Guyana Driving Advice and Car Hire Info
Driving In Guyana
Guyana drives on the left hand side of the road.Speed limits are 100kmh on highways, 80km on rural roads and 50kmh in urban areas.
Unfortunately, it seems it’s not possible to use your own licence or an International Driving permit here and you must obtain a local permit. This is official guidance from the Guyanese government.
Any tourist wishing to drive a locally registered Motor Vehicle on the roadways of Guyana must obtain a Driver’s Permit valid for 1 month, issued by the Licence Revenue Office of the Guyana Revenue Authority. In order to make it convenient for tourists to obtain a Driver’s Permit, the Guyana Revenue Authority has put relevant facilities in place at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) for travelers to access.
The tourist must provide the Licencing Officer with a valid Driver’s Licence (from their country of origin) and details of their local address while in Guyana. If you are unable to obtain your Driver/s Permit at the CJIA, kindly visit the Excise Licencing and Motor Vehicle Registration Office (known as the Licence Revenue Office) located at 200-201 Camp Street Georgetown.
That guidance has remained in place since 2011 when I first researched for this website. It is therefore possible that it may now be out of date. I would suggest asking the car rental company you plan to use for their view.
Guyana has around 4000km of roads, only about 25% of which are classed as primary roads. Main paved roads are the Essequibo Coast Road North of Georgetown; the Parika to Vreed en Hoop Road; the East Coast Demerara and West Coast Berbice Roads; and the 86km Corentyne Highway from New Amsterdam to Moleson Creek. The East Bank Demerara Road runs South from Georgetown to Timehri, where the airport is located and is a dual carriageway between Rumiveldt and Providence . At rush hour times, the traffic flow is switched to provide an extra lane in the direction of the majority of traffic flow. The first time I’d ever encountered this!
Main roads around Georgetown are in a passable condition. Smaller roads and rural roads will be in a worse condition and may deteriorate after heavy rain.
Driving abroad in Guyana can be potentially hazardous. Cars, large commercial vehicles, horse drawn carts, bicyclists, motorcycles, livestock, stray dogs, pedestrians and aggressive mini-buses all share often narrow, sometimes poorly maintained roads. Driving at night poses additional concerns as many roads are not lit, some drivers do not lower high beam lights,and livestock and pedestrians may be wandering in the road. You should exercise caution at all times while driving and avoid driving outside of Georgetown at night when possible.
Although I try and keep the information in the site updated as much as possible, in a rapidly moving world, situations can change daily. Therefore please use the site as an approximate guide, and in conjunction with other resources in order to form your view on driving conditions, roads, safety etc.
Guyana Car Rental –
Hertz have a branch in Georgetown.
We currently have no local car rental partners in Guyana. If you are a local car rental company who would like to feature on DriverAbroad.com please check details on our Partnering page or contact us on ADriverAbroad@Outlook.com
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