Can a South Korean Drive in Romania? — IDP + the Rovinieta Vignette

A South Korean licence holder can drive in Romania, and an International Driving Permit is recommended to carry with the licence. As a non-EU visitor, the IDP gives the certified translation rental desks and traffic police look for — sort it in Korea before you fly, as it can’t be issued in Romania.

The reassuring part: South Korea drives on the right, and so does Romania. There’s no side switch and no reversed roundabout instinct to retrain — you can drive much as you do at home. Two other things, though, are genuinely different.

The first is alcohol. Romania enforces zero tolerance, 0.0 BAC, tighter than South Korea’s 0.03. There is no margin for a single drink — if you’re driving, don’t, because penalties are severe.

The second is the rovinieta road vignette. Instead of toll booths, Romania charges for national-road use through an electronic vignette you buy online or at a petrol station before joining a main road, with cameras checking it by number plate. A rental car often includes it, so confirm with the desk; if it doesn’t, this is the one purchase you can’t put off.

Then there are the roads themselves. Romania’s motorway network is still limited, so most of a trip runs on two-lane national roads. Surfaces vary, and outside the cities you’ll genuinely share the road with horse-drawn carts, slow trucks and unlit vehicles after dark. The 130 km/h motorway limit seldom applies in practice — rural roads are 90, towns 50 — so overtake with patience and drive to the conditions.

Fuel is cheap at about $1.42 per litre. Winter tyres are required in cold-weather conditions, so check the rental is fitted if you travel roughly November to March. A minor speeding fine runs RON 290-725 (about EUR 60-150), often paid on the spot. The emergency number is 112.

Read the full Romania driving guide, confirm your documents with the Driving Permit Checker, and see how the rovinieta fits the picture in our guide to vignette countries.