Palau on a British Licence — Carry an IDP and Mind the Side Switch
United Kingdom
Palau
A British licence holder can drive in Palau as a visitor — bring an International Driving Permit alongside your UK licence to be safe. The one real adjustment is the side of the road: Palau drives on the right, while the UK drives on the left, so your first hours need care.
Palau is a tiny Pacific archipelago where most travel happens by boat, not car — so reliable, specific driving rules for visitors are genuinely thin. Rather than pad this out with invented numbers, here is what can actually be stated with confidence for a British driver.
Can a British licence holder drive in Palau?
For a short visit you can generally drive on your UK licence, and the sensible move is to carry an International Driving Permit alongside it. Requirements on small island nations are rarely spelled out in detail, and an IDP — a recognised translation of your licence — is the cheap insurance that keeps a rental counter or a roadside query simple. Arrange it in Britain before you fly.
The one real adjustment: the side of the road
The single thing to relearn is the side. Palau drives on the right; the UK drives on the left. For a British driver that is the classic reversal — the wrong-way glance pulling out, the instinct to hug the left, the roundabout that now flows the other way. The good news is that the network is small and quiet, so you can take your first hour gently on near-empty roads and let the new orientation settle before it matters.
What honestly is and isn’t known
Palau’s road system is short and centred on Koror and the main islands, with light traffic and modest distances — you are not covering long highway legs here. Beyond that, posted speed limits and a drink-drive limit are not published in a form visitors can check. The honest guidance is the universal one: drive to the road in front of you rather than to a sign, keep well clear of alcohol entirely when you are behind the wheel, and don’t assume a tolerance that may not exist. The emergency number to know is 112.
Because so much here is undocumented, verify your own situation directly: run your trip through the Driving Permit Checker to confirm what you need to carry, and read who pays driving fines abroad so you understand how a foreign penalty would be handled if one ever arose.
Speed limits, fines, equipment & license requirements
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Frequently Asked Questions
As a visitor you can generally drive on your UK licence for a short stay. Carry an International Driving Permit (IDP) with it as a precaution, since requirements on small Pacific nations are not always documented and a rental desk may ask for one.
Palau drives on the right. As the UK drives on the left, this is a genuine switch — be deliberate at junctions, when pulling away and on the rare roundabout for your first day.
Palau is a small island nation with a short, lightly trafficked road network, so distances are tiny and traffic is light. The main thing to manage is the right-hand side switch; most visitors get around by boat and only drive on the main islands.