Footprint Barbados n Extensive coverage of the most famous and lesser-known sites, from the elegant Platinum Coast and vibrant Bridgetown to the wild and untamed cliffs of the east coast Barbados 1 n Expert author Sarah Cameron knows the W I I region inside out, having travelled throughout S N L D A W N the Caribbean for over two decades A D R S D n Inspirational colour section and detailed maps to help you plan your trip BARBADOS n Authoritative advice and recommendations to ensure you find the best accommodation, restaurant or tour operator n Comprehensive information to immerse you in Barbados’s colonial history and lively culture n Footprint have built on years of experience to become the experts on the Caribbean ‘Footprint is the best – engagingly written, comprehensive, honest and bang on the ball.’ THE SUNDAY TIMES Travel: Caribbean UK £7.99 Footprint Handbook 2nd edition USA $12.99 ISBN 978 1 910120 55 2 Barbados footprinttravelguides.com SARAH CAMERON Planning your trip. .2 Bridgetown . 30 Central Bridgetown . 31 Garrison Historic Area . 36 Around Bridgetown . 39 West coast . 42 Bridgetown to Holetown . 43 Holetown. 45 East of Holetown. 48 Speightstown. 51 North coast. 53 Along the north coast . 54 Inland from the north coast. 55 East coast . 59 Along the east coast. 60 South coast . 64 Beaches to the east of Six Cross Roads 65 The southeast coast . 68 Listings . 71 Background . 88 Practicalities . 98 Index . 109 Footprint Handbook Barbados SARAH CAMERON Barbados Tourism and Barbados go together like rum and coke or flying fish and chips. You can pay thousands of dollars to be truly cosseted along with music moguls and supermodels, or you can cater for yourself and go shopping with Bajans. The west coast is the place to be seen, commonly referred to as the Platinum Coast. The south is for beach life, night life, fun and games, the package holiday end of the market with a cheerful, relaxed atmosphere and the best sand. The east is wild and untamed, a world apart, where the Atlantic crashes into cliffs, eroding the coastline and creating beaches of a rare beauty. Head to the hills inland to explore relics of colonial days such as plantation houses, signal towers, tropical gardens, museums and rum distilleries. Of all the islands in the eastern Caribbean, Barbados is unique in that it remained British throughout its colonial history, without being passed from one European master to another. The island is divided into 11 parishes named after 10 saints, Christ Church being the 11th. Many parish churches are impressive buildings. Towns have the charming English seaside resort names of Hastings, Brighton or Dover and it was often referred to as Little England, not always as a compliment. Since independence in 1966 the country has moved closer in cultural terms to North America while also pursuing its African roots. Drum music, banned by colonial masters to prevent slave rebellions, and ‘tuk’ bands are an essential part of carnival processions. Calypso, soca and pan music are a centre piece of Crop Over, the boisterous festival celebrating the end of the sugar harvest. However, some habits die hard. You can still go to a polo match and be offered tea and cucumber sandwiches, or watch Sunday cricket on the village green. A Test Match at the Kensington Oval, though, is a sight to behold – an example of how an English sport has been turned into pure Afro-Caribbean pageantry. Sarah Cameron Animal Flower Archer's Cave North Pt Bay Stroud Pt The Spout Miami River Bay Greenidge Spring Little Bay 1C Garden Pie Cuckold Point Corner A St Lucy St Clements Paul's Point t Maycocks Parish Church l Bay Mount Gay a Rum Distillery Gay's Cove n Cuba Nessfield Pico Teneriffe t Fustic Alexandra i Boscobelle c Half Moon O Dominican Grenade Hall The Choyce c Fort 1B Forest & Signal St NicholasAbbey/ e Haiti Republic Station & Cherry Tree Hill a 1 Barbados n Puerto Little Wildlife 4 Rose Hill Reserve Morgan Green Pond Good Harbour Farley Hill Lewis Sugar Rico Six Men's Port St National Park Mill Bay Charles Long Pond Belleplaine Speightstown Benab Barclays Mullins Park Barbados Bay Turners Hall Chalky Woods Mount 3 Cattlewash Gibbs Sion Hill Bay Mose Bottom Bathsheba Springvale Eco- 5 Heritage Museum Tent Bay Three Alleynes Bay Boys Rock Flower 3 Horse St Endeavour Congor Mt Hillaby Forest Hill Andromeda Martins 3A Cotton Gardens Rocks Tower Bay Folkestone Welchman Huntes St James Hall Gully 2 Newcastle Underwater Park Parish Church Gardens Bath & Marine Reserve Sir Frank Hutson Welchman Conset Portvale Sugar Machinery Bay Sugar Museum Hall Harrisons St Johns Factory Cave Codrington Holetown College