DR Congo 2026 for UK Drivers: The 1968 IDP Is Mandatory

A British licence holder can drive in the Democratic Republic of the Congo only with a 1968 International Driving Permit: GOV.UK states plainly that you need one to drive in DRC. It is the 1968 version, not the 1949 one, and it cannot be bought outside the UK, so buy it before you fly and keep it with your UK licence and passport.

Check the FCDO advice before planning any route. It warns against all travel to several provinces, including North and South Kivu, Ituri and Haut-Uélé, and against all but essential travel to parts of Kinshasa Province.

The first real adjustment is the side of the road. The UK drives on the left; DR Congo drives on the right. Every junction, roundabout and overtake runs the opposite way to your instinct, and the danger is highest in your first hours behind the wheel. If you can, take a quiet road to recalibrate before you join the dense, assertive traffic of Kinshasa.

Where DR Congo differs most from a European trip is condition and scale. The documented limits are 50 km/h in towns, 80 on rural roads and 100 on the few stretches that qualify as expressway — but those numbers describe the law, not the surface. Beyond the capital, many roads are unsealed, drainage is poor, and a sealed route can deteriorate without warning. Street lighting outside the city is the exception, so night driving carries real risk from unlit vehicles, pedestrians and livestock. Many visitors hire a vehicle with a local driver precisely because long self-drive legs are hard going.

The drink-drive limit is 0.08, the same figure as the UK, but that is no licence to relax — the combination of difficult roads and limited roadside assistance makes sober, daylight driving the sensible default. Fuel stations thin out fast once you leave the cities, so fill up at every reliable opportunity and carry water. The emergency service has no single national number; ask your hotel or rental firm for local police and hospital lines, though response outside Kinshasa is not something to rely on.

Plenty of the finer enforcement detail here is simply not well documented for tourists, so drive to the road in front of you rather than to a sign. For the broader country picture see our DR Congo driving guide, check exactly what to carry with the Driving Permit Checker, and read up on how fines abroad work and who pays before you set off.

Sources

• GOV.UK foreign travel advice, Democratic Republic of the Congo, safety and security (1968 IDP needed; IDP only sold in the UK): gov.uk
• GOV.UK foreign travel advice, DR Congo, warnings (provinces FCDO advises against): gov.uk
• GOV.UK, International Driving Permits (which IDP version each country uses): gov.uk