15 amazing things to do in Barbados, from hiking in the hills to submarine adventures
Should you want a change of scene from the beach or pool, or the weather's not great, Barbados packs in an impressive amount to see and do for a compact island just a little larger than the Isle of Wight. In terms of sightseeing, highlights include the historic Garrison area, atmospheric plantation houses and wonderful botanical gardens. As for things to do, you should consider joining locals on a guided walk in the island's rolling interior, and – particularly if travelling with children – touring subterranean caves, swimming with turtles or going on an underwater adventure.
Bridgetown
Have a wander around Barbados' capital
Many holidaymakers to Barbados ignore Bridgetown, but the island's bustling capital is well worth exploring on foot for a couple of hours. Browse the shops on Broad Street, stroll along the atmospheric shopping thoroughfare of Swan Street, and pop into St Mary's Church and St Michael's Cathedral – both lovely Georgian edifices. The parliament buildings are a must, as is the Nidhe Israel Synagogue (which dates from 1654) and its impressively thorough museum.
Insider's tip: The Exchange Interactive Center is a small but well-presented new museum dedicated to the development of commerce on Barbados, especially the trade in sugar. There's also an exhibition on freemasonry: the building was a freemasons' grand lodge.
Contact: Nidhe Israel Synagogue: 00 1 246 436 6869; synagoguehistoricdistrict.com. Exchange Interactive Center: 00 1 246 227 8148; facebook.com
Price: Museums, £
Learn about Barbados' parliament
Barbados' parliament was established as long ago as 1639, but the handsome, neo-Gothic Parliament Buildings in the centre of Bridgetown date from the 1870s. In the Museum of Parliament, you can learn about the island's road to self-government – achieved in 1966 – and the country's heroes, from Bussa, an African-born slave who led a rebellion against the British colonists in 1816, to the cricketer Sir Garfield Sobers.
Insider's tip: When parliament is not sitting, you may be able to take a 20-minute guided tour of the parliament chambers, where stained-glass windows of British monarchs and Oliver Cromwell observe proceedings.
Contact: 00 1 246 310 5400; barbadosparliament.com
Price: £
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Get an insight into Barbados' colonial military history
The Garrison was the Caribbean's largest British military establishment in colonial times, and the 150-acre complex is now a Unesco World Heritage Site. Take in the landmark clock tower at the Main Guard building and the flag-flying monument commemorating the 50th anniversary of Barbados' independence in 1966. Then visit the beautifully restored George Washington House, where the first US president stayed with his sick half-brother in 1751.
Insider's tip: Take a guided tour through the subterranean tunnel near the entrance to the George Washington House. Two miles of these tunnels lie beneath the Garrison. They were created for drainage, but also probably served as escape routes in the event of an attack.
Contact: 00 1 246 233 2601; barbadosgarrison.net
Price: Access, free; guided tours, £££; George Washington House and tunnel, ££
Have a day at the races
Horse racing has taken place at the Garrison Savannah since 1845. The scenic track forms an oval ring around the edge of what used to be the garrison's military parade ground – it's now a grassy sward with rugby and football pitches. A tropically informal atmosphere pervades most race meetings, with locals perched on the old cannons downing rum and cokes and sucking on snow cones.
Insider's tip: If you want a prime view of the final furlongs, pay a modest fee to access the grandstand. Alternatively, you can watch proceedings free from the course's perimeter rail, from where you can still access betting booths.
Contact: barbadosturfclub.org
Price: Free
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Venture into the depths
If you're not in to diving or snorkelling or have young children, a thrilling alternative is a trip with Atlantis Submarines. Its 48-seater craft descends 150ft to the ocean bed, and traverses a colourful coral reef teeming with tropical fish such as blue tang, lionfish, chromis and yellowtail snapper. As you peer through your porthole, you might also spot turtles. Though the whole experience lasts 90 minutes, you are in the sub for only half that time.
Insider's tip: Tours are expensive, but there are often discounts. Children under 17 pay a reduced rate; there is no set minimum age, but for safety reasons a minimum height requirement of three feet applies.
Contact: 00 1 246 436 8929; barbados.atlantissubmarines.com
Price: £££
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Swim with turtles
Green and hawksbill turtles populate the waters off Barbados, and in the calm sea off the west coast you can snorkel so close to the creatures it can be hard not to accidentally touch their tawny shells as they glide gracefully around. The turtles congregate in particular spots such as Carlisle Bay and Six Men's Bay (north of Speightstown), knowing they will be fed titbits from visiting boats.
Insider's tip: Catamaran cruises stop to swim with turtles, but you'll be in the water with dozens of other people. For a more personal experience, book a private outing with a local boatman through your hotel – it's likely to cost no more than a catamaran cruise.
Contact: Cool Runnings Catamaran Sailing Cruises: 00 1 246 436 0911; coolrunningsbarbados.com
Price: £££
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North
Explore a plantation house and estate
At St Nicholas Abbey you can tour the atmospheric ground-floor rooms of one of the Caribbean's few surviving Jacobean houses, which dates from 1658. The estate has lots else to see too, including a riveting home movie of colonial life in Barbados in the 1930s shot by the estate's owner at the time, a smart rum distillery (tastings and purchases possible) and from January to May an operational cane-crushing steam mill.
Insider's tip: If visiting with young children, consider going for a ride on St Nicholas Abbey's new heritage railway. You're taken on a mile-long route through the estate's grounds in carriages pulled by a 1914 steam train.
