---
title: "Tortola and Virgin Gorda Car Rental: Rent Where You Sleep"
url: https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/services/car-rentals
description: "BVI car rental desks on Tortola and Virgin Gorda with their day rates, age limits and island rules, and the $10 license only a rental past 30 days needs."
updated: 2026-10-16
source: https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi/services/car-rentals
---

[British Virgin Islands](https://virginislandvilla.com/bvi) · Services

# Car rental on Tortola and Virgin Gorda

In the British Virgin Islands you rent a car on the island you sleep on, because the ferries carry passengers, not cars. Tortola has the most desks, at the airport, in Road Town and at Nanny Cay; Virgin Gorda rents from Spanish Town. Traffic keeps left, the roads climb hard, and a home license covers most stays.

Written by Virgin Islands Villas · Updated Oct 2026

*A Jeep parked on narrow Main Street in Road Town, Tortola, by old painted buildings*

## Car and jeep rental in the BVI, side by side

*Rates and phone numbers from each operator's own pages, or a recent local source where it prints none, on the day in the last column; a group size marked "about" is our read. Every listing is free; an operator can ask to be added or corrected through our contact page.*

| Name | What | Area | Group size | Rates | Phone | Checked |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [ITGO Car Rental](https://www.itgobvi.com/) [Map](https://www.google.com/maps?cid=15512698188658479837) | Suzuki Vitara, Honda CR-V, Mazda CX-5, RAV4 and Tucson; winter rates December 1 to April 15; $1,000 deposit for cash customers. | Mill Mall, Wickhams Cay 1, Road Town; pickup at Beef Island airport | 5-seat SUVs | From $72 to from $95 a day, by vehicle, plus 5% government tax | (284) 494-5150 | Oct 2026 |
| [Avis](https://www.avis.com/en/locations/lat/tl/road-town) [Map](https://www.google.com/maps?cid=4992841587320226717) | Chain desks in Road Town and at the airport; rates by online search. | Wickhams Cay 1, Road Town, and Beef Island airport, (284) 340-5627 | — | — | (284) 340-5629 | Oct 2026 |
| [National Car Rental](https://www.nationalcar.com/en/car-rental-locations/vg/terrance-b-lettsome-airport-kv01.html) [Map](https://www.google.com/maps?cid=1553772474291568316) | Drivers 21 and over, a daily fee to 24; its airport terms restrict driving to Tortola; free delivery to hotels and marinas. | Beef Island airport (with Enterprise and Alamo); Road Town; Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda | — | — | (284) 495-2626 | Oct 2026 |
| [JC Car Rental](https://jcrentalsbvi.com/) [Map](https://www.google.com/maps?cid=11866046271437878525) | Automatic SUVs and Wranglers; drivers 25 and over; $500 cash deposit without a credit card; $1,000 damage deductible. | Zion Hill, Tortola; delivers island-wide | 5 seats; one 7-seat Honda Pilot | $75 (Kia Soul) to $125 (Jeep Wrangler) a day | (284) 443-8400 | Oct 2026 |
| [Island Time Car Rentals](https://islandtimebvi.com/car-rentals-bvi/) [Map](https://www.google.com/maps?cid=4219287619132005300) | Compacts, Jimnys, SUVs, Wranglers and a Bronco; drivers 25 and over; delivery $50 to the airport, $25 to Road Town or West End. | B Dock, Nanny Cay Marina | compacts to 5-seat SUVs | $69 (compact) to $120 (Ford Bronco) a day | (284) 346-0356 | Oct 2026 |
| [Speedy's Car Rentals](https://www.speedyscarrentals.com/) [Map](https://www.google.com/maps?cid=16038708446717613994) | Sedans, SUVs and open-air mini safaris; free pick-up and drop-off anywhere on Virgin Gorda; unlimited mileage. | Next to Speedy's ferry dock, Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda | — | $55.25 a day for same-day Speedy's ferry passengers; $5 off with a round-trip ticket; other rates by phone | (284) 495-5235 | Oct 2026 |

## Which BVI car rental desk, by where you sleep

Rent where you land or where you sleep. The airport counters (Avis, and National with Enterprise and Alamo) put you on the road at the terminal, which suits a house at the east end or in Road Town, 27 minutes away by our measurement; a villa at West End is 61 minutes from the airport, and a desk that delivers may save you that first drive. ITGO and Avis have desks in Road Town, Island Time is at Nanny Cay, and JC on Zion Hill delivers anywhere on Tortola.

