lane. Our Portugal toll calculator adds fuel to the same figures, and the guide to tolls in Portugal covers the rest of the country.
If you only want the Algarve, landing in Faro saves you those €49.85 and about 450 km of motorway. See what it costs in our guide to car rental at Faro Airport.
Since 1 January 2023, every rental car in Portugal has to carry an electronic toll device (Decree-Law 84-C/2022). You cannot hand it back at the desk, and with most big brands you are enrolled automatically. The device itself is not the issue. The daily fee for it is, because on an Algarve trip it buys you nothing.
| Company | Fee per day | Maximum | If you pass no tolls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hertz | €2.21 | €22.14 per rental | Refunded 10 days after the contract is closed |
| Sixt | €2.23 | €22.30 per 30 days | Refunded within one month |
| Centauro | €2.21 | €22.14 per month | Charged “in case of use”; €100 toll deposit held |
| Guerin | €1.85 | 10 days (€18.50) | Fee applies “in case of use” |
| Yor Car | €2.15 | €21 per rental | Optional: you can decline it |
| OK Mobility | €1.50 plus VAT | Not published | Not stated |
Avis says only that the device costs “a small daily amount”, and Europcar, Goldcar and Drivalia publish no figure for Portugal, so we have left them out instead of guessing. Tolls themselves are always billed on top, often weeks after you return the car.
What this means for an Algarve holiday: with Hertz, Sixt, Centauro or Guerin the fee should end at €0 if you stay on the A22 and local roads, because no toll passage is ever registered. With Yor Car, decline the service. One warning from its terms: if you decline and then drive through a toll after all, it adds an administrative fee of €30 to the toll. Whatever the brand, the supplier’s toll terms are listed in the rental conditions of each offer, so read them before you pay. You can do that for every company at Faro Airport on Discover Cars.
What will tolls and the toll device cost on your rental?
Device fees are the ones each company publishes for Portugal, read on 11 October 2026. Tolls are 2026 rates for a class 1 car.
From Seville the A-49 runs through Huelva to the border. It is not on the Spanish transport ministry’s list of toll motorways. You cross the Guadiana on the international bridge, which has no toll, and you are on the A22 at Castro Marim. Nothing needs to be registered for a drive along the Algarve coast.
The old advice to stop at the border and link a bank card to your number plate only matters if you go further. EasyToll, the Toll Card and Go Toll pay for motorways with electronic tolls, and on the 2026 map those are in the north and on the west coast: stretches of the A28, A41, A42 and A4 around Porto, the A29, A17, A8 and A19 along the coast, and the A33 south of Lisbon. If your route includes Seville, our Seville parking guide helps with the other end, and the Spain toll calculator shows which Spanish motorways do charge.
What do you need to do about tolls?
Pick the line that describes your trip.
The motorway runs east to west a few kilometres inland, parallel to the N125 that links the coastal towns. The official section list names eleven points along it: Bensafrim, Mexilhoeira, Alvor, Lagoa, Algoz/Pêra, the A2 junction, Loulé, Faro Oeste, Moncarapacho, Tavira and Castro Marim. Between Bensafrim and Castro Marim (A22/IC27) it is run by the concession Autoestrada Algarve Via Infante, and the last stretch to the border by Infraestruturas de Portugal.
Because the A22 is free, there is no longer a money reason to crawl along the N125 through every town. Use the motorway for distance and drop down to the coast at the junction nearest your beach. For a longer loop, the Portugal road trip itinerary ends on this road.
Toll checklist for the rental desk
Six points that settle the toll question before you leave the car park.
No. The A22 (Via do Infante) has been toll-free since 1 January 2025 under Law 37/2024. The 2026 toll tables of the Portuguese regulator IMT contain no rates for it, and the 2026 map of Infraestruturas de Portugal marks the whole road as “No Toll”.
On 1 January 2025. Law 37/2024 of 7 August 2024 abolished tolls on the A22 and on six other former SCUT motorways: the A4 (Transmontana and Marão Tunnel), A13 and A13-1, A23, A24, A25 and two sections of the A28.
In 2024 the ten tolled sections added up to €4.65 for a class 1 car from Bensafrim near Lagos to Castro Marim at the Spanish border, according to the IMT toll report. In 2023 the same drive cost €6.60.
Not for the A22. A rental car picked up in Portugal has a toll device fitted by law anyway, so there is nothing to order. You only use it if you leave the Algarve on a tolled motorway, such as the A2 to Lisbon.
It should not cost you anything in the end. Hertz and Sixt state that the fee is refunded when no toll passages are registered, and Centauro and Guerin charge it only in case of use. Yor Car lets you decline the service. Check the invoice after you return the car.
€23.80 for a class 1 car in 2026. That is the sum of the 13 tolled sections of the A2 from Fogueteiro to Paderne, where the A2 meets the A22. Driving back, the 25 de Abril Bridge adds €2.25, so a return trip costs €49.85.
No. Those systems pay for motorways with electronic tolls, and the A22 no longer has any. You only need one if you continue to a motorway that still charges electronically, for example the A28 or A41 around Porto or the A8 and A17 on the west coast.
Yes. The A-49 from Seville through Huelva to the border is not on the Spanish transport ministry’s list of toll motorways, the Guadiana bridge has no toll, and the A22 on the Portuguese side is free.
We found no official notice that they have been removed, so you may still drive under them. They do not matter: there has been no toll to collect since 1 January 2025.
Sources: Law 37/2024 of 7 August (Diário da República); IMT toll tables for 2026, IMT report on tolls 2020 to 2024 and IMT list of motorway concessions; Infraestruturas de Portugal 2026 toll map and PT Tolls; Lusoponte; CTT (Toll Card); Via Verde Visitors; Spanish Ministry of Transport list of toll motorways; toll terms of Hertz, Sixt, Centauro, Guerin, Yor Car, OK Mobility and Avis; Vialivre. All read on 11 October 2026.
Disclosure: some links on this page are affiliate links to Discover Cars. If you book through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The rental companies listed here do not pay us.
Last updated: 11 October 2026
