How it started
It all began with a rental car in Austria and a simple question that should have had a simple answer: is the road tax included?
The response at the desk didn't help much: "There are two types of vignette. One might already be active for the vehicle, the other might not."
No explanation. No clarity.
Antonio ended up spending part of his holiday searching for answers online, and drove back without ever feeling fully sure he'd followed the rules correctly.
That experience stuck with him. The more he looked into it, the more complicated things became. Austria's vignette system seems straightforward at first, but then you discover separate tunnel tolls (Arlberg and Karawanken), alpine pass charges (the Brenner), and special-rate motorway sections on the A9. None of this is clearly explained in the rental brochures.
Now writing for drivers travelling from Romania and Moldova—often crossing four different tolling systems in a single trip—Antonio knows exactly where confusion happens. And more importantly, how much clear, accurate information matters.
He began focusing on European tolling two years ago, after realising how rare truly reliable information is in this space. Much of what\'s available is vague, outdated, or incomplete.
What drew him to CzechVignette.cz was simple: a commitment to accuracy, and content based on real experiences, checked against official sources, written with accountability.
Antonio specialises in:
- Romanian motorway vignette (Rovinieta)—vehicle categories, tariffs, exemptions, and common mistakes
- ANPR enforcement on Romanian motorways
- Moldovan vehicles in European tolling systems
- Full route Chișinău–Leușeni/Albița–Romania–Borș–Czech Republic
- Czech e-vignette (E-Znamka)
- Hungarian E-Matrica and Slovak e-vignette systems
- Directive 2015/413 (cross-border data exchange—EU states only, not applicable directly to Moldovan-registered vehicles)
- Green Card / international motor insurance
On the Road
Antonio drives regularly in Romania and periodically in Moldova. In Romania, he has covered major routes like the A1 (west), A3 (northwest, including Cluj–Borș), the DN1, and various mountain routes. Across Europe, he has driven in Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, and Spain—each country adding another layer of real-world insight into how toll systems actually work.
In total, he estimates over 5,000 km of driving across Europe, plus hundreds of thousands of kilometres from everyday driving in Romania and Moldova.
Antonio usually travels with his wife and, when logistics allow, their cat, who turns out to be a surprisingly calm travel companion. He drives a standard car (no motorhome or campervan), so his experience closely reflects that of the everyday drivers he writes for.
His favourite country to drive through? Italy—no hesitation. For him, the pay-per-kilometre toll system is the most transparent in Europe: you simply pay for exactly what you use, without second guessing whether a particular vignette is worth it for your route.
" I'm less of a long-trip driver and more of a frequent one, which means I notice the infrastructure and tolling details that occasional users miss. "
Motorway driving across Europe
Road trips with family
Winter and mountain routes
How Antonio checks his facts
Accuracy isn't optional. It's a process. Antonio works on three levels:
Primary sources: For Czech content, he systematically checks edalnice.cz, SFDI communications, and applicable legislation, including the 2024 amendments. For Romania, he uses drumuri.ro, CNAIR, and roviniete.ro.
Active monitoring: He tracks legislative changes early, often before they're widely reported. For example, the removal of the PHEV exemption on 1 March 2024 caught many drivers off guard.
Real-world feedback: He follows online communities of Romanian and Moldovan drivers across Europe, identifying where confusion actually exists and addressing it directly in his content.
Every guide he writes is reviewed by Mattijs or Freek before it goes live, cross-checked against their first-hand experience on the road, and verified against official sources. Antonio brings real-world Romanian and Moldovan driving experience, and Mattijs and Freek fact-check everything.
If you see Antonio's name on a guide, it means he personally researched and wrote it.
The mistakes he sees most often
Three issues come up again and again for Romanian and Moldovan drivers heading toward the Czech Republic.
1. Slovakia in between
Many drivers don\'t realise they briefly pass through Slovakia (around 15–20 km on the D2 between Bratislava and Lanžhot) and need a vignette for that. Hungary and the Czech Republic don\'t share a direct border.
2. PHEV exemption
Assuming plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) are exempt from the Czech vignette. They used to be, but since 1 March 2024, they are not.
3. Fines & Moldova
Confusion among Moldovan drivers about fines. Can a Czech fine follow them home? The reality is nuanced. The main risk is an on-the-spot fine within the Czech Republic, and EU Directive 2015/413 does not directly apply to Moldovan-registered vehicles.
"I got into this after personally experiencing how confusing a simple vignette question can be—and how nobody could give a clear answer. If a driver leaving Romania or Moldova has to check three websites and still guess, something has already gone wrong."
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