Do you need an "international license" to drive a car in Europe?

Question

I heard you might in some areas, but I have a passport so if I went and rented a car - would I be alright say going from England to Germany to France to Spain to Italy and such?

Answer 1

I travel to Europe several times a year. I've never been asked for an IDP and have rented in UK, Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Belgium & the Netherlands.

An IDP is nothing more than a translation of your driver's license. It is only valid in conjunction with your license -- and it's useless in the country that it is issued in. The "rules" in Spain and Italy state that you need a translation of your driver's license but I've never been asked for one. I suspect that that only applies if your license is issued in a non-Roman font such as Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, etc.

If you rent in the UK and intend to take the vehicle onto the continent, either on one of the ferries or via The Chunnel, make sure that you advise the rental agency of this and get your insurance "green card" for the continent. You won't be allowed on the ferry or chunnel train without it.

Most rental companies will not allow you to take a car from the continent to the UK.

Most rental companies will insist that you take full insurance coverage if travelling to Italy. Auto thefts are very high in Italy and there is a non-waiverable excess of around 1000€ as well.

There are restrictions on international travel with rental cars, especially to former eastern bloc countries. Check with the rental company before you leave the counter!

Don't attempt to do one-way rentals internationally. The redistribution charges are extremely high.

If travelling on the toll roads in Italy, Spain or France, be prepared for extremely high tolls. French tolls are particularly high; I spent more on tolls my last trip than I did on hotels! At least they take credit and debit cards in the automated toll machines so the language barrier isn't an issue. ;)

Another suggestion, especially if you rent on the continent. Get a diesel car, not a "petrol" or gasoline powered one. Diesel is much cheaper than gas and diesels get much better fuel mileage to boot. You'll be impressed with the European diesels; most of the old problems with power, noise and smoke have been solved though it still gets stinky at the fuel pumps.

Also, automatic transmissions are the exception to the rule in most of Europe. If you insist on an automatic, you'll have to rent well up the ladder from the base models. The cheapest automatics are more than double the cost of a typical compact with a manual transmission. If driving in the UK, you might want to make your first rental or two an automatic just to make it easier to adjust to driving on the left side of the road with the controls on the right. Shifting with your left hand will take a bit of getting used to.

Answer 2

You don't need an international drivers license, only a current US one. We have rented cars all over Europe and have never needed an international license. We have also found it is much cheaper to rent a car once you land in country than to book one before leaving.

Answer 3

I dont believe an international license is necessary. Your own countries drivers license should be acceptable for the first 6 months (but i would confirm this first as im not sure if this applies for all nations)

Answer 4

This is simple. Go to Walgreens or CVS & have two passport photos taken. Take those pics and about $10 to AAA & they will set you up w/an International Drivers Permit right then and there. You will still need your American drivers license. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

Answer 5

If you are visting a tourist, or just there temporarily, your own home driving licence will be fine.
If you take up resdience for more than a short time, then you will have to get a licence for the country you're in.
To be honest, these days, an IDP is valuless, aside from its novelty value, unless you plan to compete in motorsports.

Answer 6

I had an international driver's license some 30 years ago, but since nobody has asked me even my own license.

Answer 7

with the aid of fact, do to the intense gas expenditures over the final 8 years, many human beings deserted their companion and little ones gas guzzling suburbans for extra economically savvy automobiles, which basically surpassed off to be foreign places. degree that against 8 years of no salary will advance and increasing very own debt to stay afloat, and you have your recipe for a bumper crop of bumper stickers helping a Democrat. We do help the UAW, I even have 2 jeeps, a million save away from and a million GMC, i might call that help.