Belgium on an Indian Licence — the Side Switch & the Brussels Ring

Belgium is a compact, motorway-dense country where most Indian visitors end up driving because Bruges, Ghent and the Ardennes are far easier with a car than by train connections. The licence side of it is simple. What trips Indian drivers up is on the road, not on paper.

You switch sides — and that is the real adjustment

India drives on the left; Belgium drives on the right. This is the single thing most likely to catch you out, and the danger window is your first hour: pulling out of a petrol station, joining a roundabout that now flows clockwise, or glancing the wrong way at a junction. Take that first hour on quiet roads outside the city, not straight into Brussels traffic, and be deliberate at every turn until right-hand driving stops feeling backwards.

Priority to the right will surprise you

Belgium enforces priorité à droite more than most of Europe. Unless a sign or road marking says otherwise, a vehicle entering from a road on your right has priority — even if you are clearly on the busier road. Local drivers pull out expecting you to yield, and Indian visitors used to give-way conventions get caught here. On the Brussels ring (R0), lanes weave and merge fast; if in doubt at an unmarked junction, assume the car on your right goes first.

Paperwork, speeds and the alcohol line

Carry your IDP, Indian licence and passport together — an IDP is recommended even though Belgium does not always demand it. Speed limits are 50 in town (30 across central Brussels), 70–90 rural, 120 on motorways, and fixed and average-speed cameras are everywhere; 10 km/h over costs around EUR 53. The blood-alcohol limit is 0.05 — looser than India’s 0.03 on paper, but roadside breath tests are routine, so don’t lean on the margin.

Confirm your documents on the Driving Permit Checker, read the full rules on our Belgium driving guide, and estimate any penalty with the Speeding Fine Calculator. The car must carry a warning triangle, reflective vest, first-aid kit and fire extinguisher; petrol runs about EUR 1.90/litre, and the general emergency number is 112.