Can a British Driver Drive in Togo? — IDP Advised + the Left-to-Right Switch

Togo is a narrow strip of West Africa, and a car opens up everything from the beaches around Lomé to the hill country in the north. For a British driver the law itself is not the obstacle — the obstacle is muscle memory, because everything you do reflexively at a junction has to be mirrored here.

Can you drive in Togo on a British licence?

Yes. Your UK photocard is accepted for a tourist stay, and an International Driving Permit is recommended rather than optional in practice. Togo is French-speaking, so an officer at a checkpoint or a clerk at a rental desk may not read English; the IDP carries an official French rendering of your licence and settles the question quickly. Carry the IDP, your British licence and your passport as a set, and sort the permit at a UK Post Office before departure — it is not available once you arrive.

The real adjustment: switching to the right

Britain drives on the left; Togo drives on the right. This is the thing most likely to catch you out, and the danger is concentrated in your first day — pulling out of a fuel station, taking a roundabout that now circulates the other way, or glancing the wrong direction before a turn. Give yourself an easy first hour somewhere quiet rather than learning it in central Lomé. Traffic in the capital is busy and informal, with mopeds (the zémidjans) weaving constantly, so being deliberate at every manoeuvre matters more than speed.

Speeds, alcohol and roads

Posted limits run to 50 km/h in towns, 80 on rural roads and 100 on the main highways, though signage is inconsistent away from the principal routes — drive to the road surface, not the sign. The blood-alcohol limit is 0.08, the same figure as the UK, but treat that as theoretical: roads can be unlit, livestock and pedestrians share the carriageway after dark, and there is no margin for impaired reactions here. Avoid night driving outside the cities altogether where you can.

Before you collect a car, confirm what you need with the Driving Permit Checker, and if you are continuing a wider West African trip, our Togo driving guide and the broader guide to driving fines abroad are worth a look. The emergency number is 112.