Can I drive in Egypt with a US license? International driving permit explained
Short answer: to rent a car in Sharm El Sheikh with our local partner companies, a valid national licence is enough, a US one included. Official advice is stricter: the UK Foreign Office and the Austrian and German motoring clubs recommend carrying an International Driving Permit (IDP) together with the national licence, mainly for police checks. This guide separates what the rental company asks from what the authorities advise, and says what is sourced and what is not. Checked on 15 October 2026; check the current rules before you travel. The other documents are covered in the documents guide.
Two separate questions: renting and road checks
The first question is whether the company will rent you the car. According to our local partner companies in Sharm (October 2026), they accept national driving licences from any country, so a valid licence is enough to rent. The second question is what you show an officer at a checkpoint. Here the official advice recommends an IDP, because it gives the officer a document they know, with a translation.
No official source settles which document an individual officer will accept. The safest approach is to have both: the national licence and, if you can, the IDP. If you travel with the national licence alone, that is your decision, and nobody can guarantee the outcome of a check.
The conventions behind the permit
According to Wikipedia, Egypt is a party to the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic, and according to the UN Treaty Collection it acceded to the 1968 Vienna Convention on 15 December 2023. We found no source for the date that accession takes effect, so we draw no conclusion from it. The UK government's page for Egypt lists the 1949 permit type.
A first-person blog from a Russian traveller, posted in January 2026, claims that Egypt did not join the Vienna Convention and that in tourist zones nobody pays attention. That is a single anecdotal voice, and it conflicts with the UN record, so we do not treat it as fact. As of 15 October 2026.
UK, Germany, Austria, Italy and Poland
United Kingdom: the FCDO writes that you need both the 1949-type IDP and your UK licence in the car, that you can drive in Egypt with them for up to six months, and that for a longer stay you must apply for an Egyptian licence. You cannot buy a UK IDP outside the UK.
Austria and Germany: the OeAMTC club writes that an Austrian licence together with the international one is required, and that the permit is issued only in Austria. The ACE club says the same and adds that the holder must be at least 21 and have held the licence for at least a year. The ACE page is not fully current, because it still quotes the old visa fee.
Italy and Poland: we found no official position from the Italian or Polish authorities on Egypt, so we do not present one as fact. The closest official advice is the one above. A practical tip: the IDP is issued by a national authority or motoring club, so ask where it is issued in your country and arrange it before you fly.
US, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and the Gulf
United States: our research did not review an official US page, so we do not state its content. Check the State Department page for Egypt and ask the national organisation that issues the permit.
Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan: according to our partner companies, national licences from any country are accepted for renting, and that includes these countries. Whether an individual officer accepts a Russian-issued permit is decided only by practice on the spot, and we found no official source.
Ukraine: the partners name the Ukrainian licence among those accepted. Gulf and Saudi Arabia: the partners name the Saudi licence among those accepted. For none of these countries do we have an official view on the permit, so ask your national motoring club or issuing authority.
How and when to get a permit and what to keep in the car
You get an IDP in your country of residence, before you leave. The UK one cannot be bought abroad and the Austrian one is issued by the club only in Austria, so do not count on arranging it at an airport in Egypt. We found no source saying otherwise.
Keep in the car your passport or a copy, the national licence, the IDP if you have one, the rental contract and the vehicle papers. Minimum age and experience are set by the rental company and shown on the car's page; ACE gives 21 years and one year of licence for an IDP holder, and OeAMTC gives 23 years and two years of licence for renting. The sources differ, so confirm the final conditions in your request.