As a frequent international traveler, I know that driving can be a real challenge depending on what side of the road you’re used to driving on. Should I drive on the right or left side of the road? As an American, I’m used to driving on the right hand side of the road with the steering wheel/driver seat in the car is on the left hand side of the car. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been in Australia and automatically walked to the wrong side of the car!
When planning a trip abroad, you should consider the driving rules of that country before deciding to rent a car. I have been researching a potential trip to Iceland and one of the tours I’ve looked into included a rental car for a few days. My initial inclination was to say, “I’m not driving over there.” But then, I decided to dig a little deeper. It turns out that in Iceland they drive on the right hand side of the road, as we do.
It was actually a little harder than I’d thought it would be to figure out what side of the road they drive on in Iceland. After digging through a variety of websites, I found the info I was after. I wondered what other countries drive on the right vs. left side of the road.
There are some obvious countries that drive on the left hand side of the road. You might instantly think about the UK, Australia, and Japan. But did you know that the vast majority of the world drives on the right side?
Here’s a list of countries that drive on the left hand side of the road:
- Anguilla
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Australia
- Bahamas
- Bangladesh
- Barbados
- Bermuda
- Bhutan
- Botswana
- British Virgin Islands
- Brunei
- Cayman Islands
- Channel Islands (Guernsey & Jersey)
- Christmas Island
- Cocos (Keeling) Islands
- Cook Islands
- Cyprus
- Dominica
- East Timor (Timor-Leste)
- England
- Falkland Islands
- Fiji
- Great Britain (GB)
- Grenada
- Guernsey
- Guyana
- Hong Kong
- India
- Indonesia
- Ireland (Eire)
- Ireland, Northern
- Isle of Man
- Jamaica
- Japan
- Jersey
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Lesotho
- Macau
- Malawi
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Malta
- Mauritius
- Montserrat
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Nauru
- Nepal
- New Zealand
- Niue
- Norfolk Island
- North Cyprus
- Northern Ireland
- Pakistan
- Papua New Guinea
- Pitcairn Islands
- Saint Kitts and Nevis (officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis)
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Helena
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Samoa
- Scotland
- Seychelles
- Singapore
- Solomon Islands
- South Africa
- Sri Lanka
- Suriname
- Swaziland
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Tokelau
- Trinidad & Tobago
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- Tuvalu
- Uganda
- United Kingdom (UK)
- United States Virgin Islands
- Virgin Islands (British)
- Virgin Islands (USA)
- Wales
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
When I as in Fiji I learned that they drove on the right hand side of the road until recently when the government decided to align their driving with neighbors, Australia and New Zealand. Somoa also made this change siting the need to get used cars from Australia and New Zealand instead of importing expensive right hand cars.
And these countries drive on the right hand side of the road (as we do in the United States.)
- Abu Dhabi
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Algeria
- American Samoa
- Andorra
- Angola
- Argentina
- Armenia
- Aruba
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Azores
- Bahrain
- Balearic Islands
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Belize
- Benin
- Bolivia
- Bonaire
- Bosnia & Herzegovina
- Brazil
- Bulgaria
- Burkina Faso
- Burma (officially Myanmar)
- Burundi
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Canada
- Canary Islands
- Cape Verde
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Chile
- China, People’s Republic of
- Colombia
- Comoros
- Congo, Democratic Republic of
- Congo, People’s Republic of
- Costa Rica
- Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
- Croatia
- Cuba
- Curaçao
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Djibouti
- Dominican Republic
- Dubai
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Estonia
- Ethiopia
- Faeroe Islands
- Finland
- France
- French Guiana
- French Polynesia
- Gabon (Gabonese Republic)
- Gambia
- Gaza
- Georgia
- Germany
- Ghana
- Gibraltar
- Greece
- Greenland
- Guadeloupe
- Guam
- Guatemala
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Haiti
- Holland (officially the Netherlands)
- Honduras
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Iran
- Iraq
- Israel
- Italy
- Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire)
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Korea, North
- Korea, South
- Kosovo
- Kuwait
- Kyrgyzstan
- Laos
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Liberia
- Libya
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Macedonia
- Madagascar
- Madeira
- Mali
- Marshall Islands
- Martinique
- Mauritania
- Mayotte
- Mexico
- Micronesia, Federated States of
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Mongolia
- Montenegro
- Morocco
- Myanmar (formerly Burma)
- Netherlands
- New Caledonia
- Nicaragua
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Northern Mariana Islands
- North Korea
- Norway
- Oman
- Palau
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Philippines
- Poland
- Portugal
- Puerto Rico
- Qatar
- Réunion
- Romania
- Russia (officially the Russian Federation)
- Rwanda
- Saba
- Saint Barthélemy (informally also referred to as Saint Barth’s or Saint Barts)
- Saint Martin
- Sint Eustatius
- Sint Maarten
- San Marino
- São Tomé and Príncipe
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Serbia
- Sierra Leone
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Somalia
- Somaliland
- South Korea
- South Sudan
- Spain
- Sudan
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Tahiti
- Taiwan
- Tajikistan
- Togo
- Tonga
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Ukraine
- United Arab Emirates (UAE)
- United States of America (USA)
- Uruguay
- Uzbekistan
- Vanuatu
- Vatican City
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
- Wallis and Futuna
- West Bank
- Western Sahara
- Yemen
How do you feel about driving on the opposite side of the road?