Driving into a European city? Check its emission zone first
France wants a €3.85 Crit'Air sticker, Germany its own badge, Milan a €7.50 day ticket. What each city zone asks of foreign and hire cars, and the fines.
On this page (7)
Many European cities now restrict older or more polluting cars, and the rules apply to foreign and rented cars as well as local ones. France wants a Crit’Air sticker (€3.85 posted within France, from the official site only) and fines €68 without one. Germany wants its emissions sticker and fines €100. Brussels fines €350, London charges £12.50 a day for a car that fails its standard, and Milan charges every car €7.50 to enter its centre on weekdays. Check the rule for each city before you drive in, not at the boundary sign.
There is no single European system. Each country, and often each city, picked its own: a windscreen sticker in France and Germany, number-plate cameras in the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and London, and paperwork sent in advance in parts of Madrid. Here is what each one asks of a visiting driver, and what it costs to get it wrong.
- Order stickers weeks ahead. The French one comes by post, and it is sold officially only on certificat-air.gouv.fr.
- Cameras do the enforcing in Brussels, the Netherlands, Milan and London, so nobody stops you and the penalty arrives later.
- A hire car does not exempt you. The notice goes to the rental company, which passes it on to you with its own fee.
- Milan charges every car, clean or not, to enter Area C on weekdays.
Low emission zones by country
Each scheme below applies to foreign-registered cars, and the cost of getting it wrong runs from a €22.50 late ticket in Milan to a €350 fine in Brussels. These are the schemes a holiday driver is most likely to meet, with the figures from each operator’s own site.
| Country / city | What you need | Cost | If you get it wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| France (Paris and other ZFE cities) | Crit’Air sticker on the windscreen | €3.85 posted within France | €68 standard fine |
| Germany (Umweltzonen) | Emissions sticker (Umweltplakette) | Varies by issuer | €100 |
| Belgium (Brussels) | Car meets the standard: diesel Euro 6, petrol Euro 3 | €35 day pass if it does not, 24 a year at most | €350 after a warning letter |
| Netherlands (11 municipalities) | Diesel cars only: Euro 4 for green zones, Euro 5 for blue | Nothing to buy; no registration | Fine (amount not published on the national site) |
| Spain (Madrid) | Foreign cars follow the same rules as Spanish ones; Distrito Centro wants documents first | None | Fine |
| Italy (Milan Area C) | A day ticket for every car, Mon–Fri 7:30–19:30 | €7.50, pay by midnight the next day | €22.50 late ticket up to day 7 |
| UK (London ULEZ) | Petrol Euro 4, diesel Euro 6, or pay; non-UK cars register with TfL | £12.50 a day, every day but 25 December | £180 penalty, £90 if paid within 14 days |
Read the table as three kinds of rule. France and Germany check a sticker you must buy before the trip. Brussels, the Netherlands and London judge the car itself against a Euro standard, with cameras. Milan simply charges every car that enters its centre on a weekday, whatever it runs on.
France: the Crit’Air sticker
Every car entering a French low emission zone (ZFE) needs a Crit’Air sticker, foreign cars included, and the only official place to buy it is certificat-air.gouv.fr. France’s public-service site gives the price as €3.85 including postage for delivery within France; posting abroad costs a little more. Driving in a zone without authorisation brings a fixed fine of €68, and the penalty can reach €450.
The sticker classifies your car from 0 to 5 by its emissions, and each city decides which classes it lets in and when. The Grand Paris zone, for example, bars Crit’Air 3, 4, 5 and unclassified cars on weekdays from 8am to 8pm, holidays excepted. Search results are full of resale sites charging several times the official price for the same sticker. Order from the government site, and allow time for the post.
Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands
Germany checks a windscreen sticker, Brussels checks your car’s Euro standard by camera, and the Netherlands only restricts older diesels. All three apply their rules to foreign cars.
Germany. Only vehicles bearing the emissions sticker may enter an Umweltzone, according to Germany’s Federal Environment Agency. Driving in without one is item 153 of the federal fine catalogue: €100. Buy the sticker before you travel; it is a physical badge, so allow time if you order it by post.
Brussels. The LEZ covers cars registered in Belgium or abroad. Since 1 January 2026, diesel cars need at least Euro 6 and petrol cars at least Euro 3, so Euro 5 diesels and Euro 2 petrol cars are now out. A car that fails can buy a day pass at €35, up to 24 a year. Otherwise, after a warning letter, the fine is €350.
