need an international drivers license to rent car from Avis in Dieppe France?

It's French law to have an IDP if you don't have a French language driver's license or a license from another EU country. The rental people may ask, but it's not required that they do. It's the police who may do something about it if they ask. I'd also check if your insurance would be valid if you're driving without a valid license, which you don't have in France without an IDP.

very good feedback. Thank you!

We were never asked for it when we rented (this was a few years ago, we don't drive in France now) but the one time we got pulled over, the first thing the cop asked for was the IDP and he was actually visibly disappointed that we had it. He was obviously winding up.

We did not have one for the last 8 trips to France over 20 years including last year. That said, we were never stopped. During our trip last year, we were somewhere in the Dordogne region when my sister did a California ( rolling ) stop through a stop sign. A policeman on foot shook his finger at her and walked up to our car. He said ‘you must make a full stop’ in French but did not ask to see our license.

We figured we were testing our luck and got a French DL ( temporary ) for our trip in October. It was super easy to do online and our licenses arrived in about 6 weeks.

Here is where you apply:

https://www.e-itca.org/international-driving-permit-france

I've probably rented upwards of 100 cars overseas throughout my travel adventures. I have never been asked to show an IDP to the rental agency, not once. (Maybe they could tell that I had one in my pocket?)

I've been stopped for traffic violations by police while driving in Spain, Italy, Mexico, Japan (and had to show my license and registration at various kinds of "checkpoints" in probably a dozen other countries). I always hand over my Washington state drivers license and my IDP together. Never received a ticket from those cops (even when the police officer had just witnessed me clearly violating some law, eg passing a slow truck in a no-passing zone...d'oh!!!). I have no way of knowing if I got any more leniency than I would have otherwise, but when those cops handed me back my license and IDP and said something in broken English like "next time more careful", I was glad I had spent the $25 (or whatever it was at the time) to get the IDP before departing. YMMV. Seems like a small courtesy a visitor can do for the powerful official who may have to make a quick judgement about how strict or lenient they will be towards you.

And yes, I do need to slow down and stop passing trucks in clearly-marked "no passing" zones (especially when there are police around).

I'm with David. Just rented a car from Sixt in Avignon. They didn't ask anything about an international driver's license.

It's the law to have one, just as the same as it's the law not to speed, not to run anyone over, and to park legally.

Just as the agency assumes (maybe wrongly) that you intend keeping those laws, maybe they assume you will keep the law about having an IDP.

I've been asked a few times over the years (most recently in November.) For $20 (through AAA), we get one every year. It's in expensive and takes 10 mins then should we need it, we have it.

I have rented in several countries in Europe and the only time I was asked for it was in Lyon France, luckily I had it with me.

It's $20 per year through AAA in the U.S. to have one. It's free to have one that lasts three years if you're licensed in France.

AAA likes to make money from it. That's why it costs what it does for folks from the U.S. and why it's good for only a year.

The thing to keep in mind is that French police and gendarmes spend very, very little time on traffic enforcement. It's not their charge. France relies mainly on red light cameras and speed radars, the more modern of which also can monitor for tailgating. I've had a French license for a decade and have been pulled over twice: once as part of a drunk driving check where I was asked if I had been drinking and I replied "Non" and was waved to continue on my way; and the other during the Covid lockdowns when I was questioned why I was on the road.

That's it.

And that includes over a hundred thousand kilometers of driving in rural settings, in cities such as Paris, Dieppe, Nice, Bordeaux, Clermont-Ferrand, Vichy, Cherbourg, Caen, Lyon, and Marseille, and in innumerable small towns.

You can drive for years in France and not see someone pulled over for any reason along a French roadway. It's not like in the U.S., where it seems that police focus on looking for broken taillights or someone briefly venturing over the centerline on a road to pull them over, in order to enrich the local community's coffers.

I've never been asked for one in ten visits. I have also never heard of anyone who had a problem because they didn't have one—not once. Some people claim they have been asked for one, and then surmised that they didn't have a problem because they had one. But that is just conjecture. I would save your money, hassle and the annual fee to AAA. I would heed the caution to not speed—even by just a couple of MPH. Your biggest traffic violation risk in France is to get a ticket in the mail after your visit via a traffic camera, and sent to you (with a fee) courtesy of your rental car company.

by the same logic, I have driven to France from my home in England, except for during covid, between 5 and 7 times every year yet I have never been asked for my insurance papers or my driving license. I guess that means I can save all that money. Thanks. They do ask to see my passport so I'll keep buying that.

I've never had an accident either.

I have driven more than 1,200,000 km in France (750,000 mi) over a period of more than 40 years, I was checked only once 15 years ago by the police for a blood alcohol test (which was negative). And I wasn't asked to show my driver's license

I've been randomed 3 times in the past 5 years, and each time licence and insurance was checked.

I only drive 20,000 miles a year though...

If it is the law in France then just spend the $20.00 and get one if nothing else but peace of mind. Goodness you are paying hundreds of dollars to get there so to me twenty dollars is a pittance . Just because people have never been asked to show it or have never been stopped is not a good excuse in my opinion.

If you have the misfortune of being in a traffic accident or stopped by the FR police for speeding, etc. an international drivers license will be asked for. It's like car insurance, you don't need it and won't be asked to prove you have it until the police get involved. As of a couple of weeks ago, it's around $30 for license and photo. Consider it insurance. Avoid potential hassle, go to AAA & get the drive's license. It's good for one year. By the way, don't forget you have no health insurance once you leave the US. Don't gamble on not being covered there as well.