Can an Indian Drive in Latvia? — IDP Recommended, Winter Tyres Compulsory

If you are flying into Riga from India with a road trip in mind — the Baltic coast, Sigulda, the run down the Via Baltica — the licence rules are manageable, but two specific things deserve planning before you book the car: which side of the road you will be on, and the time of year you are travelling.

The verdict for Indian licence holders

You can drive in Latvia on your Indian licence with an International Driving Permit carried alongside it. India and Latvia are not in a direct licence-recognition arrangement, so the IDP is the document that makes your Indian licence intelligible to a Latvian officer and a rental desk. Sort it in India before you fly — you cannot obtain one once you have landed — and carry the IDP, your Indian licence and your passport together. The Driving Permit Checker confirms the combination.

You switch sides: India drives left, Latvia drives right

This is the adjustment most likely to catch you out. India drives on the left; Latvia drives on the right, so every roundabout flows the opposite way and your instinct at junctions will be wrong for the first day. The Via Baltica (the main Riga–Vilnius corridor) is busy and fast — not where you want to be relearning your reflexes. Take your first hour on quiet roads outside the city and be deliberate at every turn.

Winter tyres are the law, not advice

Here is the genuinely Latvia-specific fact: winter tyres are compulsory from 1 December to 1 March. This is a legal requirement tied to the calendar, not to whether it happens to be snowing. If your trip falls in that window, the hire car must be fitted with them — confirm it at the desk, because driving without is an offence. Outside those dates, summer rubber is fine, but rural roads can still be rough and icy at the edges of the season.

Speeds and what gets fined

Town limit is 50 km/h, rural roads 90, and motorways 110. Enforcement uses both fixed cameras and mobile patrols. A minor over-limit penalty sits around EUR 30-40 — work out any specific overspeed with the Speeding Fine Calculator. The general drink-drive limit is 0.05, lower for newly qualified drivers, and the car must carry a warning triangle, hi-vis vest and first-aid kit.

Fuel is roughly €1.58/litre and the emergency number is 112. Read the full Latvia driving guide before you collect the keys.