Driving in England and France
 

Hi, me and my mother are visiting England and France for a few weeks, and some of the places we were planning on going to are difficult to get to without a car. We were considering renting one, but were slightly confused about the regulations... Do we need a international drivers licence to drive in England and France? And will we be allowed to rent and use a standard transmission car, or do we have to get an automatic?

Thanks!

What country's licence do you hold?

Standard transmission are sometimes the only available you pay extra for automatic. We have never used an International licence in either UK or France. You can get one at AAA if you are more comfortable

You can rent and kind of car you want; nobody is going to force you to drive either an automatic or a stick. An automatic generally costs more to rent in Europe since standard shifts seem to be more of a norm there than in the US.

The International Drivers PERMIT (it is not a license) is simply a document which translate the basic information on your own driver's license into various other languages. In some countries it is an apparent legal requirement to have one but the only time you will probably ever need one is if you are stopped by the police and then only if you have a license in a language they do not readily understand.

The rental agency is going to be the entity which sets the licensing "requirement" for you as a renter and generally speaking a valid driver's license from your home country will suffice.

IMO you should also at least consider renting your car or cars through an agency such as Autoeurope or their sister company Kemwel; both are based here in the US; they act as rental car consolidators and use a variety of different agencies depending on the rental location; take a look at their website www.autoeurope.com

If your licence is Canadian, you don't need an IDP in the UK or France if you're here only for a few weeks

You do with some other countries' licences, if you're here for a year or so, and in some other European countries.

You do not need an international driver's permit (it's not a license) for either England (where they speak English, so there's no need for a translation of your regular license) or France. You will need your regular license in order to rent and drive.

Standard transmission cars are the norm in England and France. You will pay extra for an automatic and not even necessarily guaranteed one, so it's much better if you can drive a standard.

The best outfits to rent from are AutoEurope and Kemwel, which are brokers who are affiliated with a number of different auto rental companies in Europe.

Gee, what did I leave out???