Port Zante is the only proper car park in Basseterre. EC$5 covers the whole day, and the eastern lot is the bigger of the two. There is street parking on most streets in the city, but on a weekday it is usually gone by mid morning.
Where do you park in Basseterre?
Port Zante, and in practice that is the only proper car park in town. There are two lots, one on the eastern side of the port and one on the western, with the entrances set midway along, nearer the port entrance off the main road.
Go to the eastern lot. It is the bigger of the two, so you are more likely to find a space.
If you try the western lot and it is full you cannot cut across. You have to leave the port and work your way back round through the lower part of the city to reach the eastern side. On a busy morning that is ten minutes you did not plan for.
What does it cost?
EC$5, or US$2, and it covers the whole day. You pay at the barrier on the way in and take a ticket. There is a booth at the entrance, and if nobody is in it you pull in and settle up as you leave.
The ticket is good for that day only. Come back tomorrow and you buy another one.
The lots run 7:30am to 3:30pm, Monday to Friday. Saturday and Sunday are free at the moment.
Park there and you can walk Basseterre, which is small enough to cover on foot.
If you are picking a car up for the day, collect it at Port Zante or the airport and the parking question only starts when you drive into town. Our cars are from US$65 a day.
Can you park on the street instead?
You can, on most streets in the city, but on a weekday you probably will not find a space.
The spaces fill early. People who work in the city, in the banks and the stores, arrive well before the shops open and the street parking is gone by mid morning. It is not that there is no parking, it is that you will circle several times looking for it.
Look for the yellow lines. They are faded in places, and a faded line is still a line.
Where do people get ticketed?
Fort Street, more than anywhere else. It runs into the centre of the city and both traffic wardens and police patrol it.
The street splits at the Circus, the one with the clock.
Below the Circus, down towards the Treasury, parking is banned outright at any hour.
Above the Circus, running up towards Cayon Street, you get the marked half hour bays. They are on the right side only. Stay past the half hour and the ticket is EC$100, about US$37. On the left side there is no parking at any hour, and people chance it and get ticketed.
You have ten days to pay, and that is the part that catches visitors
The fine is a fixed penalty, and the payment has to reach the Clerk of the Magistrate’s Court in Basseterre within ten days of the notice. Money arriving after that is not accepted. It gets returned to you, and the matter goes to the Magistrate’s Court instead, where the fine is whatever the court decides.
So if you pick up a ticket on a seven day holiday, pay it before you fly home. You cannot post it from abroad afterwards and have it count.
One more, in case you are tempted. Taking a notice off a windscreen that is not yours is its own offence, and it carries EC$500.
Two other things catch visitors. The law says you cannot stop within 15 feet of any corner, and it is wider than corners: the same 15 feet applies to any driveway, carriageway or private road running off a public road. And there are reserved bays marked on the street around the city, which are exactly what they say.
Which streets are one way?
Several, and the pattern is not obvious from a map.
Fort Street is one way northbound, from Bay Road by the old Treasury Building up towards Cayon Street. You can only go up it.
Liverpool Row runs one way west to east, connecting College Street into Fort Street. Off Liverpool Row, one turning takes you right and down to Bay Road, another takes you left and up to Princes Street. Princes Street is one way as well, and it feeds into Fort Street. Do not park on its south side, which the regulations prohibit outright.
Driving here is on the left, and our guide to driving in St Kitts covers the roundabouts and the permit.
Where do they tow cars to?
Two places. Some go to the Police Training Complex, which shares the premises with the Basseterre fire station. Others go to the St Kitts and Nevis Defence Force camp at Springfield, their headquarters.
There is no published release fee, and the reason is in the law. The regulations let the Licensing Authority tow and impound any vehicle parked illegally or blocking traffic, and the vehicle comes back only on payment of the towing fee to a company the Minister has designated to do the work. The charge belongs to that company, not to a schedule, so no figure is published anywhere.
Where is parking banned outright?
The regulations list the places, and they are worth scanning before you circle looking for a space. No parking at any time on:
- the north side of Bay Road between Adlam Street and West Square Street, except to load or refuel
- the south side of Cayon Street between Victoria Road and West Square Street
- the north side of Cayon Street between West Square Street and a point sixty feet from the corner of East Square Street
- Wellington Road between Cayon Street and Lozac Road
- the south side of Princes Street
- Bay Road immediately south of the Public Market
- Fort Street between the Circus and the Treasury
- the east side of Adlam Street
- Fort Thomas Road between Thibou Avenue and Market Street
- Cayon Street between Westbourne Street and Market Street
- Prickly Pear Alley
- the west side of Victoria Road outside the Lawn Tennis Club
- the north side of Liverpool Row between the Circus and Church Street
The regulations also ban parking on Fort Street between the Circus and Central Street from 6am to 6pm. On the ground that stretch now carries the marked half hour bays, so follow the paint and the signs there rather than the older wording.
What changes during Sugar Mas?
Through the carnival season the police restrict parking across central Basseterre, and the same streets come up every year: Cayon Street, Church Street, College Street, Bay Road, Fort Street, West Square Street, West Independence Square Street, Liverpool Row and Paul Southwell Drive.
Liverpool Row is held for taxi drop-off and pickup for the whole season, so parking there is out even on a quiet afternoon. On parade days the notices say cars left on the route will be towed. In 2022 Bank Street was closed to vehicles entirely from 21 December to 5 January.
For events at Warner Park, parking is allowed on Victoria Road between Seaton Street and Youth and Community, banned on the western side of East Park Range, and Losack Road is held for VIP parking. Taxi drop-off is by Amory Bakery.
The police publish their notices on police.kn, usually in the first three weeks of December, with parade day detail a day or so ahead.
Common questions
Where can you park in Basseterre?
Port Zante, in one of its two car parks. Head for the eastern one, which is the larger. There is street parking on most streets in the city, but on a weekday it is usually taken by mid morning.
How much is parking at Port Zante?
EC$5, or US$2, for the whole day. You pay at the barrier on the way in and the ticket covers that day only.
What are the Port Zante car park hours?
7:30am to 3:30pm, Monday to Friday. Saturday and Sunday are free at the moment.
Is there a public car park anywhere else in Basseterre?
No. Port Zante is the only one of its kind in town.
How much is a parking ticket in Basseterre?
EC$100, about US$37, as a fixed penalty.
How long do you have to pay a parking ticket?
Ten days from the date of the notice, and the payment has to reach the Clerk of the Magistrate’s Court in Basseterre inside that window. Later than that and it is refused and returned, and the matter goes to court instead.
Where do they tow cars to in St Kitts?
Either the Police Training Complex, which shares premises with the Basseterre fire station, or the Defence Force camp at Springfield. There is no published release fee, because the law leaves the charge to a towing company the Minister designates.
Which streets in Basseterre are one way?
Fort Street runs one way northbound from Bay Road by the old Treasury Building. Liverpool Row runs one way west to east into Fort Street, and Princes Street is one way and feeds into Fort Street as well.
