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St. Kitts - Car?

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rthib

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Going to St. Kitts in May and wondering about tours.

Wife wants to visit Carribelle Batik among others.

Wondering if we should do tour or if I can rent car and go visit ourselves.
 
rthib said:
Going to St. Kitts in May and wondering about tours.

Wife wants to visit Carribelle Batik among others.

Wondering if we should do tour or if I can rent car and go visit ourselves.
Click to expand...

We were there last month and clearly the way to go is with a taxi tour. the roads are narrow, especially to the fort and Carribelle Batik + you will be driving on the opposite side of the road from here in the USA.
 
I'm sure you'll get a variety of views, but my suggestion would be to use a cab to visit sites. There are always lots of very eager cab drivers waiting at the Marriott. (I suspect there are more cab drivers per capita in St. Kitts than any other place in the world!). They are happy to take you wherever and will even wait while you tour for a small fee. I suggest you plan a half day of site seeing and hire a cab for a negotiated price (the parking valets at the hotel will help you negotiate a fair price). For us, using the cabs seemed much easier than renting a car and attempting to navigate the narrow, winding and often unmarked roads on the island.

I don't recall there being many organized tours to sites (where you are picked up in a van or bus and taken somewhere and then returned). However, we went on a jungle hiking tour and we were transported from/to the hotel for that (in the back of a open truck!). Another day we went on a snorkeling cruise and we were transported via bus to/from the harbor.
 
I was there a few years ago and rented a car. First of all you drive on the opposite side of the road than the U.S. 2nd the price of the rental for a week was around $300. I toured most of the island in a day or 2. If I had to do it all over again I would 1st not go to St. Kitts and 2nd not rent a car.
 
We were there for 2 weeks last May. Did not need a car. Taxis at the Marriott are plentiful and all are reasonably priced for the Carribean. Raods are narrow and also not well maintained.
 
We went a few years ago and would also recommend a tour rather than renting a car. Best decision we made on the trip was to book our tour with Thenford Grey. You can book ahead of time or when you are there. BEST tour guide we have had on our vacations. He is fun and very accommodating.

Have fun!
 
St Kitts car

rthib said:
Going to St. Kitts in May and wondering about tours.
Wondering if we should do tour or if I can rent car and go visit ourselves.
Click to expand...

I beg to differ with some of the replies here. I rented a car from the Hertz counter in the Marriott hotel for two days and we had a blast driving around the island.

Our first task with the car was to go to the supermarket in town and stock up for the entire week. Later we drive the circumference of the island, stopping at the fort and beaches along the way. The roads are in very good shape (St Kitts - It's working) and easy to navigate and the locals are phenomenally friendly.

The next day we drove to some local beaches for more good times.
 
I agree that for visiting sites, it is better to rely on a taxi/tour guide (and Thenford Grey is one of the best!). Many, if not all, of the drivers are well-versed on the island history and will point out things you might miss on your own. Over the years, we have become good friends with one driver who takes care of special needs, e.g., helping me shop at the Saturday fruit & veg market where she could convert the local EC to US$ for me quickly and recognize if I was getting the correct change, the local bakery for sugar cakes, finding a pharmacist after hours for DH's insulin, taking us to the Lo-Los up in the hills for real Kittitian food. And we never got lost! Our experience of the island would have been quite different and far less interesting without her.
 
We have been to St. Kitts 4 times now and have never rented a car. I would most certainly never want to drive those dark, poorly lit roads driving on the wrong side of the road in the dark when returning from dinner. We spend less in cab fare then we would in renting a car.
 
We normally use the same taxi driver for all our needs whenever we are there and Geraldine will be picking us up from the airport when we arrive on Saturday.
We do occasionally hire a car too and have used the on-site Hertz desk.
All I would say if you do hire a car is be careful where you park.
On one visit, the car parked next to ours had a coconut fall right through its windscreen.
We never parked under one of the palm trees again!
 
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