Do I require a International drivers licence when I drive in Western Europe? I have an Australian licence.
An international driver's license is not actually a license it itself. Rather, it is a document that has the important details of your driver's license translated into multiple languages to make renting a car or dealing with local authorities easier.
The real issue is whether or not your Australian driver's license would be accepted by the governments of the countries in which you will be driving. I would doubt this is a problem as most countries that I have looked into accept licenses from Australia, Canada, the US, etc... although it is difficult for me to say with certainty that every country would accept it.
Reply to this i bought an international driver's permit before I left, but I've never had to show it. I managed to hire a car in Greece and the UK just with my Australian licence. My guess is that the permit is required more for countries that do not use English as their primary language.
Reply to this We drove all over Eastern Europe, Scandinavia and Germany without an IDP last year and in South Africa this year. We were stopped a couple of times for routine checks and had to hand over the papers for the car at non-EU borders but were never asked for an IDP. The Australian licence with its photo did the job.
But the official Greek, Spanish and Italian tourism sites say that an IDP is legally required in these countries - they also mention fines for failure to produce - and, as we are now travelling in these countries, we have obtained one from our Automobile Assoc. The cost is relatively cheap but they only last for a year. Still haven't been asked for it though.
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