Driving in Czechia
Driving in CzechiaThe licence plates you will see on the road in Czechia, how to read them, and what a car from abroad needs.
Speed limits
Default limits for cars, unless signs say otherwise, as on the signs at border crossings.
- In towns
- 50 km/h
- Outside towns
- 90 km/h
- Expressways
- 110 km/h
- Motorways
- 130 km/h
Before you drive
- Vignette and tolls
- Motorways and expressways need a vignette for vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes. Since 2021 it is digital only, registered to the plate number; the official shop is edalnice.cz.
Rules and prices change. Check the official site before you travel.
Country code
Cars registered here show the country code CZ. Plates carry it on the blue EU band, which counts as the country sign: no separate oval sticker is needed in the European Economic Area, and the plate is also valid in other countries of the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. A car from abroad shows its own country code at the rear in the same way.
Reading the plates
Plates carry an area code that shows where the car was registered: 14 codes across 14 regions. For example:
1A2 3456Plates you will see
- 1A2 3456
Standard · Since 2001
Special plates
- A 1234
Dealer and test · Since 2001
- A 12 3456
Special · Since 2001
- A 123456
Temporary · Since 2001
- F 1234
Dealer and test · Current
- 01V 1234
Historic · Current
- 01R 1234
Special · Current
- EL-123-AB
Electric · Since 2020
- 123 CD 45
Diplomatic · Current
- 123 4567
Military · Current
Older plates still on the road
- ABC 12-34
Standard · 1960–2001
Plate formats and history of Czechia