International Driving Permit in Italy

🗓 Facts checked against Italy's road-traffic law and official sources. Research last updated: 28 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 Italy: key facts
• Do you need an International Driving Permit in Italy?
• What side of the road does Italy drive on?
• How long can you drive in Italy with a foreign licence?
• Is Italy a party to the 1949 or 1968 Road Traffic Convention?
• Why acceptance of your licence varies from place to place
• Can you drive in Italy with your country's licence?
• Where to get an International Driving Permit
• Which countries can convert a licence in Italy without an exam?
• Driving rules in Italy tourists get fined for
• Read more about driving in Italy
• Sources

Driving in Italy: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Italy?

Art. 135 c.1 CdS: the 1-year figure measures residence in Italy, not driving time. A non-EU/EEA licence holder may drive here provided their residence in Italy has lasted 1 year or less; a visitor with no Italian residence at all satisfies that condition, and nothing caps how long they drive. They must carry the national licence plus either an International Driving Permit or an official (sworn) Italian translation of the licence — the two are legal alternatives, and both must be valid. That article opens "fermo restando quanto previsto in convenzioni internazionali", so it yields where a convention or a cited bilateral arrangement gives the licence its own route: a licence with a 1968 Vienna basis is recognised by the Convention itself where it meets that Convention's Annex 6 format, and whether a given licence meets it is not recorded here, so the table advises carrying an IDP alongside such a licence rather than requiring one; and Swiss and United Kingdom licences are accepted on the licence alone under the arrangements those two rows cite. Italy accepts IDPs of both the 1949 Geneva (valid 1 yr) and 1968 Vienna (valid 3 yr) types (Art. 135 c.2 + Italy is party to both). The table below says which case your own licence is in.

• 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: Rental companies typically require 21+, 1+ year of licence, young-driver surcharges under 25, and may demand an IDP.
• EU / EEA licence holders: no IDP needed — EU/EEA licences valid with no time limit for visitors; residents keep driving until expiry (open-ended licences convert within 2 years of residence, Art. 136-bis c.3).
• UK licence holders: UK photocard licences are accepted for visitor driving (gov.uk); UK–Italy conversion agreement signed 23 Dec 2022, in force 30 Mar 2023, valid to 30 Mar 2028.

Driving without the required document is punishable under Art. 135, comma 8, Codice della Strada (D.Lgs. 285/1992) with a fine of €408–1,634.

What side of the road does Italy drive on?

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

How long can you drive in Italy with a foreign licence?

No time cap for visitors — a non-resident may drive on a valid foreign licence with no fixed limit, for as long as the licence and any supporting document it needs stay valid. The '1 year' figure is a residence rule, not a tourist clock. What a visitor must carry alongside the licence depends on their own licence's treaty basis — the table below says which case you are in. (Art. 135 c.1 CdS (only temporal condition is 'non residenti in Italia da oltre un anno'))

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

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

Italy is a Contracting Party to both United Nations Conventions on Road Traffic — the Geneva Convention of 19 September 1949 and the Vienna Convention of 8 November 1968. International Driving Permits of both the 1949 and the 1968 type are therefore issued against its framework; which types Italy accepts from visitors is shown in the table above.

• 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic: ratification on 15 Dec 1952.
• 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic: ratification on 2 Oct 1996.

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 Italy with your country's licence?

