Brazil Colombia
Brazil 
ColombiaLast reviewed July 2026
Crossing the border
Brazil and Colombia share a land border you can cross by car. Keep your passport, national driving licence and International Driving Permit together, and check opening hours and any toll or vignette requirements before you travel.
Driving rules in Colombia
- Pico y placa restricts driving by plate number on set days.
- 0.02% alcohol limit, strictly enforced.
- Headlights on outside urban areas.
- Toll roads (peajes) are common.
What to see when you arrive in Colombia
- the walled old town of Cartagena
- the coffee region around Salento
- Bogotá's La Candelaria and Monserrate
- Tayrona National Park
- the Caño Cristales river
Once you're driving in Colombia
Destination-specific detail sourced from national road authorities, motoring clubs and rental policies — the things that catch cross-border drivers out.
Driving on a foreign licence
Tourists may drive on a valid home licence for the duration of their stay (up to 90 days, extendable). An IDP is not strictly required if your licence has a photo and is in Spanish or English, but it is recommended to ease police checkpoint interactions.
Tolls & road charges
Colombia has roughly 180+ toll booths (peajes), regulated by ANI/Invías, costing about COP 10,000-17,000 (~USD 2.70-4.60) per booth for a car; carry small-denomination cash as card acceptance is not universal.
Parking in the cities
Use guarded paid lots (parqueaderos) rather than the street in Bogotá, Medellín and Cartagena; heed signed restrictions and 'no parquear' zones, as towing (grúa) and immobilization are enforced in central districts.
Fines & camera enforcement
Speed cameras (fotomultas) are widespread; speeding, no seatbelt and phone use draw fines set in daily minimum wages (often hundreds of thousands of pesos). Officers should not collect cash on the road; camera and towing fines are passed to the renter via the rental company.
If you have an accident
Call 123 (national emergency line) for police and ambulance; do not move vehicles if there are injuries. SOAT covers bodily injury only; exchange details and get a police report for the rental insurer.
Driving in the capital
Bogotá, Medellín and Cali enforce 'pico y placa', barring cars on set weekdays by the last plate digit during peak hours - it applies to rental cars too, so check the city's Secretaría de Movilidad schedule before driving.
Sources: expat.com · tyremap.com · en.wikipedia.org · internationaltravelpermits.com