Experiences in Barbados
With so much to do and see in Barbados, there’s something for everyone
THINGS TO DO IN BARBADOS
Stunning tropical landscapes and beautiful beaches, action packed activities and attractions, vibrant festivals and the best food in the Caribbean, glamorous Barbados has got it all.
For soft, sandy beaches, warm clear seas and gentle tropical breezes, look no further than Barbados. But there’s so much more to this tropical Caribbean paradise. A packed calendar of events offers everything from world-class sporting events to colourful festivals where the streets come alive in a blaze of colour and music. Party with the locals and enjoy a warm welcome, whether you’re enjoying an all inclusive party for Cropover, a taste-bud tingling food festival, a thrilling game of polo or international cricket.
As the birthplace of Rum no visit to Barbados is complete without sampling the golden tipple at a historic distillery. And foodies won’t be disappointed, Barbados is known as the Caribbean’s culinary capital with good reason offering everything from beachfront BBQs to fine dining with a uniquely Caribbean twist.
Whether you party till dawn or relax in your beachfront hotel, you and your family will make unforgettable memories on land and water.
Barbados is at the forefront of sustainable and eco-friendly tourism, caring for their forests and looking after their unique wildlife, conserving their oceans and protecting rare species like leatherback and Hawksbill turtles. Paddleboard around the beautiful coastline, dive with rainbow-coloured fish, explore tropical jungle on an island safari or simply relax and let Barbados work its magic. Come and explore Barbados!
Shopping In Barbados. For Every Price Point And Pursuit.
SHOPPING
Barbados offers you a glorious diversity of shopping experiences. Exquisite local craft and international designer brands are all here, and the duty-free shopping makes your favourite label that much more affordable.
Exquisite local crafts and international designer brands are all here…
Barbados offers you a glorious diversity of shopping experiences, and some of the best shopping in the Caribbean. Our island is renowned for duty-free shopping – you can buy expensive jewellery and designer goods with discounts of 30-50% compared with Europe, the USA and other parts of the world. It’s easy to claim your savings – just present your passport and travel documents at the point of sale.
There are many different shops in Barbados. Choose bustling downtown locations such as Broad Street and Swan Street in the centre of Bridgetown, and cheerful suburban shopping centres such as Sheraton Mall and Sky Mall, or even indulge your luxury spending habits all the way up to world-class shopping experiences available in our new Limegrove Lifestyle Centre in Holetown.
For local shopping culture, immerse yourself in some bustling markets. You’ll have to wake up early to join discerning housewives as they select exotic fruit and vegetables at Cheapside Market, and ask for fresh fish to be filleted on the slab at one of our many famous fish markets. There are also several farmers’ markets offering farm-to-fork sustainability and organic produce, along with unique arts and crafts which make perfect gifts and keepsakes to take back home. Barbados is a haven for shoppers – everything is here and priced to entice.
Look What’s On In Barbados. Join Our Festivals & Events.
EVENTS AND FESTIVALS
There’s always something happening year-round in Barbados so add to your Caribbean experience by planning your getaway around your favourite festivals and events.
Barbados holidays can include much more than just beautiful beaches and the great outdoors. This vibrant island plays host to an astonishing array of annual events including world-class sports, music festivals, theatre performances and our much-loved Barbados carnival during the Crop Over harvest festival celebrations – called Grand Kadooment, it’s considered one of the best festivals in the world.
Check what’s on in Barbados before you travel, and make online bookings for popular events such as international cricket test matches at the Kensington Oval, our jam-packed Reggae on the Hill event, and the annual season of outdoor theatre and musical performances hosted in the sublime gardens of Holders Great House. Come and join us!
ISLAND SAFARI
All aboard the Island Safari – one of the most loved and unforgettable visitor excursions in Barbados! Enjoy a day exploring the most beautiful places in the safara rigged Land Rover, capable of comfortably driving both on-road and also in less developed terrain. Prepare to be wowed whilst exploring the hidden wonders of Barbados.
NATIONAL HEROES GALLERY AND MUSEUM OF PARLIAMENT
“Fun and fascinating for all ages”.
The clever use of interactive audio and video along with the exceptional high-quality exhibits make a visit to the Museum of Parliament and the National Heroes Gallery fun for all ages. The Museum of Parliament traces the development of democracy in Barbados since 1629 until present times and the role that the island’s people have played in this growth. This information is housed in the historic West Wing of Parliament, which offers a combination of traditional exhibits, artistic impression and modern interactive museum experience.
