Greece on a Japanese Licence 2026: IDP Needed, Keep Right

Greece is one of the great self-drive countries — the islands reward a car, and the mainland mountains are off-limits to anyone relying on buses. For a Japanese visitor the licence question has a firm answer, and there is one habit you’ll need to break on day one.

The verdict: bring the permit, not just the card

Greece’s transport ministry spells out which foreign licences can be used as they are: those from the EU and EEA, a handful of countries with bilateral agreements, states party to the 1968 Vienna Convention, and the US, Canada, Australia and the UK. Japan belongs only to the 1949 Geneva Convention and sits in none of those groups. That leaves the second route, the International Driving Permit, which Greece accepts from non-residents only when it is carried with the valid national licence. So the permit is a requirement for you, not an extra. Japan issues it at home; arrange it before departure, because it cannot be obtained in Greece.

The real adjustment: Greece drives on the right

This is the thing that actually trips up Japanese drivers once the paperwork is done. Japan drives on the left; Greece drives on the right. Every instinct you have at a junction, a roundabout or a petrol-station exit is now mirrored. The first hour is when mistakes happen — pulling out onto the wrong side, glancing the wrong way before a turn. Pick up the car somewhere quiet rather than in central Athens, and stay deliberate until right-hand traffic stops feeling strange.

Roads, speeds and the bits the numbers don’t show

Greece’s 2025 road code (Law 5209/2025) set the default in built-up areas at 30 km/h, with 50 only on roads with a central divider or two marked lanes each way; open roads allow 90 and motorways 130. Road quality varies a lot, drivers can be assertive, and once you’re off the toll motorways you’ll meet mountain roads with tight bends and the occasional ferry timetable to plan around. Drive to the road in front of you, not to the sign. Up to 20 km/h over the limit costs EUR 150, and both fixed and mobile cameras are in use.

On drink-driving, Greece sits at 0.05 BAC — looser than Japan’s 0.03, but not a licence to relax; treat it as zero before you drive.

Before you collect the keys, check the full picture on our Greece driving guide, confirm your documents with the Driving Permit Checker, and price any penalty with the Speeding Fine Calculator. The emergency number across Greece is 112.

Sources

• Hellenic Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, circular Δ30/Α3/5599 of 9 January 2023 on foreign licences (art. 94 par. 3 KOK: licences valid as they are; IDP valid only with the national licence): diavgeia.gov.gr
• Law 5209/2025 (Greek road traffic code), art. 24, speed limits and speeding penalties (consolidated text): taxheaven.gr
• UN Treaty Collection, 1968 Convention on Road Traffic (Japan not a party): treaties.un.org