International Driving Permit in San Marino

🗓 Facts checked against San Marino's road-traffic law and official sources. Research last updated: 30 October 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 San Marino: key facts
• Do you need an International Driving Permit in San Marino?
• What side of the road does San Marino drive on?
• How long can you drive in San Marino with a foreign licence?
• Is San Marino a party to the 1949 or 1968 Road Traffic Convention?
• Why acceptance of your licence varies from place to place
• Can you drive in San Marino with your country's licence?
• Where to get an International Driving Permit
• Moving to San Marino? Rules for new residents
• Driving rules in San Marino tourists get fined for
• Read more about driving in San Marino
• Sources

Driving in San Marino: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in San Marino?

San Marino is a contracting party to both road-traffic conventions - it acceded to the 1949 Geneva Convention on 19 Mar 1962 and signed the 1968 Vienna Convention on 8 Nov 1968, ratifying it on 20 Jul 1970 (UN Treaty Collection, status as at 29 Jul 2026). Both IDP types are therefore honoured: a 1968 IDP from a 1968-party state, and a 1949 IDP from states that are party only to the 1949 Convention (e.g. the USA, Japan, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India). San Marino's own law does not require an IDP: the holder of a driving licence or an international driving permit issued by a foreign state may drive vehicles of the categories for which it is valid, and a licence or permit that does not follow the models set by the international conventions must be accompanied by an official translation into Italian or an equivalent document (Legge 30 novembre 1995 n.134, art. 19). UK government guidance is stricter for its own drivers: FCDO travel advice says 'You'll need to have both the 1968 version of the international driving permit (IDP) and your UK driving licence with you in the car', and the DVLA country table lists San Marino as '1968' with no exemption note. Rental firms may also ask for an IDP, so carrying one with the licence is a sensible precaution.

• 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 origin licences that document is not an IDP, so read your own answer rather than assuming one.
• Car renters: San Marino is landlocked inside Italy, so every approach and departure is a road trip through Italian territory. The driver, the vehicle and any rental agreement must satisfy Italian requirements as well as San Marino's.

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

What side of the road does San Marino drive on?

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

How long can you drive in San Marino with a foreign licence?

San Marino's licensing law names no visitor period: art. 19 of Legge 30 novembre 1995 n.134 lets the holder of a foreign licence or international driving permit drive here and states no time limit. The 30-day and 90/180-day figures are immigration clocks, not licence clocks: UK guidance states 'You must go to the Gendarmerie to register and get a permit of stay if you are visiting for more than 30 days or are planning to work', and 'You can travel without a visa to the Schengen area and San Marino for up to 90 days in any 180-day period' - the latter applies only to visa-exempt nationalities and varies by passport. Neither figure limits how long a foreign licence may be used. The one-year deadline in the residents section below is a residence clock and starts only on taking up residence. (UK FCDO San Marino entry requirements)

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

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

San Marino 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 San Marino accepts from visitors is shown in the table above.

• 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic: accession on 19 Mar 1962.
• 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic: ratification on 20 Jul 1970.

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 San Marino with your country's licence?

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to San Marino as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. San Marino is a sovereign micro-state landlocked inside Italy, and it is not in the EU or the EEA - so EU licence free-movement rules give no right to drive there. It is a contracting party to both the 1949 Geneva and the 1968 Vienna road-traffic conventions, so IDPs of either type are honoured according to which convention your own country belongs to. San Marino's own law lets a visitor drive on a foreign licence or international driving permit, and only a document that does not follow the convention models needs an official Italian translation or an equivalent document (Legge 30 novembre 1995 n.134, art. 19). UK government guidance goes further and tells its drivers to carry a 1968 IDP together with the original licence. People taking up residence face a separate conversion deadline, and because every approach is through Italy, Italian rules apply to the same journey. Rules change — confirm with official sources before you travel. Last verified: October 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.
• National licence OK — IDP advised — the destination does not require an IDP for this licence, but carrying one is advised. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, gives the reason and any conditions attached.
• 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.
• National licence OK — IDD/translation advised — the destination does not require an IDP for this licence, and no official convention IDP can be issued for it; carry an IDD or a certified translation instead. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, gives the reason and any conditions attached.

Sources and notes for the table above

[1] Legge 30 novembre 1995 n.134, art. 19

[a] Licence categories do not follow the convention A–E scheme — rental staff may ask for an IDP to map them.

[b] IDD = International Driver's Document, a standardized translation of your national driving licence. You can apply here: https://idaoffice.org/apply-now/.

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 San Marino? San Marino's official IDPs are issued by Vehicle and Transport Registry Office (Ufficio Registro Automezzi e Trasporti, URAT). 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 San Marino? Rules for new residents

A holder of a valid foreign licence who takes up registered residence in San Marino can exchange it for a San Marino licence of the same categories without taking the driving test (Legge 30 novembre 1995 n.134, art. 19). Art. 19 names no deadline; the government's driving-licence FAQ (October 2024) says the exchange must be requested within one year of taking up residence. Official source.

