Costa Rica on a French Licence — No IDP, but the Roads Are the Real Test

The reassuring part of driving in Costa Rica as a French visitor is how little there is to arrange. You drive on the right, exactly as at home, and your French licence is accepted for up to 90 days with no International Driving Permit — the only documents you carry are the licence and your passport with its entry stamp. So forget the formalities; the thing that will define this trip is the road itself.

Costa Rica’s scenery comes at the end of roads that France would never let you forget. Highways between major towns are paved but frequently narrow, edged by deep drainage ditches and pocked with potholes that appear without warning. The moment you head for a beach, a volcano or a cloud forest, the tarmac often gives way to gravel, single-lane bridges controlled by a “ceda el paso” sign, and the occasional shallow river crossing. This is why so many visitors rent a 4x4 with decent ground clearance — and why your insurance and rental contract are worth reading closely, since damage from river fords is often excluded. Plan your days around daylight; rural roads are unlit, livestock and cyclists share the lane, and judging a ford in the dark is asking for trouble.

Speeds are deliberately low and reflect the conditions, not French motorway habits: 40 km/h in towns, 60 on rural roads and 100 on the few proper expressways. Enforcement exists but the bigger risk is simply driving too fast for a surface you can’t fully see. A moderate speeding fine sits around CRC 53,000 (roughly EUR 95) — you can gauge the cost with our Speeding Fine Calculator. The drink-drive limit matches home at 0.05 BAC, with stiff penalties beyond it.

A warning triangle and reflective vest are required and will be in the car. Fuel is comparatively cheap at around $1.28 a litre, sold at a flat national price, and stations are attended. The emergency number for everything is 911.

Allow more time than the distances suggest — average speeds are slow — and download offline maps, because signal vanishes in the mountains. For route notes and rental tips, read the full Costa Rica driving guide before you collect the keys.