Portugal on an Indian Licence — Right-Side Switch, IDP & Toll Gantries

Portugal is an easy and beautiful country to explore by car, but for an Indian driver the very first decision of the trip is the one that matters most — and it happens before you’ve even left the rental car park.

India drives on the left; Portugal drives on the right. That reversal is the dominant adjustment of the whole journey. You sit on the left of the car, change gear with your right hand, and every reflex at a junction is pointing you the wrong way. Roundabouts run anticlockwise here, the opposite of home, and the classic error is a wrong-way glance when pulling out of a fuel station. Take your first half-hour on quiet roads and consciously talk yourself through each turn until the new pattern sticks — it usually does within a day.

On paperwork, your Indian licence is accepted with an International Driving Permit carried alongside it. The IDP is the recognised translation for a non-EU licence and is what a rental desk or roadside officer will want to see, so arrange it in India before you fly. You can confirm the exact requirement with our Driving Permit Checker.

Once you’re moving, the second thing to understand is tolls. Many Portuguese motorways — including the A22 in the Algarve — are electronic-only, with no booths. Overhead gantries read your car as you pass, and if the rental isn’t set up with a transponder or registered card, the unpaid charges turn into penalties that follow you after the trip. Ask at pickup how tolls are billed on your specific car.

The limits are gentle: 50 km/h in towns, 90 on rural roads, 120 on motorways, enforced by fixed and mobile cameras. Speeding fines run EUR 60–300 by severity. The alcohol limit is 0.05 BAC — a touch above India’s 0.03 but still low, and just 0.02 for drivers in their first three years — so treat driving as a no-alcohol activity. A warning triangle and reflective vest are required and come with the car.

Fuel is around $1.88 a litre and 112 is the all-purpose emergency line. For the toll map and city parking rules, read the full Portugal driving guide before you set off.