How is driving in Slovenia as a foreigner

In many European destinations, you will not miss a thing if you rely solely on public transport for your trip since all major attractions are connected by bus or train. That’s not the case in Slovenia because some of the best attractions in the country are natural and remote sites. 

We both live in Slovenia and every time we have friends or family visiting us, we make sure they rent a car and get familiar with the basic rules for driving in Slovenia. To help you out, we have put together this guide about driving in Slovenia with the essentials for your trip.

Driving in Slovenia: General guidelines for a safe trip

If this will be your first time driving in Slovenia, there are a few basic information you should know:

• In Slovenia, we drive on the right-hand side of the road
• The legal driving age is 18, unlike in the US which is 16. You can also rent cars from 18 years old, but you may have to pay an additional fee for being a young driver (it depends on the rental company). Drivers aged 25 and more usually do not have to worry about this
• It is mandatory to wear a seat belt, regardless of age and where in the car you are sitting
• Every car must have a first aid kit, an orange triangle for emergencies, and a reflective vest. If you are renting a car for your Slovenia trip at a local company, you don’t have to worry too much as the vehicles are always equipped with those already (but you can double-check it yourself)
• The blood alcohol content limit for driving in Slovenia is 0.5 BAC, which in practical terms means you can drink 2 regular beers. Exceptions are drivers under the age of 21, professional drivers, and drivers who have their license for less than 2 years. The limit for them is 0.0 BAC
• The national emergency number is 112 and the firefighters’ number is 113

Need to rent a car for your trip?
Get a quote here!

The speed limit for driving in Slovenia

Knowing the speed limits is one of the most important things to do before you actually hop on the car and drive around Slovenia. 

The way the speed limit works in Slovenia is a bit different from what you might be used to in the US because there won’t be signs everywhere stating the standard speed you should go. The signs on the road are meant to inform the speed only when there is an exception. 

For example, let’s say you are driving on a highway that has a limit of 130 km/h. You then see a sign that states 100 km/h is now the maximum speed. This will be valid until the next intersection or canceling sign. After that, the speed limit is automatically back to the standard 130 km/h, even though there won’t be any road signs showing that.

So, what you need to know is the speed allowed on each road type, as detailed below:

Driving on Slovenian highways: The vignette

Similar to other European countries, Slovenia adopts the vignette system instead of having tolls for vehicles driving on the highways.

This means that you will not have to physically stop at toll booths to pay the highway fee, it is automatically charged by buying the vignette. Each vignette is attached to the registration number of the vehicle, and you can choose between a one-week, one-month, or one-year vignette.

It is possible to travel through some parts of Slovenia by car without having the vignette but trust me, you will not want to do that. By avoiding the highways, you will have to drive only through local roads, which means all transit times will be prolonged and some areas will not be accessible.

The vignette for driving on Slovenian highways will be a few euros well spent for travelers. Driving on the Slovenian highways is a breeze, they are in great condition and have 24/7 road support through AMZS. This is the type of view you will get on the side of the road during your trip.

How to get the Slovenian vignette

The Slovenian vignette used to be a sticker, but as of the end of 2021, it now works as an e-vignette. You can purchase it online through this website or stop at any gas station at the border with Slovenia to buy it at the counter. The registration is made based on the vehicle’s license number and is digitally controlled through cameras on the highways or physically during police checks.

The fine for driving through the Slovenian highways without a vignette costs 300 €, so this is not something you would want to do.

Slovenian traffic signs

Driving in Slovenia is quite straightforward, but there are a couple of traffic signs that are important to know before you hop on the road since they are not often used in the US or other countries outside of Europe. They may be displayed alone or with a small sign with explanations, which are usually written only in Slovene.

