After looking at the info on car rentals, I am gathering that all we need for driving in France once we are there are our US driver's licenses. Is this true or do we still need to get the International ones? Thanks.
My husband has had his Florida license renewed in the past year, however I have not.
Posted by
Tucson, Arizona
42 posts
I was in france march 07 and did not need an international licenses to rent from hertz.
Posted by
Mansfield, GA
850 posts
You probably will not need one but I would advise getting one. Cost is $15 at your local AAA office.
It is not a drivers license but merely a translation of your U.S. drivers license in different languages. I do not believe France requires an IDP but if you cross over into Italy you are suppose to have one. Here is a link to a site that may be of help:
http://www.aa.co.nz/motoring/licensingandtraining/international/Pages/where.aspx
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
For France Rick's advice is: "Although an IDP is not required if your US drivers license has been renewed in the last year, play it safe and get one anyway." So according to Rick, your husband will be legal but you won't be without an IDP. In the interest of accuracy, whether a car rental company asks to see your IDP does not really answer the question of whether the law of the country you're in requires an IDP. For example, we've discussed many times here that Italian law requires an IDP, but I can't recall a rental company in Italy asking to see mine as a condition of renting. Apparently the rental company doesn't have a legal stake in whether or not you have an IP (that's between you and the carbinieri that pulls you over). But if you rented in Italy 5 times and the rental companies never asked to see your IDP, and you concluded, based on that, that you don't need one, you'd be wrong.
Posted by
Portlandia
3313 posts
France does not require an IDP. Italy does. But I have firsthand experience that having one would have made the job of Gendarme who stopped me for speeding easier. And you want a happy Gendarme. It's hard to decipher an American drivers license. And with photo radar, you are more likely to be stopped these days.
Posted by
Mansfield, GA
850 posts
Know what you mean Doug. I was also stopped in France and although they only asked for my drivers license I also gave them my IDP. They seemed to appreciate that I had one and it was the document they used to get the information for writing my ticket(s). Did not reduce the fine any but it expedited the process which permitted me to be on my way a little sooner.