Can a man with an auto car license survive in Europe?

Taking the last as a joke, real men drive automatics as well. And wear pink. And following Ireland's referendum, it takes a real man to be Panti Bliss. You should always be able to get an automatic here, the main issue is the cost. A manual to buy or hire will be cheaper.

First of all not all driving licences are automatically exchangeable with a UK one. It depends on where your licence is from. When I last checked you can drive in the UK for up to one year on your home licence. After that you may need to a UK licence. If you are one of the happy list of countries, Canada is on it (auto only), the USA is not, you will need to pass a UK driving test.

This can be automatic only or manual (full)

British driving tests are designed to be as tough as possible, the pass rate is around 50%, ie one in two tests fail, so a large bulk of people pass on the second or third or higher attempt.

So even if you pass a manual test in your home country it may only be valid for a certain period. The best advice for the UK will come from the DVLA.

All real men and women learn to drive stick-shift. Where I live...true.

First, what is your "home country"?
Tourists from most countries are allowed to use there home licences for a limited period only (usually 12 months in the UK). After that, they have to get a local licence. Licences from some countries (mostly European) are accepted, and you just exchange your original licence for a British one.
But, most licences from most countries outside Europe are not accepted, and you have to take a British driving test to get a British licence.
See this page to see how long you can drive with your original licence.
See this page to see if you can exchange your licence or need to take a driving test.

Once you gave a British Licence, you can use this in all other EU countries (and most non-EU European countries) without having to get an International Drivers Permit.

And yes, you really need to learn how to drive a manual gearbox car. If you only have a licence for an automatic car, you cannot rely on finding an automatic hire car, even in major locations. And if you do, it may require getting a larger car which costs more.

Automatic cars should be adequately available to rent, for a price, probably double. (In this office, any time an RS employee tells me he or she needs to rent an expensive automatic transmission car in Europe, the price includes me saying, "how embarrassing for you.") I like to feel more in control of my car, but in reality, you might appreciate not having to shift gears every time you reach an intersection on suburban roads or a reduced-speed area on a country highway.

Dijon is an obscure location???? Don't let Coco hear that!!!

If you are a novice at driving anywhere you will have it even harder when you swap back and forth between driving on mainland Europe and driving in the UK and Ireland. They drive on opposite sides of the road. I would have thought you would have wanted to have several years of driving under your belt before trying that stunt. Not just for your health but for that of those around you.

Don't think that you can learn to drive and then put it on a shelf for several months while you are studying. It takes regular practice to become good at it. If you go long periods between before it has fully sunk in you will mess things up.

Why do you think you will need a car to "be using cars to travel across long distances from place to place"? The UK and the rest of Europe has a highly developed and well integrated public transport system with trains that go to all the main towns and cities efficiently and quickly, and serve many small and smaller towns, especially in such places as Germany, Switzerland and the BeNeLux countries. Where the train gets close integrated buses get right up close.

There is no way a car can go long distances anywhere near as quickly as a high speed train. Europe is honeycombed with high speed train routes, and the trains travel at up to 400 kph. Cars go a quarter of that speed. And have tolls. And very expensive fuel. And the price you see to hire a car is just the beginning. You can often nearly double it with the extras you will need including insurance. Most rental places have a minimum age for renters, and require you to have had your license for a certain number of years.

There are millions of people in the UK who have no car at all, and millions more in Europe. It may not be all you think it will be.

Where in the UK will you be studying?

What is your home country?

When I saw this, I got very confused. I have never heard of getting a transmission-specific driver license. Where does that happen?

Funny, my husband, a friend and I were just talking about this at lunch. We were all glad that we learned to drive at a time when there were significantly more manual transmissions than automatics. I got my license in Texas when I was 14 (scarey, huh?!). My behind the wheel class was in an automatic, but the car at home was a manual, so I practiced and took my test in that one.

I'm not nostalgic for the past, but in the case of learning to drive, my husband and I are happy that the driving skills we learned way back then made it possible for both of us to drive just about anything. On our trips anywhere, he's the driver and I'm the navigator, but we can always switch seats if need be.

Lo, that is normal in most European countries.
If you pass your test in a car with automatic transmission, you get a licence which is only valid for cars with automatic transmission.
If you pass your test in a car with manual transmission you get a full licence valid on both types of transmission.
The result is everybody takes their test in a manual car, except the very few people (disabled etc.) who can only drive an automatic.

See here for a list of the British licence categories. See "Category B" and "Category B auto".

This is why US licences are not accepted as exchange, and people with a US licence have to take a test if they move to the UK. The US test is considered not up to European standards, partly because it allows you to take the test in an automatic car, and partly because it is generally not as strict as European standard tests.

When I moved to Switzerland, I exchanged my UK licence for a Swiss one, I did not have to take a Driving Test. People I know from the USA did have to take a Swiss Driving Test (snigger).

Thanks for the info, Chris. That clears things up.

I worked for the US Army in Germany in the early 80's. I remember getting a "special" license to drive my VW Rabbit (manual transmission) and to drive a 15 passenger van (not sure what kind of transmission). I remember doing written tests for both, but I don't remember doing a behind-the-wheel part for either. I guess I probably did, but on post. Perhaps working for the US military at that time, we got some sort of special dispensation. I do know that I used those licenses in Europe and not my WA state one. In fact, it expired just before I returned to the States and I had to go over a couple of low hurdles to renew it.

Seeing the way people drive, I wish the US had country-wide driving tests and standards. As it is now, if you move from state to state your license may just be transferred over, or you may have to take a written test, or you may have to do that and take a behind-the-wheel test. Some states may have more stringent requirements than others, but at least in the West where we drive, we don't see any difference in the quality of driving from state to state.

Bruce beat me to it: real women drive stick shift.

Hey all, thanks for the replies. I checked on the gov.uk site and yes, turns out I'll only be able to drive for 12 months in the UK (which is news to me).

The issue here is really time... Only 3 months left so I can't really afford to fail the test the first time around. But from the overwhelming response I guess I should commit to learning manual!

When the US Top Gear people described a manual as a real drivers car, in our house we fell about laughing. All the cars are manuals in our family, including granny's little run around, that is more of a tin of beans on wheels than a car.

To add to Chris F's comments. You can convert a Canadian driving licence to a UK one, but are restricted to getting an automatic only licence here. Whenever I've seen it discussed about Americans moving to the UK the reasons given vary as to why the US is excluded, but it is not because Americans only drive autos as Canada shows.

We also give Canadians the vote.

When the US Top Gear people described a manual as a real drivers car, in our house we fell about laughing. All the cars are manuals in our family, including granny's little run around, that is more of a tin of beans on wheels than a car.

To add to Chris F's comments. You can convert a Canadian driving licence to a UK one, but are restricted to getting an automatic only licence here. Whenever I've seen it discussed about Americans moving to the UK the reasons given vary as to why the US is excluded, but it is not because Americans only drive autos as Canada shows.

We also give Canadians the vote.

I think you should check with some rental companies in the countries you may be renting to find out if there are any additional requirements. Here in Israel, you must have a valid license for at least one year before you can rent a car. You must be over 21.

you say you will probably use a car to travel long distances, you might want to rethink this. Fuel cost in the UK are very High and makes travelling long distances by car quite expensive especially if travelling alone.
UK and Europe have very good public transport systems and worth checking up availability and cost of these before deciding on using a car.
"muddy/winding/small/hard to navigate roads" can you give us the source of this information or have you been reading books about the 17th century?
real men would not need to ask such questions on a travel forum.
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That last bit was a little bit of British humour.

I'm down to one car and it's a six-speed manual transmission. Of course now the "thing" is paddle-shifters on the steering wheel (like a formula 1 racer) - so I still have room for improvement. :-)

I've never lived in a state that granted limited licenses. I've always been able to drive anything and always opt for a manual transmission diesel when renting in Europe. I feel I get better performance from a manual transmission as well as amazing fuel efficiency.

I'd say stick with it (pun intended), once you get used to a manual transmission it's not that difficult.

Seriously Andrew, what's the problem? If you learn how to use a computer with a mouse you can also use one with a touchpad. Same is with driving a car. The tricky bit with your driver's license is the theory and the getting used to being part of the traffic. Whether the automatic switches from the 1st to the 2nd gear or you do it yourself - where is the problem? Nowadays even the affordable economy 2 doors like a Fiat 500 tell you in the display when to shift up or down. Yes, driving with a stick makes texting, posting selfies and checking your facebook timeline a bit more difficult. But I'm sure you get used to it.

And yes, renting a car with automatic transmission in Europe is definitely significantly more expensive than renting a normal car. Nonetheless from Intermediate size up you often get an automatic anyway, especially in Germany.

Also please note (and don't freak out): While the UK and Switzerland are "regular" fuel countries in France, Germany and some other countries you'd actually prefer a Diesel powered car as it's so much cheaper....

And just FYI at the moment I find you get the best rates for rental cars across Europe at http://cars.momondo.com.