In Italy, when renting a car there .......do you need an international licence, or will your Canadian one suffice?

Ron Monroe
I got an International license. I actually enjoyed driving in Italy. The autostrada are great. They are fast, but I didn’t have any problems. I drove all over Tuscany on local roads. No problems. That said, driving in the old parts of cities was crazy. I parked on the edges. I also rented an automatic Mercedes for the week through Sixt. Picked up in Venice. Dropped off in Sorrento. $600 Cad for the week, which I thought was fair.

I drove with my Canadian license. No problem. I don't recommend renting in the heart of the city. In Florence, it was almost impossible to drive through the city to get t back. They have many odd restricted zones at different times of the day. We ended up having to return the car Pye for a huge fee because t took us frustrating hours to get it back.
Also, they have auto cameras that send you fines in other cities. The signs are in Italian and not obvious. Ours was for about $200cad in Pisa and we got it about a year later. The credit card company would not let us dispute it. Our problems were typical of other people who I spoke with that drove in Italy.
Tuscany was amazing to drive through though. So wonderful in those mountains. We had a little Fiat hatchback, standard transmission which was perfect. You want a small car for those small roads.

Agreed, be wary of driving into any historical city centres or hill towns. I still receive notification of unpaid parking tickets for 180 euros. They pick you up on their cameras. If you are staying in a restricted zone you may be able to advise your accommodations of your plate number. In Florence they granted us leave to enter the forbidden area for 1 hr to drop off our luggage and then park outside the zone.

Truly nothing like the magic of driving in Tuscany. So amazing. I bought a gps on line before I went. It worked like a dream. Driving gives you a freedom trains don't offer. When booking hotels/b&bs just filter in parking available. If you have a credit card that covers general insurance use that. In Italy you are required to buy no fault zero deductible insurance on top of regular pl/pd. Have fun.

If you get stopped by the police and you do not have an International Driving Licence, you will be fined. (Rule is specific to Italy, I believe).http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/.../driver_licence...
CANADAINTERNATIONAL.GC.CA
Driver's Licence

Everyone's comments regarding driving are accurate. People drive faster, lines on the road identifying lanes are suggestions etc. You need to pay as much attention behind you for people catching up to you as you do looking in front of you. If you're paying attention, driving isn't an issue. We've driven thousands of km in Italy you just need to pay attention. We've never had an issue with a CDN drivers license but the comments that you will be fined if pulled over are accurate. Parking on the outskirts of major cities is a good idea.

You can get the license for about $25 at AMA, it saves you the fee in Italy if you do get pulled over. And beware of Italy, you may need to know how to drive stick even for a rental car and drivers are aggressive there, make sure you're up to speed on roundabouts because they're everywhere and you aren't given a lot of courtesy by other drivers if you don't seem to know what you're doing.

Driving in Italy is madness. I drove all across Italy on a road trip. If you drive like most people do in Alberta, you'll regret renting a car. You have to be cautious of rules as I received two tickets in the mail from the Italians. Read up on the rules of the road (including the unwritten ones) and get yourself an IDP, they're only $25 at AMA. Most rental companies require the IDP anyways. Message me if you'd like to ask some questions about driving in Italy!
Link stating rules for the IDP in Italy http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/.../driver_licence...
CANADAINTERNATIONAL.GC.CA
Driver's Licence

I agree with JJ. You have to be comfortable with busy traffic and helps to have a good navigator! I found it to be relatively easy to follow and the fast traffic was actually easier because there is a good flow!

If your planning on the big cities like Rome we were told it’s best to park outside the city and take the trains in! Driving in the city is crazy! We never rented a car just did public transit and it was pretty easy!

Canadian is fine. But... beware of how they drive. Here we have a max speed limit. There, you can NOT go slower than posted limits. Also, if they're behind you and flashing there lights? That mean MOVE OVER CAUSE I"M COMING!!! it's insane lol

Just pay the $30 and get the international license. At CAA you pay your fee they hand you a international license. No other effort required.
The reason for the IL is because it’s a different language.

You will not need an international license. We rented a car in Venice and drove to Naples in 7 days. Map will not help you much and I advise you to buy a SIM card for a phone. We got 5GB data and enough calling time to last us a week for only 25Euro at Wind Mobile kiosk. Having Google Maps available meant EVERYTHING! When going to big cities, park outside the city and use public transport or walk to the center. Find hotels which are on the outskirts but close to train station. For Rome, I recommend Holiday Inn Rome - Eur Parco Dei Medici. It is so close to train station and just a few hundred meters away from the ring road that goes around Rome.

Get the international license just to be safe and to avoid unnecessary fines if you're stopped for any reason.

Your Canadian will suffice but having an international license will make things easier for you. Have fun!

Thank you all for the great responses. Much appreciated!

Driving in Italy made me fear for my life

I would recommend a international driving license.

Yes, international required

Why do you say that? How come so many of us successfully rented cars in Italy with our Alberta drivers' licenses?

from other comments, I think it’s because technically it is required, if you get pulled over by the police you could be in trouble, but the car rental companies probably don’t really care.

Is it required? Is there a source for that? Had anyone had issues with Italian police because their driver's license was Canadian?

http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/.../driver_licence...
CANADAINTERNATIONAL.GC.CA
Driver's Licence

I think where you can run into trouble is if the police that pull you over don’t speak English.
Which, depending on where your going, could be an issue. From our experience in Spain, most cities know English well. But we have been in places where zero English is spoken.
The IDL just has the info in multiple languages. And requires very little effort to get. Pay your $30 get you license.
That being said, we didn’t get it last time we went to Spain. I expect the probability of getting pulled over the same as in Canada - not likely. Lol.

Michael our rental company required it, we rented at airport in Rome and traveled several places

Krista do you have an international license from Spain?

Lee Daubert??