The Netherlands. Eleven Dutch municipalities have low emission zones. For cars, only diesel matters: Euro 4 diesels may enter green zones and Euro 5 diesels blue ones, while petrol, hybrid and electric cars may enter them all. The national site says foreign drivers do not need to register in advance.
Italy, Spain and London
Milan and London charge to enter rather than banning outright, while Madrid wants foreign cars matched to a Spanish emissions class.
Milan Area C runs Monday to Friday, 7:30am to 7:30pm, holidays excepted, and cameras at the gates read every plate. A day ticket costs €7.50 and lets you enter and leave as often as you like that day. You can buy it after you drive in, but the price rises to €22.50 if you pay after midnight on the following day, and that late rate lasts only until the seventh day. You can check your plate on the city’s site, which asks for the plate and its country.
Madrid applies its low emission zones to foreign cars on the same terms as Spanish ones of the same type and emissions class. For the strictest zone, Distrito Centro, the city asks owners of foreign-registered cars to send the car’s technical papers before the visit, by email to the address on its site or in person by appointment.
London’s ULEZ runs 24 hours a day, every day except Christmas Day. Petrol cars need Euro 4 and diesel cars Euro 6; anything older pays £12.50 a day. Transport for London says non-UK cars must meet the standard or pay too, and must be registered with it. Miss a payment and the penalty is £180, cut to £90 if you pay within 14 days.
Rental cars and emission zones
A hire car is not exempt, and because it is registered locally, the cameras recognise it straight away. If it lacks the sticker or you do not buy the Milan or London ticket, the notice goes to the rental company as the registered keeper. The company names you as the driver and may add a handling fee set in your rental agreement, the same route a speeding fine from a rental car takes.
Before you drive away, check two things at the desk: that a French or German car has its sticker on the windscreen, and whether the company pays city tolls such as Area C or ULEZ for you or expects you to. For the motorway side of a European road trip, see our guide to vignettes and toll roads; for the paperwork, whether you need an international driving permit. And before you set off after dinner, check the drink-drive limit in each country.
Frequently asked questions
Do foreign cars need a Crit’Air sticker?
Yes. Any car entering a French low emission zone needs one, wherever it is registered. Buy it only on certificat-air.gouv.fr; it costs €3.85 posted within France and a little more to an address abroad.
What is the fine for not having a Crit’Air sticker?
A fixed fine of €68 for a car, according to France’s public-service site, which says the penalty can reach €450.
Do I need a German emissions sticker as a tourist?
Yes, to drive into a German low emission zone (Umweltzone). Only cars with the sticker may enter, and driving in without it is a €100 fine under the federal fine catalogue.
Do rental cars need emission zone stickers?
The rules apply to the car, so a hire car needs them too. Check the sticker is on the windscreen before you leave the desk, because any fine goes to the rental company and is passed on to you with a fee.
Do I need to register a foreign car for London’s ULEZ?
Yes. Transport for London says non-UK vehicles must meet the ULEZ standard or pay the £12.50 daily charge, and must be registered with it.
How much does it cost to drive into Milan?
Area C costs €7.50 a day on weekdays from 7:30am to 7:30pm. Pay by midnight the next day, or it rises to €22.50 until the seventh day.
Keep reading
Buy the pass before the border.
Zero in four EU countries, 0.8 in England.
CDW, excess and the counter upsell.
The young-driver fee, country by country.
Sources: service-public.gouv.fr, Vignette Crit’Air (updated 1 January 2026); Umweltbundesamt, Low emission zones in Germany; Bussgeldkatalog-Verordnung, Anlage, item 153 (gesetze-im-internet.de); lez.brussels; milieuzones.nl (English page); Ayuntamiento de Madrid, ZBEDEP Distrito Centro, foreign-registered vehicles; Comune di Milano, Area C and Area C ticket prices from 30 October 2023; Transport for London, ULEZ page and ULEZ Key Fact Sheet (October–December 2025). All read 4 October 2026.
Photo: Clive Kim / Pexels Photo: Efrem Efre / Pexels
Written by
Bishnu AdhikariPokhara-based, NMA-certified trekking guides. We’ve led 5,000+ treks across the Annapurna and Everest regions since 1998 — every word here comes from the trail. More from this author →
Ready to Trek?
From reading about it to standing on it
Our Pokhara-based guides have been doing this since 1998. Tell us your dates and fitness level — we'll build your perfect itinerary. Free, no obligation.
More guides like this
Popular trips to consider
View all treks & toursFree Trekker’s Insider Guide
Permits, packing lists, cost breakdowns — no fluff.
We send one useful email. You can unsubscribe anytime.