Yes, an unfortunate nightmare anywhere in Europe. Tourider is correct, a provisional licence is only valid in the country of issue, so not possible to ride anywhere ''legally'' in Europe. Another issue is that taking lessons and a test outside the U.k., you have to be in residence for a minimum of 6 months before you can apply for a local provisional licence. Using a U.k. provisional is no good anywhere but the U.K., because no one except the DVLA can update it.

It would be nice to go to a warmer and drier climate, and perhaps hire a bike. Only problem here is that hire companies usually want to see an International Driving Licence supported by your full licence. IDL's are not available for provisional licence holders, so unfortunately I think you will have to persevere unless you can find someone with a large private estate you can ride around!

Now, having said all that, there is possibly a way round this if all you want to do is practice, and you already have a full car licence and passed your test before Feb 2001. In Europe you can hire and ride a moped ( up to 50cc) on a full car licence. There is nothing wrong with a moped, and they are great fun even for us more experienced people, because they are easy to handle, lightweight and dirt cheap to run. I use a vintage French Peugeot 50cc almost every day to go shopping. It rattles, bits fall off, but so what, it's two wheels
and the riding principles are the same

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