Cheapest Fuel in Europe 2026: A Country-by-Country Road-Trip Guide

As of 2026-06-22, petrol across the EU averages about €1.733 per litre and diesel €1.741. But the spread is huge: the cheapest country right now is MT at around €1.340/L, while the most expensive is DK at about €2.312/L.

That's a difference of roughly a euro per litre — about €50 on a single 50-litre tank. On a European road trip, where you cross a border to fill up can matter more than anything else you do at the pump.

Broadly, fuel is cheapest in Eastern Europe (Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovenia, Czechia) and on the Iberian peninsula (Spain), and most expensive in the Nordics and the Netherlands (Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands), with France, Italy and Greece also on the pricier side.

Two tiny tax havens stand out for cheap fuel: Luxembourg, home to Western Europe's cheapest pumps, and Andorra, a tax-free enclave in the Pyrenees. Right now the cheapest EU country at the pump is MT, and the dearest is DK.

Wherever you drive, the same handful of habits save the most:

• Skip the motorway. Almost everywhere, motorway stations are the priciest. Fill up just off the next exit instead.
• Use supermarkets and discounters. The cheapest fuel is often at hypermarket pumps (France, Portugal, Spain) or low-cost / brand-free chains (Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy).
• Fill up before a pricey border. Heading from a cheap country into an expensive one? Top up first.
• Check a live price map before you stop. Prices vary a lot between stations only a few kilometres apart.
• Learn the local fuel name so you don't misfuel: 'benzina/gasolina/essence/Benzin' for petrol; 'gasóleo/gasolio/gazole/Diesel' for diesel.

We've written detailed traveller's guides for the countries with live station maps — each with current prices, where it's cheapest, the local fuel names and the payment traps to watch for:

• Spain — one of Western Europe's cheapest; unmanned 'low cost' stations.
• Germany — the daily price cycle; cheapest in the evening.
• France — supermarket stations vs the autoroute; the card-at-the-pump trap.
• Italy — 'servito' vs 'fai-da-te' self-service.
• Portugal — cheaper Spain next door; the electronic-toll trap.
• Austria — prices only rise at noon, so fill up in the morning; vignette required.

And see our explainer on why fuel is so cheap in Luxembourg.

If your route runs near a cheaper neighbour, a short detour pays off:

• Driving through France? Fill up in Spain or Luxembourg, not on the autoroute.
• In eastern or western Germany? Poland and Luxembourg are markedly cheaper.
• Crossing the Alps (Italy or Austria)? Slovenia is cheaper than both.
• In Portugal near the border? Spain is around 40 cents per litre cheaper.
• In the Pyrenees? Andorra's tax-free fuel undercuts both France and Spain.

Always check live prices first — our country maps cover roughly 67,000 stations across six countries.