Tolls in Switzerland

The tolls are for driving on Motorways (Autobahn / Autoroute / Autostrada in German / French / Italian), there is no charge for normal roads. You pay the toll by buying a Vignette, which is a sticker attached to the car's windscreen.

A Vignette costs CHF 40 for one calendar year.

If you rent a car in Switzerland, it will already have a 2019 Vignette on it.
If you are driving into Switzerland in a foreign car and are crossing the border on a motorway, you can stop at the border and buy one. There is often two lanes at the border, one for vehicles which already have a vignette, and one where you stop and buy one. See photo here:http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5306/5630488034_b833c7eb66.jpg
If crossing at an unmanned border post, you need to find a garage or post office to buy one before you get on a motorway..

Here is the official information from the Swiss government website: https://www.ezv.admin.ch/ezv/en/home/information-individuals/documents-for-travellers-and-road-taxes/motorway-charge-sticker--vignette-.html

Austria also has motorway vignettes. France and Italy have conventional distance-based tolls. Germany has no Autobahn tolls.

To add to Chris's information, many countries that use the vignette system have them for various lengths of time. But Switzerland doesn't. Even if you're only in the country for a single day (such as on a day trip from France or Italy), you have to buy the one year, 40 CHF vignette to use the highways. In an old post, someone complained this made for a very expensive day trip from Lyon! Again, if you're renting in Switzerland, the car will already have a 2019 vignette on it; it's only an issue if you rent from somewhere else and drive into Switzerland.

Also (this fooled me at first), it's pronounced as vin-YETT-uh (like German), not veen-YETT (like French, or English).

Thank you both for your answers. That really clears it up for me.

Thank you Chris for a link to a photo of a border crossing where you can buy a vignettte. I'll be crossing into Switzerland from France via Vallorbe in a couple of weeks, and while I know I can buy a vignette there, I didn't know the precise logistics or what to look for. Now I do.

Robert, the border post near Vallorbe is not an autoroute, it is a normal road. If you cross there you will not have to buy a Vignette at the border. But you will need to buy one at some time if you want to later drive on an autoroute.

Click for Google streetview of Vallorbe border crossing, Swiss border post in front, French border post behind photo (rotate 180°).

The customs office is only open Monday to Friday 8am to 11.30am and 1.30pm to 5pm
See here: http://www.pwebapps.ezv.admin.ch/apps/dst/dst/print?id=262&lang=4
If you are crossing the border at another time, you will have to find somewhere else to buy your vignette, possibly at the fuel station I can see on the Swiss side.

is it possible to inadvertently get onto an autoroute without a vignette, or do they make you stop at every entrance?

is it possible to inadvertently get onto an autoroute without a vignette, or do they make you stop at every entrance?

Phred, only if you ignore the signs. The whole advantage of a Vignette is you don't need all the infrastructure of toll booths at entrances and exits.
The same symbol is used throughout Europe for Motorways / autoroutes (toll or no toll). In Switzerland motorways are signposted in green: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Swiss_Autobahn_Sign.jpg

The official site I listed above has a map of the toll autoroutes: https://www.ezv.admin.ch/dam/ezv/en/dokumente/archiv/2011/07/karte_der_abgabepflichtigennationalstrassen.pdf