The interactive screens strategically positioned give clear explanations to the dramatic, evocative sculptures created by Barbadian and Caribbean artists. The heroes are cleverly depicted by extraordinary icons. These icons, no doubt, give imaginative expression to the qualities, contribution and circumstances of the life of each hero.
This small, state-of-the-art museum is located in the West Wing of the stunning Neo-Gothic Parliament Buildings, which were built entirely of hand-cut and carved local coral limestone in the 1870s.
The enthusiastic staff who run the museum also include guided tours of the hallowed chambers of the Senate and Parliament (once not in session). There is a series of intricate stained glass windows depicting the ruling monarchs from the time of Barbados’ settlement in 1627 to 1870. A beautiful young Queen Victoria stands out over the speaker’s chair and interestingly Oliver Cromwell is also included in the lineup. Treasure the memories of your visit. Discover the history that has laid the foundation for the Barbados that we are so proud of today.
THE RESTAURANT AT THE ANIMAL FLOWER CAVE
The Animal Flower Cave is located at the most northerly point of Barbados in the parish of St.Lucy.
The name “Animal Flower Cave” comes from the sea anemones found in the pools of the cave. Some of these pools are deep enough for you to swim in.
There are also several openings looking out to sea, offering spectacular views!
The walls of the Cave are full of interesting formations which have been coloured green and brown by oxidation of copper and iron.
Be sure to also stop in at the Pirates Tavern bar and restaurant… reportedly serving the best lemonade in Barbados!
The cliffs surrounding the Cave offer spectaular views of the northern coast of Barbados where huge Atlantic waves crash against the cliffs.
There are a number of craft stalls where you can view and purchase the works (including jewellery and clothes) of talented Barbados crafts people.
ANDROMEDA BOTANIC GARDENS
Andromeda Gardens was established by the renowned Iris Bannochie as a private family garden. Previously farmland, Mrs Bannochie created a unique garden from scratch with many trees, palms and other plants collected from her travels across the globe. The variety of plants in this historic garden is unparalleled and simply wonderful – a true horticultural delight. She bequeathed the garden to the Barbados National Trust in 1988 and only organic practices are used in the garden.
Have patience and you will see hummingbirds. Stay late and you’ll see our resident monkeys looking for food, playing or even fighting. Relax by the pond and watch the dragonflies. Feed the fish with your children – always a joy! Children with paying parents are free and your adult ticket gives you and your family unlimited return visits to the gardens for three weeks. After feeding the fish, why not feed yourselves? The café offers simple, but well-executed food – Bajan fish-cakes, sandwiches with home-made bread, organically grown salads (when available) or just treat yourself to a cup of excellent coffee and a slice of cake.
A variety of courses is offered at Andromeda Botanic Gardens. Participate in one of the short workshops. Andromeda is a registered training and assessment centre and has a close working relationship with the University of the West Indies.
Andromeda Botanic Gardens is simply a work of creative genius. Creativity extends to the recently opened Andromeda Gallery Lounge which provides an opportunity for local artists/craftspeople to display and sell their work. Mahogany sculptures, hand-made soaps and perfumes, bags, art and photography are all available at the Gallery Lounge.
Great garden, cool café, creative crafts, life-long learning. Andromeda Botanic Gardens – an amazing garden and so much more!
ADVENTURELAND BARBADOS
For the most enjoyable day of your holiday take our Congaline Adventure Tour. These expeditions will lead you into the interior of the island to view points where the scenery of Barbados’ countryside and rugged coastlines will leave you breathless. Take a walk through Welchman Hall, a natural and protected gully. See Mount Hillaby, the highest point on the island. Make a stop on the East Coast to enjoy a delicious Bajan Buffet lunch served in a unique and unspoilt setting. We promise to show you the heart and soul of Barbados and its people, and why it has come to be known as the “Gem of the Caribbean Sea.”
HUNTE’S GARDENS
Take a relaxing wander through these beautifully landscaped gardens, where antiques and statues mingle with exotic plants, and gentle opera and classical music float in the air. The owner, Anthony Hunte, is one of Barbados’ most colourful characters. If available, he will regale visitors with tales.
OISTINS BAY GARDENS
A seaside city if ever there was one, visitors can find all manner of seafood to partake in. On the South Coast, Oistins was once the major seaport. It was here that Royalist Barbadians grudgingly pledged their allegiance to Oliver Cromwell and his Government in 1652. It is our principal fishing port and the site of a major fish festival. On the weekends at Oistins you can find the best local seafood and local charm with music and craft items for sale.
TIAMI CATAMARAN CRUISES
The Tiami fleet consists of five classy, well-kept catamarans. Each with its own name, Excellence Too, Excellence One, Spirit, Wind Dreamer and, of course, the ever sleek Tiami.
Patrons over and over are captivated by the ambience, describing the experience as, “This is the Life”. With our professional captain and crew, choose from pure relaxation by the smooth sail along the coast in the shade or on the sunny deck. Also you get the opportunity to snorkel with turtles and the different species of fish.
The friendly, upbeat crews are always ready to pamper you and make sure that everyone spends a day with Tiami that’s enjoyable and sure to be a lasting memory.
The buffet lunch leaves you tempted to return for more. Indulge in the variety of drinks offered at the open bar.
After swimming, choose to relax on the deck or party back to shore with the captain’s selection of music.
APES HILL GOLF COURSE
One of the newest championship golf courses in the Caribbean, opened in late 2009, Apes Hill Club enjoys a prime location at almost 1000 feet above sea level in the centre of Barbados. With lush grassland, coral stone quarries, wooded ravines and sparkling lakes, the course is as much in accord with its natural surroundings as it is an exciting challenge for golfers.
ARLINGTON HOUSE MUSEUM
Arlington House is an educational and engaging three-story museum housed in a restored eighteenth century building.Housed in a restored eighteenth century building in Speightstown, St. Peter, Arlington House is an interactive three-story museum that is both educational and engaging.
ATLANTIS SUBMARINES
Experience the award-winning Atlantis submarine tour which is one of the most highly-recommended attractions in Barbados for adults and children (Min height 3 feet.). On the hour we invite you to board our transfer vessel the Ocean Quest, which will take you to the submarine.
Sit back and enjoy the brief boat ride to the Atlantis dive site along the scenic coastline, as the professional crew welcomes you and gives a safety briefing. The vessels tie up alongside each other and you make the easy transfer from the Ocean Quest to the Atlantis Submarine. After securing the hatches and being seated in the air-conditioned comfort of a real submarine, the call is made to: “Dive! Dive! Dive!” You are now fully submerged in the aquamarine Caribbean Sea with large viewports all around, as curious exotic fish peek in at you and sea fans sway.
This unique “must-do” undersea voyage, can take you to a shipwreck and to depths of 150 feet, which in the past has been reserved only for scuba divers. A knowledgeable co-pilot narrates the 40 minute underwater adventure and will help you to identify the amazing sights on the other side of your window. Before returning to the surface, you explore the large expanses of sea floor as if it is your playground. Create amazing unforgettable memories as you are piloted among an array of colourful coral formations, and tropical marine life. On surfacing, you are transferred back onboard the Ocean Quest for the return to Shallow Draught.
BARBADOS EARTHWORKS POTTERY
Who would have thought that a small art studio doing ‘one-off’ whimsical clay works would grow into a thriving production pottery with a world-wide reputation for quality and innovative design? But this continues to be what makes Earthworks – “No Ordinary Pottery!” We produce fully functional lines of dinnerware and serving pieces mainly, in over 150 shapes and 36 patterns. When visiting Barbados, seeing Earthworks is perhaps the best value entertainment that one can possibly undertake to enjoy. Whether it is a simple trinket or small gift(s), or perhaps a dinner service, Earthworks makes some of the finest quality, most attractive, functional art in the Caribbean!
Discover The Birthplace Of Rum. Our Barbadian Heritage.
BIRTHPLACE OF RUM
Your Barbados experience is incomplete until you’ve sampled our oldest and greatest export, rum. Discover the story, the mysteries and the secrets behind our finest and most celebrated spirit. Make sure to book a Barbados rum tour – you’ll be glad you made the journey from beach to bottle.
…home to the oldest distilled spirit in the world – rum.
Barbados is considered the birthplace of rum, and Mount Gay distillery – founded in 1703 – is believed to produce the oldest rum found anywhere in the world. Today’s connoisseurs always appreciate a gift bottle of Mount Gay Rum Extra Old. Rum is the essence of this Caribbean nation’s culture. It ignites the gossip in our bars and sometimes even binds our business deals. It is celebrated by every sector of our society, from farm workers to property tycoons. Barbados rum is the best rum in the world and it’s the spirit of our island culture and history.
So just say yes to that first rum punch, and you’ll soon ease into the spirit of island life. As the saying goes, time flies when you’re having rum.
More Than Food. Make Memories Dining In Barbados.
CULINARY
Memories are made as we gather our loved ones and friends around the table to share a meal. Your Barbados travel experience will include some truly special meal-time moments to treasure forever. You’re on holiday so try everything – locally caught fish, home-grown grass-fed meats, sweet plantains, rice and peas, tasty West Indian curries and rotis. Explore our delicious Caribbean cuisine.