Parris Hill 3B Coach Bell Pt Sunset Crest Hill 2 Four East Point 3 Orchid Cross Lighthouse Ragged Pt Holders World Sandy Roads Lane Bay Stewart Hill Marley Thorpes Belair Vale 4 Paynes Bay Drax Hall 1 Jackson Newbury Plantation Fitts Village Gun Hill 6 Signal Station Cottage Vale Bottom Bay Fresh A Robinsons d St George Water Paradise S a p m Parish Church Sam Lords Bay Beach r s i Castle n B a Sunbury g Tyrol r Turnpike ro Plantation Cockspur Beach Club & G Cot w Six Cross Long Bay a C West Indies Rum Distillery r National u Roads d m e Stadium m Brereton Brighton Beach n in W Rouen s South ( The Crane Brandons Beach a A District 5 Foursquare Rum Factory y B The Horse C & Heritage Park ) H w Crane Bay Banks Wildey y Olympus Fairview Brewery Aquatic Theatres 6 Foul Bay Bridgetown Centre Multiplex Clapham Harry Sir Garfield Sobers Sports Complex Carlisle Bay Garrison Bayley Observatory 1 Graeme Hall Newton Nedham's Pt Nature Sanctuary Mallalieu Motor Salt Collection Dover Cave Pt Maxwell 7 Oistins HastingsRockley 7 Long N Worthing Bay Oistins Rockley/Accra Beach Dover Beach Bay St Lawrence Gap Enterprise Inch Marlowe Point South Point 2 km 2 miles 6 • 6 Bottom Bay Tucked away on the south coast, Bottom Animal Flower Archer's Cave North Pt Bay is the ultimate tropical beach: a Bay Stroud Pt The Spout Miami wide expanse of soft pink sand backed River Bay Greenidge with swaying coconut palms and gently Spring Little Bay 1C Garden lapped by turquoise water. From the high Pie Cuckold Point Corner A St Lucy St Clements Paul's Point t coral cliffs behind the beach there's a Maycocks Parish Church l Bay Mount Gay a Gay's Cove Cuba Rum Distillery n panoramic view of the south coast and, Nessfield Pico Teneriffe t Fustic Alexandra i Boscobelle c if you’re lucky, you might spot a turtle or Half Moon O Dominican Grenade Hall The Choyce c a whale offshore. Page 65. Fort 1B Forest & Signal St NicholasAbbey/ e Haiti Republic Station & Cherry Tree Hill a 1 Barbados n Puerto Little Wildlife 4 Rose Hill Reserve Morgan Green Pond 7 Good Harbour Farley Hill Lewis Sugar Rico Oistins Friday Fish Fry Six Men's Port St National Park Mill Bay Charles Long Pond Friday night in Oistins is the island’s biggest Belleplaine Speightstown party. Join the locals as they gather at Benab Barclays the bustling seaside fish market with live Mullins Park Barbados Bay Turners Hall Chalky Woods Mount 3 entertainment, street vendors, crafts and Cattlewash Gibbs Sion Hill traditional food. Jostle with the crowds Bay Mose Bottom Bathsheba Springvale Eco- 5 and dance the night away with some Heritage Museum Tent Bay Three Alleynes Bay Boys Rock Flower 3 Horse St barbecued flying fish in one hand and a Endeavour Congor Mt Hillaby Forest Hill Andromeda Martins 3A Cotton Gardens Rocks Tower Bay Folkestone Welchman Huntes potent rum punch in the other. Page 68. St James Hall Gully 2 Newcastle Underwater Park Parish Church Gardens Bath & Marine Reserve Sir Frank Hutson Welchman Conset Portvale Sugar Machinery Bay Sugar Museum Hall Harrisons St Johns Factory Cave Codrington Holetown College Parris Hill 3B Coach Bell Pt Sunset Crest Hill 2 Four East Point 3 Orchid Cross Lighthouse Ragged Pt Holders World Sandy Roads Lane Bay Stewart Hill Marley Thorpes Belair Vale 4 Paynes Bay Drax Hall 1 Jackson Newbury Plantation Fitts Village Gun Hill 6 Signal Station Cottage Vale Bottom Bay Fresh A Robinsons d St George Water Paradise S a p m Parish Church Sam Lords Bay Beach r s i Castle n B a Sunbury g Tyrol r Turnpike ro Plantation Cockspur Beach Club & G Cot w Six Cross Long Bay a C West Indies Rum Distillery r National u Roads d m e Stadium m Brereton Brighton Beach n in W Rouen s South ( The Crane Brandons Beach a A District 5 Foursquare Rum Factory y B The Horse C & Heritage Park ) H w Crane Bay Banks Wildey y Olympus Fairview Brewery Aquatic Theatres 6 Foul Bay Bridgetown Centre Multiplex Clapham Harry Sir Garfield Sobers Sports Complex Carlisle Bay Garrison Bayley Observatory 1 Graeme Hall Newton Nedham's Pt Nature Sanctuary Mallalieu Motor Salt Collection Dover Cave Pt Maxwell 7 Oistins HastingsRockley 7 Long N Worthing Bay Oistins Rockley/Accra Beach Dover Beach Bay St Lawrence Gap Enterprise Inch Marlowe Point South Point 2 km 2 miles • 7 When to go BACKGROUND The island Barbados is 21 miles long and 14 miles wide, lying east of the main chain of When the Leeward and Windward islands. Most of the island is covered by a cap of coral limestone, up to 600,000 years old. Several steep inland cliffs or ridges run parallel to the coast. These are the remains of old shorelines, which to go formed as the island gradually emerged from the sea.