German, Dutch, Belgian & Finnish licences in Vietnam

Does a German licence let you ride a motorbike in Vietnam?

Yes, if you carry a valid 1968 Vienna IDP issued alongside your German licence, and that licence has a motorcycle category. The licence alone is not enough; the IDP alone is not enough; you need both, together, with the bike category on them.

Germany is a Contracting Party to the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, and so is Vietnam. That shared membership is the whole reason a German IDP is accepted here, and it is why an American or Australian IDP is not.

The same holds for Belgium and Finland. All three, plus the Netherlands, sit on the 1968 list, so a permit issued in any of them is the recognised model.

• German licence + German 1968 IDP + a motorcycle category = valid to ride petrol motorbikes in Vietnam.
• German licence alone, without the IDP = not valid to ride here.
• A car-only licence, even with an IDP, does not authorise a motorbike.

Which of these countries are covered

Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Finland are all Contracting Parties to the 1968 Vienna Convention, so their IDPs are the recognised model in Vietnam.

Vietnam recognises only the 1968 Vienna permit. It does not recognise the older 1949 Geneva permit. That single distinction decides whether a foreign rider is legal on a petrol bike or not.

For riders from these four countries the treaty side of the question is settled. What is left to check is personal to your document: the category and, for Dutch riders, the model.

Check the category: A1 vs A

Your IDP only carries the categories already on your national licence. A1 lets you ride up to 125cc; A covers larger bikes. A car-only (B) licence carries no motorcycle right, so the IDP gives you none either.

An IDP is a translation of your home licence, not an upgrade. If your German, Dutch, Belgian or Finnish licence has no motorcycle category, the permit adds nothing for a motorbike.

This matters most when you want a bigger bike. A1 is fine for a scooter or a 125, but the moment you move above 125cc you need category A on the underlying licence for the ride to be legal.

• A1 on your licence: petrol bikes up to 125cc.
• A on your licence: larger petrol bikes above 125cc.
• B only (car): no motorbike, whatever the IDP says.

The Netherlands gotcha: ask for the 1968 model

Dutch riders have one extra trap. The ANWB, the sole authorised IDP issuer for Dutch residents, sells more than one model at the counter: the 1968 Vienna permit, the older 1949 Geneva permit, and a 1926 model. Only the 1968 model is accepted in Vietnam.

The ANWB states this plainly in its own country guidance: a Dutch licence without an international permit is not valid in Vietnam, and it is the 1968 model that Vietnam accepts. A rider who walks out with the 1949 Geneva permit instead is holding a document Vietnam does not recognise, even though it looks similar.

So if your licence is Dutch, do not just ask for 'an international permit'. Ask specifically for the 1968 model, and check the cover before you leave. German, Belgian and Finnish issuers default to the 1968 permit, so this particular hazard is mainly a Dutch one, but confirming the model never hurts.

What you can ride with the .bike network

With a 1968 IDP and the right category, riders from all four countries qualify for the full petrol fleet, up to and including the bigger bikes. A1 opens the scooters and 125s; category A opens everything above that.

If your heart is set on a larger bike and your licence only carries A1, the fix is on the licence side at home, not something a rental can paper over. We would rather put you on a bike your permit actually covers than hand you a machine that turns a routine police check into a fine and an impound.

One honest note that applies to every bike we broker: a collision damage waiver is a cap on what you would owe for damage, not insurance and not medical cover. We never describe any bike as 'fully covered', because none is.

Frequently asked questions