Is it necessary to have an International Driver's license to rent a car in Italy?

Hi TC,

>Is it necessary to have an International Driver's license to rent a car in Italy?

Not always.

However, you are supposed to have one if you are driving a car.

You can get one from the AAA:
www.aaasouth.com/travel_drivers.asp#idp

Search here as this topic has been discussed ad nauseum on Fodor's and most say yes - a few say no. Yes it seems so just get one for a few bucks from AAA. Make sure you own license is not expiring in th next few months too i guess.

Hi TC - it is an International Driver's Permit not license. It is a translation of your driver's license information into other languages. It is required in Italy if you get stopped by the police, from what I understand you can be fined for not having it. Do a search here for IDP and you should find all sorts of opinions on whether people think it is necessary or not. If you have an AAA office nearby, you can get it done there. You need 2 passport size photos also. I think it is about $10 to get the IDP and then the cost of the photos. Have a fun trip!

I got it last week...took just a few days to mail in and get it sent back to me.

Yes, you need one. We were driving betwwen Florence & Vinci last April & we were waved over by 2 machine gun carrying policemen. One came to the driver side window & the other stayed back & kept his machine gun trained on us. (We are a family of 4, 2 kids in the back seat). He asked for ducumentation & I gave him my US license, our Int'l license & passport. After a few tense minutes he waved us on. I'm sure he wouldn't have if we did not have our Int'l license. Be safe & get it.

Thanks for the good advice!

Hi. We got stopped by the police too in Umbria for no apparent reason. They looked around (we had a 2 year old in the back) & asked for documentation & we showed it to him & like the previous poster said he just waived us on our way after looking. I would say better be safe than sorry.

I got asked for mine in Spain by traffic cops. Last two times I reneted a car in Italy through AutoEurope, the reservation form stated that it was a requirement.

I found this on www.snopes.com It appears there are lots of places who will sell you an IDL on line for up to $40. Only two places are authorized to sell them.

From snopes,
Moreover, only two organizations are authorized by the State Department to sell IDPs in the United States: the American Automobile Association and the American Automobile Touring Alliance (through the National Automobile Club). Anyone else who attempts to sell you any type of international driver's license or permit is peddling worthless imitation documents (or, at best, is offering to charge you an exorbitant fee for walking you through the paperwork — an IDP takes but a few minutes to obtain and costs only $10).
They also have a link to an FTC warning about the unauthorized IDL's
[email protected]

It is a required rip-off. As others have said, it's purpose is to provide a translation of your English language driver's license. $10 at AAA club plus photo. It expires in 1 year. Never could figure out why it should expire in 1 year. I don't think the translations change much in a year but you are required to have it in countries where English is not the official language.

Larry J

One other thing. I have residency in France and it is not required there. I guess French police officers are just a little better at translating.

Larry J

We just got our IDP's at our local AAA office. I had my two pictures taken elsewhere, and the fee for a non-member was $15. My wife just went in yesterday with no photos, and it cost her $28.

I would get the IDP just to be on the safe side. It's not very expensive so why take the risk of not needing it.

It's a legal requirement. If you don't have one then you aren't driving legally which could have other side effects