This information may change. Always check the official source.Last verified: August 2026 by Ondřej Kadlec
Driving in Vatican City: the three basics
Drives on the
right
The driver sits on the left and overtakes on the left. Roundabouts turn anticlockwise.
Your licence
EU licence is enough
An EU, EEA or Swiss licence is valid as it stands. A licence from anywhere else works alongside an International Driving Permit, which hire desks and police expect to see.
Motorways
Free
There is no motorway charge for a car.
There is no driving in Vatican City for visitors: no public parking, and Rome's traffic zones surround it.
Not somewhere you drive. The entire state is 0.44 km2 and closed to visiting traffic.
There is no visitor parking. The car parks inside are for residents and staff, and St Peter's Square is pedestrian.
Rome's ZTL zones surround the approach, and a hire car photographed entering one collects a fine weeks later through the rental company.
The nearest practical parking is Gianicolo or a station car park, and both mean a walk or a bus.
Italian rules apply outside the walls, including the 0.5 g/l alcohol limit and toll motorways to reach Rome.
The metro Line A to Ottaviano is how nearly everyone arrives, and it is a five-minute walk from there.
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