Driving rules in San Marino tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: Carry your licence and the vehicle's insurance certificate: driving without either on you is fined €100 to €350 (Codice della strada, art. 60 no. 5), and police can ask to see the licence and the vehicle's registration document (art. 36). Vehicles must carry a portable warning sign (a warning triangle), placed at least 100 m from a vehicle stopped on a main road, near a bend, crest or junction, or in poor visibility (art. 42). Seat belts must be worn in the front and rear seats, and children under 1.50 m tall must travel in an approved child restraint suited to their weight (art. 30); motorcyclists and their passengers must wear a helmet (art. 33). The highway code sets no high-visibility vest duty for drivers; because access is always through Italy, carry the equipment Italian rules require for the transit route.
• Drink-driving: The blood-alcohol limit is 0.50 mg/ml (0.5 g/l), and zero for drivers under 18, drivers licensed for less than three years, and holders of a category B, C or D licence while carrying passengers or goods for work. These limits are set by art. 57 of the Codice della strada (Decreto Delegato 26 maggio 2008 n.81), as last amended by Decreto Delegato 20 aprile 2026 n.53. From 0.50 mg/ml to below 0.80 mg/ml, or above zero for a driver held to the zero limit, the fine is €200 to €650, doubled for a repeat offence (Codice della strada, art. 60 no. 3 m, and Annex A). From 0.80 mg/ml the driver commits the offence in art. 57: detention ('arresto di terzo grado') and a fine, or either of them, and a first-degree ban from driving, and the licence is also suspended for one to six months (art. 66), or four to six months for a driver licensed for less than two years or on a repeat offence. A driver who shows signs of intoxication and refuses the breath test faces the same penalties and suspension. For a professional driver above zero, the April 2026 amendment calls the breach an offence under art. 57, while art. 60 lists it below 0.80 mg/ml among the fines.
• Speed limits: The general limit is 70 km/h on the whole road network; signs mark stretches with a lower limit, such as 30 km/h zones, and any road where a decree has raised it (Codice della strada, arts. 37 and 16). Speeding fines rise with the excess: €100 to €350 for up to 10 km/h over the limit, €200 to €650 for up to 35 km/h, €500 to €1,000 for up to 60 km/h, and that fine doubled beyond 60 km/h (art. 60 no. 6); more than 40 km/h over also brings one to four months' licence suspension (art. 66). Drive on the right and obey posted signs; descend the steep approaches to Monte Titano in a low gear and slow for bends, pedestrians and parking traffic.
• San Marino is landlocked inside Italy, so every approach and departure is a road trip through Italian territory. The driver, the vehicle and any rental agreement must satisfy Italian requirements as well as San Marino's.
• Carry your national licence, the vehicle's registration and insurance documents, the rental agreement and your passport; UK government advice also tells UK licence holders to carry a 1968 IDP with their licence.
• A UK-issued IDP cannot be bought outside the UK - the same is true of most issuing states, so obtain the IDP in the country that issued your licence before travelling.
• Hire companies impose their own extra conditions - typically a minimum period of licence-holding and a higher minimum age - and may restrict cross-border use.
• Traffic drives on the right. The historic centre on Monte Titano has steep, narrow streets with restricted access; use the designated car parks below the old town.

Read more about driving in San Marino

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. UK FCDO San Marino entry requirements
3. Resident licence conversion rule
4. UK FCDO San Marino - road travel: both a 1968 IDP and the UK licence must be carried; IDP cannot be bought outside the UK; hire-car conditions. Contains no fine, penalty or emergency-number content.
5. UK DVLA/DfT IDP country table - San Marino listed as '1968', no exemption note
6. UN Treaty Collection - 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic: San Marino accession 19 Mar 1962 (103 parties, status 29 Jul 2026)
7. UN Treaty Collection - 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic: San Marino signature 8 Nov 1968, ratification 20 Jul 1970 (91 parties, status 29 Jul 2026)
8. UK FCDO San Marino emergency numbers: 118 ambulance, 115 fire, 112/113 police
9. Legge 30 novembre 1995 n.134 (Consiglio Grande e Generale): art. 1, minimum ages for each licence category; art. 19, driving on a foreign licence or international driving permit, and exchanging a foreign licence on taking up residence
10. Decreto Delegato 20 aprile 2026 n.53 (Bollettino Ufficiale): amendments to the Codice della strada on alcohol limits, driving without a licence and driving without insurance
11. Polizia Civile (gov.sm): emergency numbers 112, 113 and 115, answered by one joint operations centre
12. Istituto per la Sicurezza Sociale (ISS), emergency department: ambulance number 118
13. Vehicle and Transport Registry Office (Ufficio Registro Automezzi e Trasporti, URAT) — authorized IDP issuer in San Marino
14. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
15. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic