North America > St Lucia > Castries (SLU)
The Car or no Car advice for Castries can be broken down into three similar questions - do you need a car in Castries ; is it worth it (based on costs), and ultimately - should you rent one? (a balance of the two).🚆 🚌⛴️ Do we need to rent a car in Castries ?
These scores are based on the quality of public transport and other travel options. If these are good enough to see the main points of interest, then you don’t need to rent a car.
💰💶💳 Is it worth hiring a car in Castries?
These scores reflect the practical factors that affect whether renting a car is convenient, good value, and stress-free.
✈️ Who flies into Castries SLU and where do they stay?
Most SLU arrivals come from nearby islands — Barbados, Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, or Trinidad. Visitors tend to be repeat travellers, regional residents, cruise-ship passengers extending a stay, or holidaymakers on multi-island trips.
Because of that pattern, people who fly into Castries often stay in three main areas:
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Castries itself – convenient for business trips, ferries, and short stays.
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The north-west coast – including Rodney Bay, Gros Islet, and Reduit Beach, which offer the island’s liveliest cluster of hotels, dining, and beaches, all within easier reach of SLU.
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The boutique west-coast hideaways – especially Anse Chastanet, Soufrière, and resorts facing the Pitons, though these are much farther and involve slow mountain roads.
Travellers arriving into SLU rarely stay deep in the south unless they plan a long island break, because the distance and road conditions make cross-island travel slow.
🛣 Saint Lucia’s roads: scenic but slow
Saint Lucia’s road network is extremely winding, even by Caribbean standards. Speeds often drop to 25–30 mph, and bends are constant. Whether you drive yourself or hire a taxi, journey times are long. For example:
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Castries → Rodney Bay: 20–30 minutes
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Castries → Soufrière / Anse Chastanet: 75–105 minutes
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Castries → Hewanorra International Airport (UVF): 90 minutes or more
This matters when deciding should you rent a car in Castries?, because driving yourself doesn’t dramatically shorten travel time compared to taxis — it only gives you more freedom to stop for viewpoints.
🚗 Renting a car: cost, licences and practicalities
Car rental in Saint Lucia is famously expensive. Rates above USD $80 for a day hire are common. You also need to pay for a temporary local driving permit on top, which adds another cost.
Still, for some travellers it remains better value than long-distance taxi rides, especially if you plan to do multiple days of exploring from a base.
If your hotel is in Soufrière or Anse Chastanet, a private taxi can be extremely expensive from either airport. Renting a car for 24–48 hours after arrival may cost less than a pair of long transfers — but only if you are confident driving narrow, mountainous roads.
If you stay in the north — Rodney Bay or Gros Islet — taxis and minibuses are usually simpler and cheaper than renting.
🚐 Buses, taxis and alternatives
Local buses run on semi-fixed routes, but they do not operate like European city buses. They follow general corridors between towns, but timetables are loose and stops are informal. They are cheap and used heavily by locals, but not always intuitive for visitors.
Taxis remain the main non-driving option, and most hotels can book trusted drivers. Boat taxis between Soufrière-area resorts and beach coves are also common, and often faster than road travel.
🎯 Conclusion – should you rent a car in Castries?
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🚶♀️ Skip the car if you plan to stay in Castries, Rodney Bay, Gros Islet, or nearby beaches, and rely on taxis or hotel transfers.
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❔ Consider renting a car only if you want to explore the west-coast viewpoints, volcanic beaches, waterfalls, or Soufrière area independently — and you don’t mind slow, winding mountain roads.
