Belgium on a French Licence — Almost Home, but Pack the Extinguisher

Belgium is the gentlest of border hops for a French driver. Same side of the road, an EU licence that needs no permit, no motorway vignette, and a drink-drive limit identical to home at 0.05 BAC. You could be forgiven for treating it like another French region — and that is precisely where two small differences bite.

The car needs a fire extinguisher. France does not require one; Belgium does. A fire extinguisher is mandatory alongside the warning triangle, reflective vest and first-aid kit, and it is the single item French drivers most often find missing when a roadside check turns up. If you are taking your own car across, add it before you go. A hire car should have the full set, but it is worth a glance in the boot.

The cameras are the other catch. France is well-monitored, but Belgium is denser still, with extensive average-speed sections (trajectcontrole) that clock you across a whole stretch of motorway rather than at a single point — so the old habit of easing off only at the camera does nothing. Even a 10 km/h overspeed costs around EUR 53, and cross-border enforcement means the ticket reaches you at home. The speeding fine calculator will estimate anything heavier, and our guide to who pays driving fines abroad explains how the cross-border process works.

The rest is genuinely familiar: town 50 km/h, rural roads 70 (a touch below France’s 80), motorways 120 rather than 130, so ease off the cruise control a little. The Brussels ring is the busiest stretch and the city’s low-emission zone can catch an older, non-compliant car — check that if you are heading in. Emergencies are 112. For tolls, parking and the city zones, see the Belgium driving guide. Pack the extinguisher, respect the cameras, and it is barely a foreign drive at all.