Driving in Barbados - Here's What You Need To Know

Renting a car and driving in Barbados is a great way to explore more of what this beautiful island nation has to offer. Don’t be put off if you’ve never driven on the left-side before. Bajans are some of the friendliest drivers you will ever encounter!

Driving in Barbados:

What you need to know

What side of the road do they drive on in Barbados?

Barbados used to be a British colony so they drive on the left-side of the road.

With my career working at Enterprise Rent-A-Car I have had the pleasure of driving lots of different cars. I really enjoy it, especially on long road trips and in different cities. But in Barbados I got my first experience driving on the left side of the road!

Renting a Car in Barbados

If you decide you want to drive in Barbados (good choice!) then you’ll need to rent a car. I really enjoyed renting a car in Barbados and we highly recommend it if you want to travel around on your own terms.

We hired a car from a local family-run company called Stoutes Car Rental. The service was great and they even delivered the car to our hotel. Unlike most things in Barbados, they were actually on time, too. I even got a Barbados driving permit on the spot.

Barbados Car Rental Cost and Insurance

Prices were reasonable and we were able to add on insurance and a collision damage waiver for only $10/day. Check out current rental costs here.

The car rental fee varies depending how long you are renting the car for. For example, for 1-4 days our Barbados car rental cost $80/day, but if we were to rent it for 7 days or more it was only $56/day.

We were also able to drop the car off at the airport for no added fee which saved us from having to pay a taxi. Stoutes Car Rental also has an office at the airport so all we had to do was park the car in the arrivals lot, right in front of the entrance, and drop off the key. Super easy and convenient.

What it’s like Driving in Barbados

The car we ordered was a fun little 4X4 with a convertible top that they call a Jimny. It was an automatic, with AC, which was a huge plus. But unfortunately the radio didn’t work so we couldn’t listen to the local music.

The Jimny was nice and small, so it was easy to park and drive on the narrow roads. It had a rag top that we wished we could have taken off, but it rained the first morning we had the car so we didn’t.

Challenges while Driving in Barbados

Turn Signals

The hardest part was getting used to the turn signals on the other side of the steering wheel. Every time I went to make my signal, I turned on the windshield wipers. Louise thought it was pretty funny, but the people behind me probably didn’t appreciate me cutting them off.

Roundabouts

For the most part, people abide by the traffic signals which makes it easier to drive in Barbados. There are lots of roundabouts, and they are in the middle of the highways so be very careful you aren’t driving too fast when you come up on one. It took me a few times to get comfortable turning left into a traffic circle, but just follow the person in front of you and you’ll be fine.

Bus stops and Potholes

The traffic is pretty steady in Barbados. It can take you a while to get across the small island. And buses stop wherever and whenever, so be cautious of them. Most people are pretty relaxed driving in Barbados; we didn’t see much road rage. Once you get away from the city the roads are pretty narrow, with lots of potholes. One funny sticker we saw on a bus was “I’m not drunk, avoiding potholes.”

It was nice having the Jimny for the couple of days. It allowed us to go to some areas we might not have seen if we didn’t have a car. Barbados public transit is fun, but if you want to really see some of the local areas, rent a car and check out some of the spots in our other Barbados posts below!