What the drive to Turkey costs, country by country
Driving between Turkey and Europe does not have one price — every country takes its money differently. This page covers the whole road: what is paid where, what changes at each border, and what 13 real routes actually come to.
Setting off from Germany? The same figures, in German. Mit dem Auto in die Türkei →
Why the same kilometre costs four different things
Motorway charges in Europe come in four shapes, and which one you meet changes how the trip has to be planned. The difference is not only the amount — it is when and how you pay it.
- Vignette: a time-limited permit bought before you enter. You pay for days of validity, not for distance, so a country crossed in an afternoon still costs at least one day. Entering without one is a fine, and most are electronic now rather than a sticker.
- By the kilometre: take a ticket on the way in, pay on the way out. The amount follows the distance driven, which makes it one of the heaviest single lines on a route that transits a country end to end.
- Barrier by barrier: a separate charge at each toll plaza along the road. The total depends on how many you pass, so two ways across one country cost two different things.
- No motorway charge for a car. That is not the same as no cost: fuel in most of these countries is appreciably dearer, so the expense moves from the barrier to the tank.
On top of all four sit bridges, tunnels and ferries with tariffs of their own, paid separately whatever the country's system is.
Bulgaria vignette: prices and which one a transit needs →The countries these routes cross
The 16 countries below are the ones the 13 routes on this page actually drive through — measured, not picked. The number on the right is how many routes cross each.
13 routes, measured
Each one priced from a real routed journey: diesel, 6.5 L/100 km, two people, one way, vehicle class 1. Longest first.
- Cologne – Antalya
3,133 km · 7 countries · estimated €542
- Istanbul – London
2,995 km · 10 countries · estimated €619
- Istanbul – Paris
2,727 km · 8 countries · estimated €515
- Ankara – Berlin
2,650 km · 7 countries · estimated €418
- Istanbul – Cologne
2,412 km · 7 countries · estimated €421
- Munich – Izmir
2,383 km · 7 countries · estimated €463
- Istanbul – Berlin
2,200 km · 7 countries · estimated €353
- Istanbul – Munich
1,883 km · 7 countries · estimated €342
- Istanbul – Tbilisi
1,620 km · 2 countries · estimated €194
- Istanbul – Vienna
1,558 km · 5 countries · estimated €258
- Istanbul – Sarajevo
1,241 km · 4 countries · estimated €180
- Istanbul – Thessaloniki
594 km · 2 countries · estimated €94
- Istanbul – Sofia
548 km · 2 countries · estimated €73
The same drive in an electric car: what charging costs
On this corridor there are countries where DC fast charging costs more per kilometre than diesel: Czechia, United Kingdom, Hungary, Croatia, and Slovenia. The electric car's saving builds up in Turkey and the Balkans, where fuel is dear and electricity is cheap.
The electric figures assume 18 kWh/100 km, two people, one way. The home tariff is Eurostat's household electricity price (first half of 2026), DC fast charging the no-subscription price of the largest motorway network in each country (September 5, 2026), diesel the weekly EU bulletin (October 5, 2026). Real consumption at motorway speed runs above 18 and charging losses are not counted. All of it is an estimate.
Tolls are identical in all three columns except in Czechia, where an electric car pays no vignette, though a car registered abroad has to file a notification of exemption first.
We could not read a DC tariff for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Those kilometres were priced at the public AC rate, so the DC column runs low on routes through them.
For Serbia the DC price is not a per-kWh tariff we read but an estimate worked out from operator tariffs. The real cost depends on the network and how fast the car charges.
The home-tariff column assumes the whole road is charged from a household socket. There is no household socket on the road; it is a floor, not a price you can pay.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to drive from Turkey to Europe?
Across the 13 routes we measured, the estimated one-way total runs from €73 for Istanbul–Sofia to €619 for Istanbul–London, for a diesel car with two people. Istanbul–Berlin, for example, comes to €353.
How far is it from Istanbul to Germany by car?
On the routes we measured: Istanbul–Cologne 2,412 km, Istanbul–Berlin 2,200 km, and Istanbul–Munich 1,883 km.
Which countries on the way need a vignette?
Vignette needed: Bulgaria, Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, and Czechia. Tolls by distance, at a gate or per kilometre: Serbia, Croatia, France, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Greece. Tolls by motorway entry and exit gate: Turkey. Motorways free for cars: Germany, Belgium, United Kingdom, and Georgia.
How much does it cost in an electric car?
Istanbul–Berlin comes to an estimated €331 at DC fast chargers, against €353 in a diesel. Countries where a DC fast charge costs more per kilometre than diesel: Czechia, United Kingdom, Hungary, Croatia, and Slovenia.
What this figure leaves out
Accommodation, food, time spent at borders, green card insurance and getting the car ready are not in it. These are fuel and crossing costs, they are estimates, and they do not stand in for what an operator will actually charge.
Where the data comes from →Work it out for your own car
The figures here assume one particular vehicle. Enter your own consumption, fuel type, number of passengers and whether you are coming back, and the same sum is done for your car.
Open the calculator →