Fuel Prices in Austria 2026: When and Where to Fill Up Cheap — A Traveller's Guide

As of 2026-06-22, petrol (Eurosuper 95) in Austria costs around €1.650 per litre and diesel about €1.724 per litre. That's close to the EU average of €1.733/L for petrol and €1.741/L for diesel — cheaper than western neighbours Germany, Italy and Switzerland, but a little above the cheaper east and south.

If your route runs near those borders, neighbours undercut Austria: petrol costs around €1.601/L in Slovenia and €1.636/L in Hungary. But Austria has a quirk that beats border-hopping for most trips: a law about when prices can change.

Austria is unique in Europe. By law, a petrol station may raise its prices only once a day — at 12:00 noon — but it can lower them at any time. The practical effect is very predictable:

• Prices are usually at their highest just after midday.
• They drift down through the afternoon and are typically cheapest in the morning, before the noon increase.

So the rule of thumb is simple: fill up before noon. Doing your tank stop in the morning instead of the early afternoon can save several cents per litre. The official price calculator, Spritpreisrechner (run by the regulator E-Control), shows live prices — as does our live map below.

Two more levers:

• Use discounters. Independent and discount brands — Turmöl, Avanti, A1, Diskont, Genol/BayWa — are usually a few cents per litre cheaper than the majors (OMV, BP, Shell, Eni).
• Avoid the Autobahn. Motorway stations are the most expensive; fill up at a station just off the next exit instead.

By law every station must report prices to E-Control, which is why the official Spritpreisrechner and apps work so well here.

The German names at the pump (Austria uses German):

• Eurosuper 95 / Super — standard 95-octane unleaded ('bleifrei').
• Super Plus / 98 — premium 98-octane.
• Diesel — simply 'Diesel'.

Most hire cars take Eurosuper 95 or Diesel. Read the grade label rather than the nozzle colour.

This catches many visitors and has nothing to do with fuel. To drive on Austrian motorways (Autobahn/Schnellstraße) you must have a vignette — a toll sticker, now usually digital, tied to your number plate. Driving without one risks a substantial on-the-spot fine.

Buy a digital vignette online before you travel, or a sticker at petrol stations and shops near the border, before you join the motorway. A few special routes (the Brenner, Tauern and Arlberg tunnels/passes) charge a separate toll on top. As for paying for fuel: Visa and Mastercard are widely accepted and you pay inside at the counter; keep a little cash for small rural stations.

Prices change through the day and vary between discounters, majors and motorway stations only a few kilometres apart. Before you stop, check our live Austria fuel-station map — it shows up-to-date prices for around 2,900 stations across the country, so you can find the cheapest near your route.

You can also see how Austria compares with its neighbours on our Austria fuel price page, or head-to-head: Austria vs. Germany and Austria vs. Italy.

• The once-a-day, noon-only price-increase rule is unique in Europe — it was introduced to dampen the daily price rollercoaster seen in neighbouring Germany.
• The regulator E-Control runs an official, government-backed fuel-price calculator, which is unusually transparent.
• Austria's digital vignette replaced most of the old windscreen stickers, but the toll is just as compulsory.
• Transiting the Alps to Italy or Slovenia? Both are right over the border — Slovenia is notably cheaper than Austria.

Driving on to Germany or Italy? See our Germany fuel guide and Italy fuel guide, or read why fuel is so cheap in Luxembourg.