Car Rental in Barbados

[sbroc012]

Does anyone know a reputable car rental place at the pier? The girlfriend and I are looking to rent a Moke for the day and do the island stuff at our own pace. Is this a good idea? What places should we go to? Is Sam Lord's Castle open to view anymore? (my parents went many years ago and said it was really nice) Any suggestions would be great! Thanks

[MrSchwump]

We did that very thing on our first visit to Barbados. We rented a Moke right at the pier. The company we rented from was Stoutes and had a kiosk right at the terminal. We paid less than $100 but this was 6 years ago.

 

We had a ball! It's like the Flintstones car only with a small engine. No doors and everything was on the opposite side. We got lost so many times but managed to find everything we wanted to see. The tricky part was driving in Bridgetown and finding our way back to the ship. It was quite an adventure!

[mikesms]

We'll be visiting Barbados in about two weeks and already reserved a mini Moke at Stoutes. We were told they do not rent GPS devices with the Mokes (I'll bet because there are no doors to lock them) - but i also found that if you have a Garmin GPS device, you can download a free map of the island from AccuNav (http://accu-nav.com/spaces/) - I've already downloaded and installed the maps to our Nuvi and already have directions to some of the beaches (even though it tells me I'm over 2000 miles away! lol). From what i hear, the roads are not well marked, so having a GPS is a big help and will save lots of time. If you aren't going for a while, I'll let you know how well it worked!

[cruisingbajan]

What places should we go to? Is Sam Lord's Castle open to view anymore? (my parents went many years ago and said it was really nice) Any suggestions would be great! Thanks

 

Sam Lord's Castle unfortunately is no more!!:( It was lying derelict for a while and actually burnt down a few years back!! It was such a waste of a great property.:confused::mad:

[sbroc012]

Sam Lord's Castle unfortunately is no more!!:( It was lying derelict for a while and actually burnt down a few years back!! It was such a waste of a great property.:confused::mad:

That's a bummer! My parents said it was a gorgeous property on the beach. O well, guess I can cross that off my list.

Do you have any suggestions regarding the Wildlife Reserve or Harrison's Cave?

Where is a good place to eat?

[sbroc012]

We'll be visiting Barbados in about two weeks and already reserved a mini Moke at Stoutes. We were told they do not rent GPS devices with the Mokes (I'll bet because there are no doors to lock them) - but i also found that if you have a Garmin GPS device, you can download a free map of the island from AccuNav (http://accu-nav.com/spaces/) - I've already downloaded and installed the maps to our Nuvi and already have directions to some of the beaches (even though it tells me I'm over 2000 miles away! lol). From what i hear, the roads are not well marked, so having a GPS is a big help and will save lots of time. If you aren't going for a while, I'll let you know how well it worked!

Thanks, we don't sail until March 10th, your input will be greatly appreciated!

[MrSchwump]

The roads are marked, but not the way we're used to in the US or UK. There's no advance notice for turns or signposts giving direction or distance to various towns or points of interest. We just had the map that came with the car. A GPS would be ideal but a good map would do the trick. There aren't that many roads so it's pretty easy to figure out which one to take to get somewhere. Getting lost is half the fun!

 

Now in Bridgetown....that's a crazy place! I think the streets are marked as in Europe, with the street names on the corners of buildings. As I said, our map was bad but we had a heck of a time navigating there!

[cruisingbajan]

That's a bummer! My parents said it was a gorgeous property on the beach. O well, guess I can cross that off my list.

Do you have any suggestions regarding the Wildlife Reserve or Harrison's Cave?

Where is a good place to eat?

 

Harrison's Cave is a must see!! The Wildlife reserve in my opinion is just ok.

 

What type of cuisine are you interested in? If you want to try local fare there are quite a few places to choose from.

[cruisingbajan]

 

Now in Bridgetown....that's a crazy place! I think the streets are marked as in Europe, with the street names on the corners of buildings. As I said, our map was bad but we had a heck of a time navigating there!

 

You are quite right the names of the streets are on the corners of the buildings. We were once known as "Little England" for good reason.:)