A vehicle control apparatus includes: a VSA-ECU and an ESB-ECU that perform braking control to apply a braking torque in response to a brake operation by a driver of a host vehicle, and also perform brake holding control to hold the braking torque even when the brake operation is cancelled; and an engine control unit that performs idling stop control to stop driving of an engine that is a drive source of the host vehicle when a stop condition is satisfied, including that a vehicle speed of the host vehicle enters a predetermined low vehicle speed region, and also performs restart control to restart the engine when a predetermined restart condition is satisfied. The engine control unit prohibits execution of the idling stop control during execution of the brake holding control.