International Driving Permit in Faroe Islands

🗓 We could not independently verify the road-traffic law for Faroe Islands; facts here rely on official travel guidance where available. Research last updated: 29 July 2026. You may copy this information only if you provide a link back to this page.

⚠ This page is general information about driving rules, not legal advice. Rules change, and each authority applies its own — confirm your case with the relevant authority before you drive.

ℹ We are a private company. We are not a government body, a licensing or issuing authority, or a treaty organisation, and we are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting for any of them. The International Driver's Document we sell is a translation of your national driving licence: it is not a driving licence, and it is not a government-issued document.

• Driving in Faroe Islands: key facts
• Do you need an International Driving Permit in Faroe Islands?
• What side of the road does Faroe Islands drive on?
• How long can you drive in Faroe Islands with a foreign licence?
• Is Faroe Islands a party to the 1949 or 1968 Road Traffic Convention?
• Why acceptance of your licence varies from place to place
• Can you drive in Faroe Islands with your country's licence?
• Where to get an International Driving Permit
• Moving to Faroe Islands? Rules for new residents
• Driving rules in Faroe Islands tourists get fined for
• Read more about driving in Faroe Islands
• Sources

Driving in Faroe Islands: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Faroe Islands?

An IDP is not legally required. Official Faroese tourism guidance states verbatim: "If you have a driver's license issued by an EU or Nordic country, you do not need an international driver's license"; for other licences "it is recommended that you acquire an international driver's license in addition to your regular driver's license", and "[a]n international driver's license alone is not sufficient." No reachable Faroese instrument restricts which IDP type is accepted, so both are listed as accepted in practice. Important treaty note: the Faroe Islands are not covered by the 1968 Vienna Convention — Denmark's 1986 instrument of ratification declared that "until further notice the [Convention] shall not apply to the Faroe Islands and Greenland", and the 1949 Geneva Convention records no territorial extension to the Faroes either. Do not infer Faroese rules from Denmark's convention membership.

• Tourists and short-term visitors: carry your national licence together with the document named in the row for your country of issue, in the table below — for most non-exempt licences that is an IDP.
• Car renters: Several sub-sea tunnels are tolled and are normally billed through the rental company after the fact; check tolls, closures and the weather before each journey.
• EU / EEA licence holders: no IDP needed.

No specific penalty for driving without the required document was verified from an authoritative source. Official source.

What side of the road does Faroe Islands drive on?

Faroe Islands drives on the right-hand side of the road, and overtaking is done on the left. Cars in Faroe Islands are left-hand drive.

How long can you drive in Faroe Islands with a foreign licence?

No maximum visitor driving period is stated in any reachable official Faroese source. In practice a valid foreign licence may be used for the duration of a lawful short visit; a separate and much shorter clock applies once you take up residence (see the residents section below). (Absence of any stated period in the reachable sources; Faroese law portal unreachable)

Planning to move to Faroe Islands? Different rules apply once you become a resident — see the residents section below.

Is Faroe Islands a party to the 1949 or 1968 Road Traffic Convention?

Faroe Islands is a Contracting Party to the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic, but not to the 1968 Vienna Convention.

• 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic: applies via Denmark (territorial application).

Why acceptance of your licence varies from place to place

Whether a foreign country accepts your driving licence hangs on a tangle of variables: three different road-traffic conventions signed decades apart (1926, 1949, 1968) — the oldest predates the United Nations itself, and only the latter two were concluded under it — countries at different stages of joining each (signed vs. accepted vs. ratified), licences printed in alphabets local police can't read, vehicle-category systems that don't line up between countries, document generations that may not meet a convention's format even when the country is a member, bilateral deals between individual states, and local laws that are looser in one place and stricter in the next. The same licence can be fine at one border and rejected at the next — even at the next rental desk. The International Driving Permit exists to cut through most of it: a standardized, multilingual presentation of your existing licence, with harmonized category symbols, that most officials can read at a glance. It doesn't replace your national licence or grant new rights — you carry both — and it doesn't guarantee acceptance: a handful of destinations still require a local permit alongside or instead of it, but for most it meaningfully improves your odds.

Can you drive in Faroe Islands with your country's licence?

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Faroe Islands as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. The Faroe Islands sit outside the EU, the EEA and both road-traffic conventions, and set their own licence rules through Akstovan. Official Faroese guidance is that EU and Nordic licences need no International Driving Permit, while other licences should be accompanied by one — an IDP is never valid on its own, so always carry the original licence. Rules change — confirm with official sources before you travel. Last verified: July 2026.

Legend: "1949" — Geneva Convention on Road Traffic (IDP valid up to 1 year); "1968" — Vienna Convention (IDP valid up to 3 years).

