Driving in Croatia on a Japanese Licence — IDP Recommended, You Switch Sides

Croatia is one of the most popular self-drive countries in Europe, and for a Japanese visitor the rules are clear and the roads are good. The thing to prepare for is the one you bring from home: a lifetime of driving on the left.

Can a Japanese licence holder drive in Croatia?

Yes. You can drive in Croatia on your Japanese licence, with an International Driving Permit recommended to carry alongside it. Croatia is in the EU, and while EU/EEA licences need nothing extra, non-EU visitors like Japanese drivers are expected to hold an IDP with their home licence and passport. Arrange it in Japan before you travel — you cannot obtain one in Croatia.

Switching from left to right

Japan drives on the left; Croatia drives on the right. This is a genuine side switch and the most likely thing to catch you out, especially in the first day — at junctions, roundabouts, and pulling out of a petrol station. The narrow, walled old-town streets of places like Dubrovnik and Split are not where you want to be relearning road position, so take your first hour on open roads and be deliberate at every turn.

Great motorway, busy coast

Croatia’s A1 motorway down the coast is modern and fast, signed at 130 km/h, with rural roads at 90 and towns at 50. The catch is summer: the coastal route and the old-town centres get heavily congested in July and August, and parking near the historic cores is tight and tightly enforced. A speeding fine for roughly 10 km/h over is EUR 30-60, paid on the spot, so carry a card or cash. The emergency number is 112, and fuel is relatively high at near $1.65/litre — budget for it on a long coastal drive. The alcohol limit is 0.05, looser than Japan’s 0.03 but still enforced, so keep it to none if driving.

See the Croatia driving guide for the full rules, confirm the IDP requirement with the Driving Permit Checker, and estimate a fine with the Speeding Fine Calculator.