Driving in Italy with a UK licence, and getting around Rome without one

If you're visiting, your UK photocard licence is fine. If you move to Rome, you get 12 months on it, then you need an Italian licence. The good news: you can swap it without a test.

The short version

• Visitors can drive in Italy on a UK photocard licence. Holders of old paper licences need a 1968-type International Driving Permit (IDP), which costs £5.50 at PayPoint shops in the UK, or a photocard [2][4].
• If you became resident in Italy on or after 1 January 2023, you can drive on your UK licence for up to 12 months from becoming resident [1].
• After that you must exchange it for an Italian licence. There's no test, and you usually have up to six years from becoming resident to do the swap [1].
• A UK-registered car has to be registered on Italian plates within 90 days of becoming resident, or it can be impounded [1].
• In Rome, a 100-minute BIT ticket costs EUR 1.50 (about £1.25) and a monthly pass EUR 35 (about £29) [5][6].

Your UK licence in Italy

The exchange in practice

The UK and Italy signed a bilateral agreement on exchanging driving licences, which the FCDO links to from its Living in Italy guide [1]. What the FCDO says about it:

• You don't take a driving test to exchange [1].
• You can't renew or replace a UK licence while you live in Italy, so if yours is about to expire, exchange it first [1].
• An expired UK, Gibraltar, Jersey or Guernsey licence can be exchanged if it expired less than five years before you apply. An expired Isle of Man licence can't [1].
• If your licence expired more than five years ago, or you've been resident for six years or more without exchanging (and you arrived after 2020), you must apply for an Italian licence from scratch, with the tests [1].

You apply through the Motorizzazione Civile (the Italian driving licence office), usually with a medical certificate, photos and your residence details. Many Brits use an agenzia di pratiche auto (a motoring paperwork agency) to handle the forms for a fee. After the swap you'll drive on your Italian licence, including on visits home. Our guide to driving abroad on a UK licence covers what happens if you move back.

Italian licences run on a points system, and so do fines: points come off for offences, and the cameras in Rome are busy.

Bringing a UK car

Once you've been resident for 90 days, you can't drive a foreign-registered car in Italy. You need to register it on Italian plates within 90 days of becoming resident, or it may be impounded [1]. Re-registering a right-hand-drive car is a faff and often costs more than it's worth, so many Brits sell up before the move and buy in Italy.

Driving in Rome: should you bother?

Honestly, in central Rome, probably not. The historic centre is a limited traffic zone (ZTL) with camera-controlled gates, parking is scarce, and the traffic is famously creative. Rome also restricts older, more polluting cars across most of the city in the "Fascia Verde" (green band) [2][7]. Our guide to ZTL zones, fines and parking in Rome explains the rules.

A car makes more sense if you live in the outer neighbourhoods, near the Cassia or the Via Aurelia, have children at a school outside the centre, or want weekends in the Castelli Romani or at the beach at Ostia.

Driving tips from the FCDO worth knowing [2]:

• ZTL boundaries are marked with the letters ZTL in black on a yellow background. Drive past one without a permit and you'll be photographed and fined.
• Pedestrians can be fined for crossing within 100 metres of a crossing without using it, and drivers don't always stop at crossings.
• Transport strikes are common and often called at short notice.

Getting around Rome without a car

Rome's public transport is run by ATAC: three metro lines (A, B and C), buses, trams and a few local railways, all on one integrated Metrebus ticket within the city.

Tickets and passes

Pound conversions use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = EUR 1.2002).

The BIT lasts 100 minutes from first validation on buses and trams, but only one metro journey (changes allowed without leaving the gates) [5]. The annual pass at EUR 250 works out at about £17 a month; compare that with a London Travelcard and have a little smile. You can load passes onto a card through the MyAtac app or at ticket offices [6], and contactless bank cards work at metro gates.

Always validate a paper ticket when you board a bus or tram. Inspectors fine on the spot, and "I'm British" won't help.

Getting about in practice

• Metro: quick but limited. Line A runs past the Vatican (Ottaviano), Spagna and Termini; line B serves Termini, the Colosseum and Piramide for Testaccio and Ostiense.
• Buses and trams: they go everywhere the metro doesn't, at their own pace. The tram 8 from Trastevere is a local favourite.
• Walking: central Rome is compact. Good shoes beat any ticket.
• Taxis: official white taxis only, from ranks or by app.
• Scooters and bikes: a moped is the classic Roman answer, and e-scooters for hire are everywhere. New rules on helmets, plates and insurance for e-scooters came in during 2026; see the ZTL and parking guide.
• Trains: regional trains run from Termini and other stations to the coast, the hill towns and Fiumicino airport.

Before you go

• If you're on a short visit, carry your photocard licence and passport, and check your hire company's rules on IDPs [2].
• If you're moving, diarise the 12-month deadline from the date you become resident [1].
• Check the FCDO travel advice before travelling; when we checked on 7 November 2026, it was still current at 7 November 2026 and was last updated on 3 November 2026, when information about a national strike was removed [3].

Want to know which agenzia did the fastest licence swap? Ask in our community group for Brits in Italy.

Sources

1. GOV.UK (FCDO): Living in Italy (last updated 28 October 2026)
2. GOV.UK (FCDO): Italy travel advice – safety and security (updated 3 November 2026)
3. GOV.UK (FCDO): Italy travel advice (still current at 7 November 2026, updated 3 November 2026)
4. GOV.UK: Driving abroad – International Driving Permits
5. Telepass: ATAC tickets (checked 7 November 2026)
6. ATAC: Tickets and passes – cards (checked 7 November 2026)
7. Roma Mobilità: ZTL (updated 29 July 2026)

Keep reading

• ZTL zones, fines and parking in Rome
• Cost of living in Rome vs London and the UK average
• Moving to Rome as a Brit: visa and residence routes
• Driving abroad on a UK licence