These are the most important signs that foreigners are not used to before coming to Slovenia:

Parking when driving in Slovenia

Here are the basic things you need to know about parking your vehicle when driving through Slovenia:

• Street parking is usually paid unless stated otherwisePark only on the spaces marked with white lines – yellow lines are dedicated to special spots (i.e. handicapped) and blue lines mark the reserved spots or are meant for short-term parking onlyStreet parking is payable through the parking meter machines that are usually located on the sidewalk next to the street. Pay for the amount of time you desire and place the ticket at the front window

Pro tip: The parking machines accept coins or cash, but some of them take cards too. As an alternative, you can also pay for street parking in Ljubljana using the app Urbana or Easypark

Besides street parking options, you will also find garages and closed parking lots that work just the same as anywhere else in the world. You get the ticket at the entrance and pay only at the end.

In Ljubljana, most of the parking places are payable, but when driving to more remote locations, you may find quite some options for free parking available.

Parking when driving a camper van or motorhome in Slovenia

The parking rules above are applicable to motorhomes, with an added factor: you need to make sure the designated spot is suitable for a vehicle of this size. To help you find motorhome parking options in Slovenia, we recommend using the park4night app. 

Sleepover on the motorhome or camper van is only allowed in designated parking spots. Wild camping is not permitted throughout all of Slovenia, whether in a campervan or in a tent.

Renting a car in Slovenia

Even though we live in Slovenia, we only own a car for the past few months. Before that, we used to rent one every time we needed it, and it was a very affordable solution! All that’s to say, we’ve got some experience when it comes to Slovenian car rental companies.

These are the companies we recommend for renting a car in Slovenia:

Sixt

Sixt is by far our favorite and most used car rental provider in Slovenia. They have an office located right at the Ljubljana train station, which makes it very easy and accessible for travelers to get their vehicles. We have found that by booking in advance, you can get awesome prices with them, and they always give us brand new cars.

Budget

If you will need to rent a car at the Ljubljana Airport and are looking for a budget-friendly solution, we can recommend the rental company Budget. We rented a car with them once and everything went really well. The price we got was truly the best – we paid around 120 € for 2 weeks with an entry-level car.

Warning: Besides the two recommendations above, we also think it is fair to say we have had a bad experience renting a car with InterRent. We did it only once because the price was very low and tempting, but we paid for it afterward. We were given quite an old car, and when returning, were charged 1 month later for the extra insurance which we did not sign up for, and it was not explained to us but was added to the contract. It was overall a shady and stressful experience so we can’t recommend them.

Read also: Renting a car in Slovenia: Answers to all your questions

Driving in Slovenia with a US driving license: Do I need an International Permit?

Even though you will find many websites that say that if your driver’s license is written in English, then it is accepted here in Slovenia, that is not in accordance with the law. If you want to be 100% correct, then you should have an International Driving Permit for driving in Slovenia if your driving license is issued anywhere else but the EU.

It may be that when renting the car, the agent won’t ask you for an international permit. That is because it is the driver’s responsibility to make sure they are totally in accordance with the local laws and provide all the documents required if stopped on the road.

All in all, we strongly recommend having an International Permit before driving in Slovenia with your US driving license.

Driving in Slovenia with other foreign licenses

The same rules apply to travelers who want to drive in Slovenia with any other foreign non-EU driving license. There is an exception for drivers who have their license issued in the United Kingdom – they do not need an international driving license.

Need to rent a car for your trip?
Get a quote here!

Is it safe to drive in Slovenia?

Yes, absolutely!

As we have shown before, Slovenia has amazing highways and roads that are overall easy to drive on. Even though I (Edo) was born and raised here and am totally familiar with Slovenian driving habits, Fe is from Brazil, and she has found that driving here is very safe and straightforward.

All you have to do is make sure you have the right documents and get familiar with these simple rules we have shared above, and you are good to start driving in Slovenia!

Need any ideas for road trips to do in Slovenia?

Check a few of our favorite destinations:

• How to Visit Tolmin Gorge
• Best Things to Do in Bled
• Hiking in the Logar Valley, Slovenia