Getting Around Trinidad and Tobago

Driving on your own license, for ninety days.

The rule is generous and it is bounded. The official advice states that a visitor can use a UK photocard driving license to drive in Trinidad and Tobago for up to 90 days, and that you will need an IDP if you stay longer than 90 days, specifically the 1949 version of the international driving permit. Holders of a paper license may need to update it or carry that permit as well.

Ninety days covers any ordinary visit, and it matches the visa-free period exactly, which is a convenient symmetry. If you are here longer than that, both your immigration status and your driving authority need attention on the same date.

Traffic drives on the left.

What the advice says about the roads, in its own words.

This passage is unusually specific for an official source, and it is worth having in full rather than summarized into vagueness. Driving standards in Trinidad and Tobago are mixed. High-speed road accidents on the main highways in Trinidad often result in fatalities. There have been accidents caused by drink-driving, including on the Beetham-Churchill Roosevelt Highway to and from the airport.

It continues: Some roads are narrow and winding, and road surfaces are of a mixed standard. Pedestrians often walk on the roads, and drivers do not always indicate. Take care when driving and observe speed limits. Take extra care when driving at night as some roads are unlit. Road signs and hazards may not be easily visible.

The airport road being named is the detail to act on. It is the one stretch almost every visitor drives, often tired and often after dark, and it is the one the advice singles out.

Maxi taxis, and reading the band.

The maxi taxi is the country's shared minibus and it is how a great many people move. Each carries a colored band along its side, and the color tells you which zone of the country the vehicle works. That is the system a visitor needs to understand before standing at the roadside: you are not flagging a bus with a number, you are flagging a route identified by color.

The official advice is cautious about accepting lifts, asking travelers to be cautious about accepting lifts in a private car or 'maxi taxi' and to use well-established taxi firms, recommended by locals or your hotel. Read that as what it is: advice to choose the operator deliberately rather than to avoid a whole mode of transport that works perfectly well for the people who live here.

Security while moving.

Three instructions from the same passage, and all three are about the vehicle rather than the destination. Keep the windows closed and doors locked while driving. Do not leave bags, purses, handbags, laptops and phones exposed on the seat of a moving vehicle, because there have been incidents of items being snatched through car windows. And take local advice to avoid areas affected by gang violence.

The advice also asks travelers never to leave anything in an unattended vehicle and to park in well-lit areas.

Between the two islands.

Trinidad and Tobago are separate islands with separate characters, and moving between them is a planned leg rather than a short hop. Air and sea services both run. A visitor arriving by yacht has a named point of entry at the marinas or Chaguaramas Bay, and must follow government regulations or you could be stopped by the coast guard.

Tobago drives differently from Trinidad in practice: smaller, slower, and with the Main Ridge road as its spine. Allow more time than the distance suggests for anything crossing that ridge.

If you would like transfers and island-hopping arranged so that no leg depends on a connection you cannot miss, let us build it.

Sources

• UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Trinidad and Tobago travel advice, safety and security: that there is a high level of violent crime including gang-related attacks and shootings and that instances of homicides and armed robberies are common; the named areas in which to be cautious, including downtown Port of Spain east of Charlotte Street, Carenage, Sea Lots, Belmont, Laventille, Morvant, Barataria, Cocorite and the interior of the Queens Park Savannah; that a significant portion of violent crime is gang-related and the listed precautions, including avoiding walking at night, keeping valuables out of sight in a moving vehicle, and using well-lit ATMs during daylight; that criminals have used drugs, deception and sexual solicitation including via dating apps to facilitate robbery and sexual assault; that robberies and opportunistic crime may occur during the carnival period; that providers of recreational and adventure tourism may not meet UK safety standards; that it is an offense for anyone, including children, to dress in camouflage clothing or bring any into the country; that possession of up to 30g of cannabis or 5g of cannabis resin has been decriminalised, that smoking cannabis in public spaces or while operating a vehicle is not allowed, and that being stopped with those amounts can bring a fine of up to 50,000 Trinidad and Tobago dollars; that in March 2025 consensual same-sex activity was reinstated as a crime punishable by up to 5 years imprisonment, that it is also illegal for LGBT+ foreign nationals to enter the country, and that neither of these laws has been enforced in recent times; that entering private property without permission can bring a fine of up to 750,000 Trinidad and Tobago Dollars or imprisonment for up to 25 years and that legal occupants may use defensive and even deadly force against trespassers; that a UK photocard driving license may be used for up to 90 days and that an international driving permit is needed beyond that; that driving standards are mixed, that high-speed accidents on the main highways often result in fatalities, that some roads are narrow, winding and unlit and that pedestrians often walk on the roads; that Trinidad and Tobago is rarely affected by hurricanes but can have severe storms; that earthquakes are a risk and that the last serious earthquake was in 2018; and that travelers should monitor the alert level of Kick em Jenny, an underwater volcano located off the coast of Grenada and about 200km from Trinidad, which erupts every few years. Accessed 21 September 2026.
• UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Trinidad and Tobago travel advice, entry requirements: that a passport must have an expiry date at least 6 months after the date of arrival; that a traveler will be denied entry without a valid travel document or with a passport reported lost or stolen; that a visitor may enter without a visa for up to 90 days and must have an onward or return ticket and proof of funds for the stay; that the 90-day visit can be extended by applying to the passport and immigration department and that the passport must be stamped on arrival or an extension will be difficult; that a traveler may sail into and out of the marinas or Chaguaramas Bay but must follow government regulations; that health entry requirements and recommended vaccinations are set out by TravelHealthPro; that there are strict rules about goods taken into or out of the country and that anything prohibited or subject to tax or duty must be declared; and that the amount of currency brought in or taken out is unlimited but cash in any currency worth over 20,000 Trinidad and Tobago dollars must be declared, with strict penalties for failing to do so. Accessed 21 September 2026.