Read each desk's terms, which differ more than the rates. The minimum age runs from 21 to 25, the cash deposits are large, and delivery is free at some desks and charged at others; the table sets each one out as printed in October 2026.

## Your home license covers 30 days in the BVI

A visitor drives on a home license for up to 30 days, per the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Past that you need a temporary BVI license, and the Government of the Virgin Islands' own page said plainly that only its Department of Motor Vehicles issues one, not a rental company: bring your home license, your passport and, at 70 or older, a medical report. National's terms put the license at $10, in cash, good for 90 days, as of October 2026; ask your desk where to collect it. A stay of a week or two needs nothing but your own license and a credit card in the renter's name.

## Driving on the left up Tortola's steep ridge

Traffic keeps left, in cars that are mostly left-hand drive, per the FCDO, so the driver sits on the curb side. Tortola is a ridge with the beaches at the bottom of their own roads, Cane Garden Bay and Brewers Bay among them, and the roads down to them are steep. Virgin Gorda's ridge road is steep too, while The Valley around Spanish Town is flat.

The tradeoff: a small car costs less, and a four-wheel drive is what many villa driveways ask for. At the desks that print both, a Wrangler runs well above a compact. Ask the owner what the drive to the house takes before you choose.

## Does a rental car go on the ferry?

No. National's terms restrict its cars to Tortola, and no scheduled ferry we found carries cars between the islands; ITGO, Avis, JC and Island Time print no island rule, so ask. Cross as a passenger and rent again on the other side. On Virgin Gorda, Speedy's delivers anywhere on the island free and gives its own ferry passengers a lower day rate, and National keeps a desk in Spanish Town.

On Anegada, Out & About Rentals supplies jeeps through the Anegada Reef Hotel and DW Jeep Rental is run by the owners of D&H Sunshine Villas; neither prints a rate. Jost Van Dyke has no rental desk with its own site; taxis run by arrangement from the Great Harbour dock.

## Questions about car and jeep rental in the BVI

### Do you need a car in the BVI?

On Tortola and Virgin Gorda, yes for most houses: the villas sit on hillsides and the beaches at the bottom of them, and both islands' ridge roads are steep. On Anegada a jeep reaches the north-shore beaches; on Jost Van Dyke most guests manage with taxis.

### Do you need a special license to drive in the BVI?

Not for a stay of up to 30 days: your home license covers it, per the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Past 30 days you need a temporary BVI license from the Department of Motor Vehicles, which the government says issues it rather than the rental companies; National's terms put it at $10, in cash, good for 90 days, as of October 2026.

### Which side of the road do they drive on in the BVI?

The left, per the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, although most cars are left-hand drive, which puts the driver beside the curb rather than the center line.

### Can you take a rental car from Tortola to Virgin Gorda?

No. National restricts its cars to Tortola, and no scheduled ferry we found carries cars. Cross as a passenger and rent on Virgin Gorda, where Speedy's delivers anywhere on the island free.

### How old do you have to be to rent a car in the BVI?

21 at National, with a daily fee until 25, and 25 at JC Car Rental and Island Time, by their own terms as of October 2026.

Sources: [UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office](https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/british-virgin-islands/safety-and-security) (checked Oct 16, 2026) · [National Car Rental](https://www.nationalcar.com/en/car-rental-locations/vg/terrance-b-lettsome-airport-kv01.html) (checked Oct 16, 2026) · [ITGO Car Rental](https://www.itgobvi.com/) (checked Oct 16, 2026) · [JC Car Rental](https://jcrentalsbvi.com/policy.html) (checked Oct 16, 2026) · [Speedy's](https://speedysbvi.com/speedys-car-rentals) (checked Oct 16, 2026)

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