What the Status column means on this page:

• National licence OK — the destination lets a visitor drive on the national licence itself. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, gives the basis, and any period or condition that qualifies it.
• Treaty recognises licence — IDP advised — the 1949 Geneva Convention obliges this destination to recognise your national licence, and separately allows a destination to require a 1949-type IDP; this row states the treaty position and does not settle which of the two this destination chose, so carrying an IDP is advised. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, gives the basis.
• No convention basis established for your licence — IDP advised — no road-traffic convention basis for your licence could be established at this destination, so this row settles neither that the licence alone is enough nor that anything must be carried with it; carrying an IDP is advised as a practical translation of your licence rather than as a legal entitlement. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, says what could not be established.
• Not established — the record does not settle whether you may drive here on this licence; confirm with the destination's licensing authority before you rely on it. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, says what could not be confirmed.

Sources and notes for the table above

[1] UN Treaty Collection, Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General — status of the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic (chapter XI-B-1) and of the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic (chapter XI-B-19) — XI-B-1, XI-B-19

Where to get an International Driving Permit

An International Driving Permit must be obtained before you travel, and only certain countries may issue one to you — you cannot buy an official IDP from an unrelated country. Under the 1968 Vienna Convention it may be issued only by the Contracting Party where you normally reside and which issued or recognizes your licence — by that Party's competent authority or by an association it has duly empowered. Under the 1949 Geneva Convention it is issued by the competent authority of a Contracting State, or by an association that authority has duly empowered. Which body that is varies by country: a government agency in some, an authorized motoring club in others.

• Travelling from Faroe Islands? Faroe Islands's official IDPs are issued by Faroe Islands Police (Faroese national police). Official site.
• Travelling from another country? Ask that country's driving-licence authority which body it authorizes to issue IDPs — a government agency in some countries, an authorized motoring club in others.

Separately, IDA offers a digital International Driver's Document — a translation of your national licence that you carry alongside it. It is not an International Driving Permit issued under the 1949 or 1968 conventions by the body your country authorizes for that purpose, and it is not a certified, sworn or otherwise official translation: no authority certifies it, and where a country requires an official or certified translation by law, our document does not satisfy that requirement. It is a private translation meant to make your national licence readable at rental desks and roadside checks.

Moving to Faroe Islands? Rules for new residents

A foreign licence may be exchanged for a Faroese licence issued by Akstovan, the Faroese vehicle and driver authority. For UK licences this is confirmed verbatim by the Faroese Government: "UK driving licenses issued by the DVLA can be used in the Faroe Islands, as well as exchanged for a Faroese driving licence issued by Akstovan." Exchange terms for other origins were not verifiable (akstovan.fo unreachable). Official source.

Driving rules in Faroe Islands tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: Carry the original licence plus vehicle registration, rental agreement and insurance documents. Seat belts and approved child restraints are required, and dipped headlights are used at all times (Nordic practice; not verified against a Faroese source on 29 July 2026).
• Drink-driving: No BAC figure could be verified from a Faroese source (logir.fo and politi.fo unreachable). The Nordic norm is 0.5 g/l (0.05%) but this is unverified for the Faroes — treat the limit as zero and do not drink before driving. Tariff unverified. Drink-driving in the Faroes carries fines, licence measures and potential criminal liability; no figures are stated here because none could be confirmed.
• Speed limits: Widely reported as 50 km/h in built-up areas and 80 km/h outside them, but unverified against Faroese law on 29 July 2026. Posted signs govern, and lower limits apply in tunnels and on single-lane roads.
• Carry the original licence at all times — an IDP is a translation and is never a licence on its own. Official Faroese tourism guidance states verbatim: "An international driver's license alone is not sufficient".
• Use dipped headlights at all times and cut speed for wind, fog, rain, free-roaming sheep, single-lane roads and unlit tunnels. UK government advice for the Faroes warns that "[s]maller roads may be unpaved and winding. The weather can change quickly".
• Several sub-sea tunnels are tolled and are normally billed through the rental company after the fact; check tolls, closures and the weather before each journey.

Read more about driving in Faroe Islands

Watch what driving in Faroe Islands looks like

A few minutes of real POV footage is the fastest way to feel confident before your first drive in Faroe Islands:

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. Absence of any stated period in the reachable sources; Faroese law portal unreachable
3. Resident licence conversion rule
4. Faroese Government (Representation in London) — UK/DVLA licence use and exchange. This is the page's only driving content and it is UK-specific.
5. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic: Denmark ratified 3 Nov 1986 declaring the Convention "shall not apply to the Faroe Islands and Greenland".
6. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic: full territorial-application table contains no Faroe Islands entry for Denmark.
7. UK FCDO travel advice (Denmark, incl. Faroe Islands road conditions and hire-car age/experience note).
8. Faroe Islands Police. Not reachable on 29 July 2026 — emergency/non-emergency numbers unverified.
9. Faroe Islands Police (Faroese national police) — authorized IDP issuer in Faroe Islands
10. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
11. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic