DRIVING GUIDE
Child seats, additional drivers and licence requirements in Cyprus
How to request a child seat and fit it properly, what registering a second driver involves, and why age and licence conditions are set by each supplier rather than by the marketplace.
Three things belong at the booking stage, not the counter. Request a child seat by describing the child — age, weight and height — and get confirmation it will be there. Register every additional driver on the agreement: someone driving who is not named sits outside the hire entirely. And treat licence acceptance, permits, minimum held-time and age conditions as supplier-decided questions, confirmed from the supplier's own terms and, for the road rules on carrying children, from official sources.
Three requests come up in almost every family or group booking, and all three are worth handling at the booking stage rather than at the counter. A child seat has to be requested and confirmed, a second driver has to be registered, and every driver has to satisfy whatever the supplier requires of the licence they hold. None of these is complicated, but each one can hold up a collection if it turns up as a surprise on the day.
How should you request a child seat?
Start with child seats, because availability is finite. A seat is equipment the supplier has to have on hand in the right size for your child, which means asking for it when you book and getting confirmation that it will be there, rather than hoping to sort it out on arrival. Say what you need in terms of the child rather than a product name: their age, weight and height tell the supplier far more than a category label that varies between manufacturers and countries.
Fitting matters as much as having one. If the seat is provided already installed, check it yourself before you drive: the belt or anchorage routed correctly, the base firm against the seat, the harness adjusted to the child rather than to the last passenger. If you would rather rely on equipment you know, many families travel with their own seat, and airline handling of it is a question for the airline. Either way, the person who fits it is responsible for it being fitted properly.
The underlying road rules about carrying children in vehicles are a matter of Cyprus road-traffic law rather than of any rental agreement, and they are exactly the kind of thing to confirm from an official source before you travel rather than from an article. This guide deliberately does not paraphrase them, because a summary written today may not describe the position on the day you drive. Check the current official guidance and follow it.
Why must an additional driver be named?
An additional driver has to be named on the agreement to be a driver at all. Registering a second person is not administrative box-ticking; it is what places them within the terms of the hire, and someone driving who is not on the agreement sits outside it entirely. Every driver normally needs to be present at collection with their own licence and identification, so plan the arrival accordingly, and ask the supplier in advance whether they apply a charge or any conditions to adding one.
Which licence rules apply to you?
Licence questions follow the same logic. Whether a particular licence is accepted, whether a translation or an international permit is expected alongside it, how long the licence must have been held, and any age-related conditions or surcharges are all decided by the supplier and, where relevant, by the applicable rules for driving in the Republic of Cyprus. Do not rely on what a friend experienced with a different company, and do not assume that a policy you met elsewhere on the island applies here.
All of this sits within terms that belong to the individual offer. The amount you will pay, what is taken as a deposit, the excess in force, the fuel rule, any mileage restriction and the cancellation conditions are stated by the supplier at the time of booking, along with anything they charge for seats or extra drivers. Ask the questions before you confirm, keep the replies with your paperwork, and bring every named driver and their documents to the desk.
Quick answers
How do I request a child seat? When you book, and in terms of the child rather than a product name: their age, weight and height tell the supplier far more than a category label that varies between manufacturers. Get confirmation the seat will be there, and whoever fits it should check the belt routing and harness adjustment before the first journey.
Can someone not on the agreement drive the car? No — being named on the agreement is what places a driver within the terms of the hire; someone driving who is not on it sits outside it entirely. Every driver normally needs to be present at collection with their own licence and identification, so plan the arrival accordingly.
Is my licence enough, or do I need a permit? Only the supplier can answer it for your booking, working from the rules that apply here. Acceptance, translation or permit, how long you must have held it and any age loading are theirs to set, so settle it before you book: a licence problem found at the counter is found too late to solve.
Sources and last check
Last checked: 2026-08-19