Driving in London: left-hand traffic, ULEZ and parking

Your licence

A visitor can drive any small vehicle, such as a car, listed on a full and valid licence for 12 months from the last entry into Great Britain. Keep your licence and passport with you whenever you drive.

Left-hand traffic and the main rules

• Keep to the left unless road signs or markings tell you otherwise (Highway Code, rule 160).
• At a roundabout, give way to traffic approaching from your right (rule 185); traffic goes round it clockwise.
• 30 mph in built-up areas, 60 mph on single carriageways, 70 mph on dual carriageways and motorways. Many London streets are signed 20 mph — the signs always apply.
• Holding a phone or a sat nav while driving is illegal, even at traffic lights: a £200 fine and 6 penalty points.
• In England and Wales the alcohol limit is 80 mg per 100 ml of blood or 35 micrograms per 100 ml of breath; in Scotland it is 50 mg and 22 micrograms.

Congestion Charge and ULEZ

The Congestion Charge covers central London inside the Inner Ring Road: £18 a day if you pay on the day or in advance, £21 if you pay by midnight of the third day after. It applies 07:00–18:00 Monday to Friday and 12:00–18:00 at weekends and on bank holidays. The Ultra Low Emission Zone covers all London boroughs, every day except 25 December: £12.50 a day for a car that does not meet its standards. Both are paid on the TfL website; the full rules are on our ULEZ and Congestion Charge page.

Tolls, fuel and parking

The Dartford Crossing on the M25 costs £3.50 per crossing for a car, paid online by midnight the day after you cross. Around 19 October 2026 petrol cost about £1.75 a litre and diesel about £1.99. Street parking is paid at the meter or in the app shown on the signs, and the rules change street by street — read the signs every time. London Heathrow is about 30 km by road from the centre, around 45 minutes without traffic.