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Italy as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. Italy accepts EU/EEA licences without formality (Art. 136-bis CdS). Art. 135 c.1 is expressly subject to international conventions ("fermo restando quanto previsto in convenzioni internazionali"), so what a non-EU visitor needs depends on their own licence's basis: with no 1968 Vienna basis, the national licence plus an International Driving Permit or an official (sworn) Italian translation — the two are legal alternatives (Art. 135 c.1); with a 1968 Vienna basis, the Convention's own route may apply instead, and this table advises carrying the licence and an IDP together because whether a given licence meets the Convention's Annex 6 format is not recorded here; and Swiss and United Kingdom licences are accepted on the licence alone under the arrangements cited in those two rows. Both the 1949 Geneva (valid 1 yr) and 1968 Vienna (valid 3 yr) IDP types are accepted. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, says which case you are in. 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.
• IDP or translation — your national licence needs a supporting document alongside it. Which ones the destination accepts, and whether an official IDP can be issued for your licence at all, are in the row for your country of issue, in the table below.
• Treaty recognises licence + IDP — advised — the 1968 Vienna Convention obliges this destination to recognise a national licence conforming to Annex 6 of that Convention, and separately an IDP presented together with the national licence it belongs to; this row does not record whether your own licence conforms to Annex 6, and the licence-and-IDP pair is recognised either way, so carrying both is advised. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, gives the basis.
• Sworn translation required — your national licence needs a supporting document alongside it, and no official convention IDP can be issued for a licence from a country party to neither road-traffic convention, so the sworn translation named in the row for your country of issue, in the table below, is the form of it open to you.
• 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] Art. 135 c.1 CdS

[2] 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 Italy? Italy's official IDPs are issued by Motorizzazione Civile provincial offices (Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, MIT). 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.

Which countries can convert a licence in Italy without an exam?

Once you register Italian residence you may keep driving on your non-EU/EEA foreign licence for up to 1 year from that registration (Art. 135 c.1/c.14 CdS). After that year the foreign licence is no longer valid to drive on in Italy: you must either convert it to an Italian licence without an exam — only if your country has a bilateral agreement — or pass the full Italian theory + practical exam. Driving after the year is fined €158–638 (Art. 135 c.14 → Art. 126 c.11) and the licence is seized, even if the licence is still valid in the country that issued it. EU/EEA licences are exempt (they stay valid). Ordinary U.S. licences are not convertible (no Italy–USA agreement — full Italian exam required).

General list = 27 states (MIT 'Conversione patente estera', updated 13 July 2026). Caveats as of 28 Jul 2026: Albania's agreement lapsed 12 Jul 2026 (conversions closed pending renewal); El Salvador (agreement to 4 Aug 2021) and Uruguay (to 17 May 2020) are still printed on the page but lapsed. Application deadlines: within 4 years of residence for Albania/Argentina/Switzerland/Ukraine, 6 years for most others. Official source.

Driving rules in Italy tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: warning triangle (Art. 162, fine €42–173) + high-visibility vest; seatbelts for all (Art. 172 c.10, €83–332).
• Drink-driving: 0.5 g/l general; 0.0 g/l for drivers under 21, licensed under 3 years, and professional drivers (Art. 186/186-bis). Art. 186 c.2: €543–2,170 (a), €800–3,200 (b, +arrest), €1,500–6,000 (c, +arrest 6mo–1yr); criminal above 0.8 g/l; Art. 186-bis c.2 zero-limit categories €168–672 (current text; older ACI figures €527/€163 were stale).
• Speed limits: 130 km/h motorways, 110 main extra-urban, 90 secondary/local extra-urban, 50 urban (raisable to 70 where signed); novices (first 3 years) 100/90 (Art. 142, Art. 117).
• Rental companies typically require 21+, 1+ year of licence, young-driver surcharges under 25, and may demand an IDP.
• ZTL (Zona a Traffico Limitato): camera-enforced restricted zones in historic centres; unauthorized entry fined per entry, mailed via the rental company months later.

Read more about driving in Italy

• Auto insurance in different countries
• Should we rent a car in Italy?
• 10 best countries to visit in Europe
• Top 10 places to visit in Italy
• Nuances of the Italian Driving Style: A Guide for Tourists
• Alfa Romeo: Behind the Nostalgic Wheel — Driving the Giulietta, Giulia, 2600 and Spider Through Tuscany
• 21 Travel Tips for Your Travel to Europe
• Driving in Italy: Comprehensive Guide
• Corsica vs Sardinia: How to choose
• 15 Interesting Facts About Italy
• What is Italy famous for?

Watch what driving in Italy looks like

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

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Sources

1. Art. 135, comma 8, Codice della Strada (D.Lgs. 285/1992)
2. Resident licence conversion — official list
3. Motorizzazione Civile provincial offices (Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, MIT) — authorized IDP issuer in Italy
4. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
5. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic