I'll be picking up a car in Venice in ten days, driving through Slovenia and at some point up into Austria (Graz) from Maribor (A9). The whole trip will be on motorways.
I can't figure out if I must have winter tires, or whether I can just carry snow chains.... Snow tires are a huge PIA to get hold of out of VCE, cars go out with snow chains only.
Have asked this on another forum with inconclusive answers. Found some info online, from the austrian government. site: (
https://www.help.gv.at/Portal.Node/h...e.0631001.html) -
"Passenger Cars and Trucks with a Permissible Maximum Weight of up to 3.5 t
Between 1 November and 15 April, passenger cars and trucks with a permissible maximum weight of up to 3.5 t may be operated in winter conditions such as snow-covered tracks, snowy slush or ice only if winter tyres have been installed on all wheels.
As an alternative to winter tyres, snow chains may be used on at least two driving wheels, however, these may only be used in case the road is covered by a complete or scarcely broken snow cover or sheet of ice."
My understanding is that if the road is dry and no ice, no problem. If the road is packed with snow or frozen over, I can use snow chains on regular tires. If the road is "wintry" - i.e. slush, patches of ice, etc - I cannot drive at all on regular tires. My thinking was that in the second week of March, on highways only, I should be OK with regular tires and snow chains.
Have I misunderstood this ? Are winter tires a must ?