Do I need international license?
 

Do I need international license to rent and drive a car in Italy? I might want to take a trip out of Florence for one day :-)

Sorry, this was meant for Italy forum.

hubby and i were there last year, and had the same concern, so we jumped through all sorts of hoops to get one. despite renting a car in venice, and dropping it off in rome, we were never asked. however, we didn't have any incidents (ie accidents, etc) over there, so, i'm not sure if we were just overly cautious. i say if you can get one, conveniently, go ahead. i wouldn't in retrospect, have jumped through all the hoops we did to get one.

Would they have given you a car without it?

I just heard this weekend on NPR that the only country in Western Europe that you'll need an international license is Austria.

We rented a car in Sorrento---used our USA license. However, I think I read in this forum about a problem experienced by a driver---he was stopped, no International License and the police took him to the station where someone spoke English. <BR>I would really like to hear experiences from those who have used/not used international licenses and any problems you experienced, especially if you were involved in an accident. thanks

It was my experience in Greece last year, when trying to rent a motor scooter, that they required an international drivers license from non european union members. I also need to find the answer to this question. I'm going to get one. They're easily obtained

Kostia <BR> <BR>Just got back from Italy and rented a minibus for 10 days drove from Rome to Amalfi coast and back to and around Rome had no problems .

Lisa; <BR>What hoops did you have to jump through to get and international license? I went to triple A, spent 10$ and 5min (no joke) and had a license in my hand 5 minutes later.

I also got an International Drivers License from AAA for a recent trip to Spain. I was told that the only value of this license is that it is set up so that anyone in most countries can understand the information even if they don't know English. It was certainly not required to rent a car there. -Dave- <BR>www.CrazyAboutTravel.com

The International Driving License is a translation of your regular driver's license, with a picture. The only reason you might need one is if you get stopped for speeding, or have an accident, and the police can't (or won't) read English. It's easy to obtain from AAA, so I got them for my daughter and me, for our trip, just to be on the safe side. Many people never use, or need, them, and - as far as I know - it's not necessary for renting a car. When I reserved a car with Hertz, I was not asked for it