I think American ones are also in Spanish too?

Pal, My Passport is also in French. So are US passports.>
Yes but what about in the Netherlands - they are not in Dutch - same as driver's licenses are not - do you advise folks coming to the Netherlands to get a IDP - all Dutch cops I bet know enough English not even to look at the IDP?

Seriously do you have any knowledge if IDP are required or needed in Holland.

I can't believe all the British drivers say going to France or millions of Spaniards and Germans and Italian all get the IDP - I just don't believe that any of them probably have even heard of the IDP!

kerouac's question

gerndarmerie I think patrol the highways - policiers city matters like all crimes, etc.

Police nationale airports and emergencies?

Dounaiers (Customs officers) can set up check points well away from the border like in Orleans where in the paper I saw them stopping a van with Dutch plates and having dogs sniff around it.

would wonder if that is about right or not?

I'm with PQ and Kerouac. I've rented cars and driven in France innumerable times and have never used an International Drivers License. I can assure you all the Brits driving over to France for their summer holidays don't have them either and the French police seem to be able to cope. However, it's interesting to hear that Iris' rental agency requires one as none of the rental agencies have every asked me for one, Hertz, Avis etc. If it was a rigid requirement wouldn't all of them require it, 100% of the time?

Having said all that, I'm not a nervous person and I don't tend to worry about things. If they require it and or if it makes you feel better to get it then it makes sense to do so. I think the reason this sort of thing is "contentious" is because, like tipping, it comes down to personality and opinion.

The OP says
<I'm a bit cautious and don't want this to worry me the whole 10 days> I wouldn't worry about it myself but equally I wouldn't presume to tell you not to worry. You should do what helps you manage the concern, which is to get the IDP.

janisj:

<kerouac: the French embassy says one needs a notarized translation - you may think it is unnecessary but the Ambassador thinks it is . . .>

I wonder if the French Ambassy in Britain or Germany or Italy or Spain has that on their sites for their drivers or is it just on the American and Asian Embassies' sites?

Or maybe French flics are trained to know all about European drivers licenses since I believe there is just one for each country - here every state has different licenses so harder perhaps to decipher whether someone needs spectacles to drive - has an endorsement for motorcycles, restrictions on it, etc.

Ahh, a doubting Thomas. Never said it was ridged, just the company we used.

Interesting enough, Nice airport car rental area was a zoo on July 4th.

Long lines and as we attempted to find our car agency we passed Hertz and a small sigh listed our agency.

We entered the cordoned off area with only a short line.

Could not believe it and when at the counter, even before anyone asked, was my IDP and US license presented.

Believe it or not by Ripley.

Dutch passports have no language on the photo page, just the information about the holder.
Dutch driving licences follow EU norms, as do modern UK licences. These are identical to French ones so even the most imbecilic French cop can work it out.

An IDP is not required by law for the Netherlands. Doesn't mean it's not a bad idea to have one with you.

All this argument for the sake of $22 from a budget of at least 100 times that.

If the French embassy says you need an IDP get one. Really if the price is too much perhaps you shouldn't be travelling.
Better have one and not need it than not have one and get into problems surely?

welltraveledbrit, don't head for New York without your IDP if you plan on driving.

"In addition have been stopped 3 times by Police and they viewed our IDP along with our US license."

I'll bet if you'd handed them your voting registration and draft card they would have viewed those as well. But, required????

Iris - apologies if you felt my post meant I didn't believe you, this was not the intention at all.

Robert - Thanks for the advice! I'm just back from NY and will be back there for six weeks at the end of the year. I'm sure you're right that they can't read a Californian driver's license over there ;).

PalenQ, it should be pointed out that every licence in the EU is valid in every other EU country, because they follow a standard format that every official knows.

I would venture to say, though, that certain licences in French... say, for certain African countries not known for excessive integrity in the issuance of documents... are less likely to be accepted than a licence in English from a variety of other countries, IDP or not.

For what its worth, I this is the first I have heard of an IDP! When I lived in Europe, I just used my US drivers license with no problem. Similarly, I have rented cars in several countries with my US drivers license and not had a problem.

Susan C if you lived in Europe for any length of time you were driving illegally with a US licence, and were therefore uninsured as well. You have to exchange your licence for a local one after a year, and that can mean a driving test for Americans.

Hey welltrave; You are a classy person.

No harm, no foul.

>You have to exchange your licence for a local one after a year<

Actually, you have to obtain a French drivers license after living in the country for 6 months. And you would have to speak French in order to take the test.

Susan C if you lived in Europe for any length of time you were driving illegally with a US licence, and were therefore uninsured as well. You have to exchange your licence for a local one after a year, and that can mean a driving test for Americans.>

Not in my case in Germany and France - our Secretary of State brochure says very clearly our state licenses are by reciprocal agreement fully valid in those countries and we can automatically get a French or German license without further adieu - no driving test - just show our state license - valid for three months I think or so on its own - then just get a French or German license by showing our state licenses.

All states have different agreements but hard to tell and of course that is only two countries but if I go to those countries as a resident I could just get a French or German license automatically and use it all over Europe.

Again the bottom line I agree with is pay teh $22 or whatever charge and get the darn thing just in case and ask your car rental about it too.

yes again janis is right IDP threads go on and on and on and always come back to just pay the lousy small some of a few cups of cofee in Europe and put angst to rest.

On a lighter note...

<I would venture to say, though, that certain licences in French... say, for certain African countries not known for excessive integrity in the issuance of documents... are less likely to be accepted than a licence in English from a variety of other countries, IDP or not.>

Kerouac this put me in mind my mother who bought her Irish driver's license for a pound in the late 1950's, there was no test. Then in the 1970's in Nigeria she was required to take a test - so my father asked the Chief of Police (who he knew) to sit in the back (along with her driver) as her test was taken. Needless to say she passed but the driver said that he though it was best if she didn't drive herself - even though she had technically" aced" the test! I'm not sure if he was protecting his own job or the cars and pedestrians in the city where we lived! Either way, she has now given up her car and I'm not sure she ever drove in France - so the French police didn't have to worry about the dubious origins of either license!

BTW, AAA is pronounced differently in France.

Ah ah ah - haha IMD!