Edinburgh Car Rental: Licences and Driving on the Left

Can you drive in Scotland on a foreign licence?

Two sets of rules apply at the counter. The law decides whether you may drive in Great Britain at all. The rental company decides whether it will hand you the keys.

GOV.UK's licence checker says a visitor with a licence from outside the EU and EEA can drive any small vehicle listed on a full, valid licence for 12 months from the last time they entered Great Britain. For EU and EEA licences, the limit is also 12 months from entry. The checker's result for visitors does not mention an International Driving Permit (IDP), but a rental company can still require one.

This table uses Arnold Clark's terms of hire, read in September 2026. Other companies at Edinburgh Airport word their rules differently, so check the terms of the company you book with. The DVLA check code and proof of address in the same terms apply to UK licence holders, not to overseas visitors.

How old do you need to be to rent a car in Edinburgh?

Arnold Clark's terms set a minimum age of 23, and every driver must have held a full licence for at least a year. Its FAQ adds an exception: drivers aged 21 and 22 can hire if they have held a full licence for four years with no points or convictions, and only up to a medium automatic car. Drivers under 25 pay a young driver surcharge of £25 per rental day. From 23, they can hire cars up to SUV size, including automatics, electric cars and estates. There is no upper age limit, though some car groups carry restrictions.

Worked example: a 24-year-old on a one-week Highlands trip

A seven-day hire adds 7 × £25 = £175 in young driver surcharges before any excess waiver or fuel. The terms describe the charge per rental day; if you plan to add a second young driver, ask whether it is charged again for them. A driver aged 22 with only three years of licence cannot hire from this company at all, so check both rules before paying a non-refundable rate.

Insurance, excess and deposit

Arnold Clark includes insurance as standard on every hire and sells an excess waiver to reduce or remove what you pay if the car is damaged. Its terms publish the excess only for luxury cars: £3,000, reducible to £1,000 for £25 a day. For standard cars, the excess amount is on your rental agreement, so read that figure before you sign.

Some branches take a refundable deposit of up to £150 on a credit or debit card in the driver's name. Prepaid cards and cash are not accepted, and you must show the physical card even if you paid online by Apple Pay or Google Pay.

Driving on the left

The Highway Code (rule 160) tells drivers to keep to the left unless signs or markings say otherwise, and to move right only to overtake, turn right or pass obstructions. The steering wheel is on the right, so the gear lever and handbrake are on your left. If you normally drive a manual on the other side, booking an automatic removes one thing to think about.

Roundabouts

Traffic flows clockwise. Under rules 184 to 186, you:

• Give priority to traffic approaching from your right, unless signs, markings or lights say otherwise.
• For the first exit, signal left, approach in the left lane and keep left.
• For an exit to the right or a full circle, signal right, approach in the right lane, keep right on the roundabout, then signal left after passing the exit before yours.
• At mini-roundabouts, drive round the painted centre, not over it (rule 188), and treat each one of a double mini-roundabout separately.

The most common visitor mistake is looking left on entry. Look right, and check again for cyclists and motorcyclists who may not signal.

Speed limits are in miles per hour

Speedometers and road signs use mph. GOV.UK's speed limit table sets these national limits for cars in Scotland:

Signs can set lower limits. Holding a phone while driving, even stopped at lights, can bring a £200 fine and 6 penalty points, according to GOV.UK's phone rules. Use a windscreen mount for navigation.

How do you use passing places on Scottish single-track roads?

Much of the Highlands and islands is served by roads only one car wide, with small widened bays called passing places. Rule 155 sets out what to do.

Which cars can enter Edinburgh's low emission zone?

Edinburgh's city-centre low emission zone (LEZ) has been enforced by cameras since 1 June 2024 and runs 24 hours a day. The council's standards page sets the minimum as Euro 4 for petrol cars and Euro 6 for diesel cars. Electric cars always comply. The boundary roads themselves are outside the zone.

There is no daily charge to buy. A non-compliant car simply gets a penalty charge notice. Under the Scottish LEZ regulations, the first penalty for a car is £60, reduced by 50% if paid within 14 days. It rises for further entries in the same car within 90 days. When the car belongs to a hire company, regulation 5 makes the person hiring it liable.

Before driving into the centre, ask at pickup whether your car meets the Edinburgh LEZ standard, or check the plate with the national LEZ vehicle checker linked from the council page. This matters most with an older car or a van. The council warns of fake text messages demanding LEZ payments. It does not send texts about unpaid penalties.

If your trip continues south, see London's Congestion Charge and ULEZ in a rental car and which London airport you landed at.