I'm leaving for Germany in a few days and don't have one of these? How important is having one? The closest AAA office is about 100 miles away.
Thanks.

It's a Permit, not a License, and it's basically just a translation of your real license, useful for dealing with authorities who can't comprehend English. Required in Italy , not sure about Germany. Try asking AAA if there's some way to do it long-distance -- perhaps faxing them a copy of your license?

I got an international driving permit for a trip to Italy from AAA. They take your picture and paste it into a document. From what I understand, it's not required, but could perhaps help if you were to get pulled over for a driving offense. How likely that is to happen is one question. Second is how lenient would a policeman be to an obvious tourist. probably depends on what the offense is. If it's 100 miles each way to get it...I wouldn't bother! Trish

It is required for Italy and Austria, NOT for Germany. Not to worry...

The IDP is not required if you are only driving in Germany. It is a requirement if driving in Austria. I always have one just in case I get the urge to cross the border into Austria. NOT required for Germany... Ben

StCirq,
What about France?

I don't have one and am not sure when I will have time to get one between now and my trip! (AAA is not open on weekends here)

Nope, CarolA, not for France, either. As far as I know, it's only Italy and Austria - maybe Spain but will have to check that out. France, definitely NOT.

Thanks,
I do have an old one for Italy around here someplace, but....