Namibia Driving Advice and Car Hire Info
Driving In Namibia
In my opinion, Namibia is one of the worlds great ‘driving abroad’ destinations. 4WD vehicles may make the trip smoother but aren’t vital (I drove much of the country in a VW Polo!). Roads are in generally Okay condition though you will be driving on a lot of gravel roads so take it slowly if you aren’t used to this- most accidents happen with inexperienced drivers on gravel. Also be aware that gravel roads will deteriorate after rain. Roads in Etosha National Park are nearly all paved and are in good condition as are roads in the main towns. Obviously when driving in Etosha and other non urban areas, be alert for animals at all times .Windhoek is a manageable City to drive in and shouldn’t pose many problems. The Skeleton Coast is a fantastic 300km self drive adventure. The road is salt and gravel surfaced and is a pretty unique driving experience. Mirages are common and when I drove the road it was impossible to see where road, sea and sky merged. There is absolutely nothing on this road and you will see few other vehicles. If you break down, wait with your vehicle until you can flag down a vehicle and get a lift back to civilisation. Try to avoid doing what I did and blowing a tyre just before entering Skeleton Coast National Park and having to drive 200 km with no spare! More detail on the Skeleton Coast can be found on my classic roadtrip page.
You can drive using the licence of most EU conutries but must carry a photo driving licence at all times and produce it on request at the police check points leading in and out of Windhoek and other major towns and cities.Avoid driving at night outside towns as wildlife and stray livestock can pose a hazard and be keep doors and windows locked while waiting at traffic lights in the centre of Windhoek. Avoid driving in sand, even in a 4WD as it could be deeper than expected and in remote areas you will wait a long time for someone to pull you out.
Although I try and keep the information in the site updated as much as possible, in a rapidly moving world, situations can change daily. Therefore please use the site as an approximate guide, and in conjunction with other resources in order to form your view on driving conditions, roads, safety etc.
Namibia Car Rental –
Hertz, Europcar, Alamo, National, Avis,Budget, Dollar, Thrifty, have outlets here. Also usually features on Car rental broker sites and Web discount sites such as ebookers.com. or Expedia
We currently have no local car rental partners in Namibia. If you are a local car rental company who would like to feature on DriverAbroad.com please check details on our Partnering page or contact us on ADriverAbroad@Outlook.com.
Namibia Self Drive Rules-
Most of the big companies will allow cars to be driven into South Africa, Swaziland , Lesotho and Botswana. Some will allow one way rentals to SA (Hertz will for a charge). There are likely to be restrictions on taking the car into other neighbouring countries – it will probably be allowed but you may need to pay a lot more for insurance. You can drive on an EU Photo passport but will need to bring the paper copy too to rent a car.
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