Wake up to a Barbados menu of freshly prepared tropic fruits and juices, omelettes with your choice of filling, delicious homemade breads and pastries. Lunch and dinner can be as formal or as laid-back as you like. On this small island, we have amazing restaurants and cafés to suit every need, serving familiar international dishes and Caribbean food. Staggeringly beautiful top-notch restaurants perched on clifftops above the sea include The Cliff, Cin Cin and The Animal Flower Cave Restaurant. Beachfront shacks where the dress code is swimsuits and bare feet include Bombas, Bo’s Plaice and JuJus.
Great food in Barbados is also served in fine hotel dining rooms and waterside restaurants, bijou cafés tucked away in shaded shopping malls, and of course our famous rum shops and outdoor pop-up caterers – pick the one with the longest queue (the locals know who cooks the best!). Also for those ‘need-it-now’ moments, kids and snackers will find food served island-wide 24-hours a day. Bon appetite!
NATURE & WILDLIFE
In Barbados, our country’s mild, subtropical weather has nourished a fascinating array of flora and fauna, and nurtured lush gardens that are the most varied in the world.
And to enjoy it all, one can simply take a hike along an inland trail or down a coastal pathway, laugh at the antics of a mischievous green monkey in a gully or the wildlife reserve, or just unwind in one of the numerous parks created to help sustain the island’s incredible natural beauty.
Creative art and craft in Barbados captures the heritage and spirit of the Caribbean
ARTS & CRAFTS
Explore the arts and crafts shops of Barbados and enjoy a world of bespoke tropical island art made with love and skill.
Every corner of Barbados is packed with hardworking and naturally talented craftspeople, busy creating the kind of traditional handmade arts and crafts that you won’t be able to resist taking back home with you. From centuries old Bajan objects to international artistic work, you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for in the most creative corner of the Caribbean. Take your time choosing between exquisite pieces of cloth painting, fine arts, pottery and basket weaving. No matter what takes your fancy you can rest assured you’ll be enjoying an example of the new generation of artisans utilizing skills passed on through the ages. Barbados encourages the creativity of its shops and galleries by organizing festivals like NIFCA and CARIFESTA.
The key to the appeal of Barbados artwork is that it combines professional production methods with authentic working practices to create bespoke and unique items which are bound to appeal to visitors. If you’re looking for distinctive vases, sculptures and fine pottery then pay a visit to Chalky Mount Potteries on the east coast of the island. The items you’ll find there have been crafted using the clay which is found naturally occurring in deposits across Barbados. For the best in traditional basket weaving explore the items on offer at the Pelican Crafts Village, one of the largest and most important outlets of its kind in the whole of the Caribbean. If hand carved wood is your idea of appealing art, then make sure you sample the delightful birds, fishes, palm trees and much more besides at the Medford Mahogany and Craft Village. Whatever you choose, you’ll enjoy the chance to take home a memory of Barbados to admire for years to come.
As with most things on Barbados, the excitement of the arts and crafts scene is as much about the people as the products. While you’re browsing, you can get to know the local artisans and hear the fascinating stories behind the work they do. It’s an experience you’ll treasure and one you’ll recall every time you stop to admire your Bajan crafted item.
HISTORIC ARCHITECTURE
Barbados combines visually stunning buildings with the chance to learn about the famous historical architects behind them
The island of Barbados is packed with more stunning historical architectural buildings than anywhere else in the Caribbean. In years gone by, buildings were constructed from coral rather than wood, a natural resource which was popular on the islands.
Take a look around Barbados and you’ll stumble across historical architectural styles gracing the imposing and unique great houses, some of which date back as far as the early 17th century. Plantation Houses such as these showcase Caribbean colonial architecture which dates from the British influence of the Georgian and Jacobean eras. If historical sightseeing has drawn you to Barbados, then waste no time heading for the museums, old towns and traditional villages.
Combining uniquely Caribbean charm with a genuine glimpse into the past, these sites are also home to statues, monuments and fascinating landmarks. The Garrison, located in the Barbados capital of Bridgetown, is a Unesco World heritage site, and the Barbados National trust, as well as private patrons, has been heavily involved in restoring the examples of historical architectural styles to their former glory.
Of course, Barbados is now home to modern buildings, infrastructure and architecture, but the locals are in no hurry to sweep the past aside. Modern buildings offer the facilities visitors rely upon, but do so in a way which is sympathetic to the colonial architecture surrounding them. A historic sightseeing tour of this part of the Caribbean is a treat packed with secret treasures, timeless sites and local charm.
