Toll, toll, toll or vignette

When one of Sebb's colleagues, a former professional bus driver, learned about our plans, he had plenty to share. He recounted how his first trip in the 90s with a tour bus to Portugal had gone, what all had happened back then, what one absolutely had to see, what to pay attention to, how the toll system in Portugal worked, where there was a good workshop, and so on...

Sebb, the patient listener, followed the stories with great interest, as problems others had faced might be avoided with good preparation and planning. We had only gathered some information about the toll system in Portugal during our transfers from the airport to the vacation spot, but back then the organizers or the bus companies had taken care of it, leaving us largely unaffected. So Sebb once again sat down and researched on the website of the large German automobile club.

In Portugal, there was no vignette requirement, so country roads were free for us. However, on the highways, tolls were charged based on the distance, and there were two methods. Either conventionally with a toll station and barrier or purely electronically. We wouldn’t have any issues at the classic toll station, but on the sections where charging was done solely electronically, one could only proceed with a corresponding transponder. We would have to decide later whether a toll transponder would be necessary for us or if we simply wanted to stay on the country roads.
The next question in this context was how to classify our Gary into a vehicle category. It was differentiated by total weight and height at the front axle. Category 1 included motorcycles and cars with a maximum height of 1.10 meters at the front axle; this description did not fit our vehicle. The second category encompassed all vehicles with two axles and a height over 1.10 meters at the front axle - yes, that described Gary quite well. Categories 3 and 4 were reserved for vehicles with three or more axles, so buses and trucks.
So far, so good. Now we knew about the toll in Portugal; only the other countries we would be passing through on our way remained to learn about.