Well like all tolls it depends on your car (im considering a class 2 car, the most common type of car), so as of today (22 Apr 2017), the toll from Faro Airport to Alvor is €6,70 (one way), there are news that this might go down, but thats what it is today, have a good day and happy trips!

In any case its one of those you are right and wrong, right because if you are passing the tolls with a vehicle that is not registered in Portugal, there is no way they can charge your or send you a fine, wrong because you are supposed to pay for the tolls like everyone else (you can always not use the highway and take alternative roads, that is what most people do).

Also there are news of a possible agreement between Portugal and Spain, but that is not at all finalized or active as we speak, and again that would be only to cars registered in Spain, so as of now you are correct if your car is registered outside Portugal and you pass and did not pay (through pre-pay ticked at the border or electronic device), then there is no way for you to pay later on the toll charge or a fine.

As a sidenote, I sometimes use the highway and for some reason or not i actually forgot to go pay for the toll, its not a big deal, you get a fine on your post box after a few months and you just pay that in any ATM (its the toll plus a small fine, in my case its like 5 euros more than the toll), so actually sometimes its better to just get the fine, especially in the Summer, instead of having to stay in a line for hours in the Post Office to go pay the toll (time and patience is also money).

Have a good one!

At the Post Office in Faro they told us we didnt have to pay. That the tolls were an agreement between Spain and Portugal and they kept no records of registrations of any other foreign vehicles caught on the cameras/detectors as they did not have to pay. Can you confirm this is correct .

Well that was anti-climatic, there were no news regarding the merging of the Portuguese and Spanish Toll Systems, it was supposed to be this Summer but with no news i highly doubt it is anywhere near ready, so what i said earlier still stands as the only alternatives for paying the toll here in Portugal if you are traveling with a a Spanish car here in the Algarve Highway.

Hello Julie, i can tell you that i’ll have more news on this monday/tuesday (13/14 May 2013), because there are talks of merging the Portuguese and Spanish Toll Systems, if that is the case there wight be some changes…

Besides that, your only options is at the border you can stop the car and go to a automatic machine and buy your trip or multiple trips (or multiple day unlimited travels), or you can get/rent a electronic device on the highway stop before reaching the border and pay through that, thats pretty much it!

The system you are talking about is the one used but unfortunately it only works with portuguese license plates (because if you dont pay, they know who you are and send the traffic fine to your house), so as of today (12 May 2013), thats not a option for a spanish license plate.

Hope this was helpful, if you have more questions or problems feel free to comment and have yourself a great trip to the Algarve.

Hello Paul,

Normally the service stations here in Portugal have the gas and mini supermarket open 24/7 (the restaurant part works only on normal day hours), however not all them have the devices, i would say if you know where you are going, then before reaching the border there are the automatic ticket machines (you will see the signs), you can park there and buy a ticket for that one trip.

Then on the next day go to your nearest post office (most towns and cities have them, they say CTT and are bright red and the logo is a man riding a horse with a trumpet, you can also ask around) and check with them, ask them what is your best options, since unfortunately they keep changing the rules so i cant give you more clear advice, also to return the device last time i checked you could do it on service stations even on the spanish side (and get your deposit back), not sure how it is now…

ohh and have a safe trip and awesome time in the Algarve.