Bulgaria Greece
Bulgaria 
GreeceLast reviewed July 2026
Crossing the border
Bulgaria and Greece 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 Greece
- Carry a first-aid kit, fire extinguisher and warning triangle.
- Seatbelts and motorcycle helmets are mandatory.
- 0.05% alcohol limit.
- Tolls on national highways (Attiki Odos, etc.).
What to see when you arrive in Greece
- the Acropolis of Athens
- the island of Santorini
- Mykonos
- the monasteries of Meteora
- ancient Delphi
Once you're driving in Greece
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
EU/EEA licences are valid without limit. Holders of non-EU licences (including US, Canadian, Australian) may legally drive for up to 185 days (6 months), but most rental firms still insist on an International Driving Permit alongside the home licence, and driving without one can void cover and expose you to a EUR 1,000 fine.
Tolls & road charges
Major motorways (Attiki Odos, the A1, the Olympia Odos and others) use staffed cash/card toll plazas charging fixed per-section amounts of roughly EUR 1.50-3; there is no national vignette, and Crete has no toll roads at all. An optional e-pass transponder exists but tourists normally just pay at the booth.
Parking in the cities
City-centre parking in Athens and Thessaloniki is controlled-zone paid parking (white/blue marked bays) paid via app or kiosk ticket, and is genuinely scarce. White-and-yellow kerbs and resident-only zones are off-limits and towing/clamping is common, so a guarded public garage is the safer choice.
Fines & camera enforcement
Under the September 2025 Traffic Code fines are steep and digital: exceeding the limit by even up to 20 km/h is EUR 150, and handheld phone use and no-seatbelt each draw large fines with possible licence-point penalties. Camera and digital violations are increasingly forwarded to rental firms and billed to your card.
If you have an accident
Call 112 for emergencies; for any injury or dispute you must wait for and obtain a police report, which insurers and rental firms require. Vehicles should not be moved until documented if there is injury, and both driver and rental company can each be fined EUR 1,000 if the driver lacked a required IDP.
Driving in the capital
Athens runs a long-standing central-ring 'daktylios' restriction that bars private cars by odd/even number plate on alternating days within the inner ring during weekday hours; foreign-plated and many rental vehicles can be affected, so check before entering the centre.
Sources: acerentacar.gr · keeptalkinggreece.com · autoeurope.com · keeptalkinggreece.com