Road network

Wales drives on the left, with speed limits in miles per hour. The default in residential and built-up areas is 20 mph (32 km/h), a limit introduced in 2023 that applies more broadly than many foreign visitors expect. Rural single carriageways are limited to 60 mph (96 km/h) and motorways to 70 mph (112 km/h). The blood alcohol limit is 0.08 percent, the minimum driving age is 17, and the emergency number is 999. Headlights are required at night. Winter tires are not legally required, but mountain passes in Snowdonia can be icy or closed from November through March.

The only motorway is the M4, running along the south coast from the English border to Swansea. The A55 expressway serves the north coast. Everywhere else, the network is A-roads and B-roads through valleys and over passes, many of them narrow with passing places. There are no tolls: the Severn Bridge crossings from England became toll-free in December 2018. Fuel is widely available in the south and along main corridors but sparse in mid-Wales and the rural north. Road signs are bilingual throughout, with Welsh above English. One detail that surprises many visitors: sheep routinely occupy mountain roads in Snowdonia, and they do not move quickly.