Contact: 00 1 246 422 8725; stnicholasabbey.com
Price: £££
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Potter around Speightstown
A busy port in colonial times servicing the island's northern plantations, Speightstown is now a sleepy backwater, and as such is Barbados' most enjoyable town. The Arlington House Museum, to be found in an 18th-century house on the main street, does an excellent job in bringing to life the town's past importance, and shedding light on what life was like for slaves and their owners on the island's plantations.
Insider's tip: Bring your swimming gear. Speightstown has an appealing 150-yard-long beach that is backed by a string of inviting little beach bars and restaurants.
Contact: Arlington House Museum: 00 1 246 422 4064; barbadosnationaltrust.org
Price: ££
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Descend into photogenic caves
The Animal Flower Cave sits at Barbados' most northerly point. From the rugged clifftops, views unfurl out in to the Atlantic swell, and passing humpback whales are sometimes sighted from February to April. Guides take visitors down a steep steps into a set of impressive caverns; you need to be fairly sure on your feet. You might see sea anemones (hence the attraction's name), and, conditions permitting, you can bathe safely in a natural pool at the cave's mouth.
Insider's tip: Time your visit to coincide with lunch. There's a good café/restaurant on the clifftop, offering traditional Bajan dishes such as flying fish and cheese sandwiches, fish cakes and pickled seacat (octopus).
Contact: 00 1 246 439 8987; animalflowercave.com
Price: £
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Centre
Take a free group hike
Every Sunday dozens of Barbardians gather somewhere on the island for a sociable, three-hour group hike; visitors are made extremely welcome. The hikes are led but not guided, and explore different corners of the island that you might not otherwise visit. One day you might pass through sugar cane fields and alongside old mills and plantation houses; on another you could walk along part of the dramatic east coast.
Insider's tip: Before setting off, you choose what grade of group you want to hike with. Options range from gentle (Stop 'n Stare) to taxing (Grin 'n Bear). Given the heat (bring hat, suncream and water), unless you're very fit consider opting for a slower-paced group.
Contact: facebook.com
Price: Free
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Go farm to table
For centuries, much of Barbados' agricultural land has been given over to sugar cane cultivation. PEG Farm is at the forefront of diversifying from this monoculture. Spread over 108 acres, the biodynamic farm includes free-range animals (cows, pigs, chickens), a kitchen garden and orchard, medicinal plant sanctuary and wild gully. You can wander around on your own – don't miss Hackleton's Cliff, a superb viewpoint over the east coast – or take an informative guided walking tour (advance booking required).
Insider's tip: PEG's Chrysalis Café is worth a visit in its own right. The open-air structure has panoramic views over the farmland, and serves delicious juices, cakes and lunchtime dishes, using produce from the farm.
Contact: 00 1 246 433 9806; pegbarbados.com
Price: £-£££
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Enjoy Barbados' most memorable botanic garden
Hunte's Gardens is not your run-of-the-mill botanic garden. Spread over two acres, it has been planted in a wide and deep sink hole formed by a collapsed cave. It's now full of lush vegetation, and you descend from the entrance into a magical botanical world of soaring cabbage palms and rare heliconias, with frequent benches placed along the winding paths for you to stop and breath in the fragrant air. Classical and operatic music fills the serene air, and quirky statues – a Buddha here, a pineapple there – are dotted around the foliage.
Insider's tip: The gardens' engaging founder, Anthony Hunte, is likely to be there, entertaining guests with stories about his life, the garden and Barbados. You can have drinks on the verandah of his lovely home.
Contact: 00 1 246 433 3333; huntesgardens-barbados.com
Price: ££
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Tour underground caves and a forested ravine
Harrison's Cave is a 1.5-mile system of impressive, underground limestone caverns, containing eery stalactite and stalagmite formations, glassy lakes, streams and waterfalls. Most visitors take one of the regularly departing hour-long guided tours on electric trams (no need to book), but there are also adventurous and physically demanding trips that require walking – and sometimes crawling – through the cave's inner passages (reservations required).
Insider's tip: A short drive away lies Welchman Hall Gully. This deep ravine, formed long ago by collapsed caves, is filled with a tropical forest of palms, bamboo, and mahogany, fustic, sandalwood and baobab trees.
Contact: Harrison's Cave: 00 1 246 417 3700; harrisonscave.com. Welchman Hall Gully: 00 1 246 438 6671; welchmanhallgullybarbados.com
Price: Harrison's Cave, £££; Welchman Hall Gully, ££
East coast
Soak up the east coast
The east coast is Barbados' spectacular, undeveloped littoral, pummelled by rolling Atlantic breakers. The must-see spot is Bathsheba. Its highlights include a beach with striking rock formations, and Andromeda Botanic Gardens, where brick paths meander around six acres of serene, well-labelled grounds – look out for the vast Bearded Fig Tree with its aerial roots. Good food awaits down the hill at the Atlantic Hotel.
Insider's tip: Andromeda Gardens are a good place to spot green monkeys, especially late in the afternoon. Thousands of the primates – descendants of those brought over from Senegal and the Gambia during the colonial era – live wild on Barbados.
Contact: Andromeda Botanic Gardens: 00 1 246 433 9384; barbadosnationaltrust.org
Price: ££
South
Discover the island's colonial past
Sunbury Plantation Great House dates back to 1660. You can tour all the rooms independently or with a guide, which are elegantly furnished with antique mahogany tables, rocking chairs, four-poster beds, chamber pots and much else besides. Note, however, that the only furniture that is original to the house is in the planter's office – the rest was lost in a disastrous fire in 1995. The cellars hold an impressive collection of old carriages.
Insider's tip: Consider timing your visit so you can have lunch here. The house's restaurant lays on expansive buffets most days that feature a wide selection of Bajan dishes. There's also a pleasant courtyard bar.
Contact: 00 1 246 423 6270; sunburyplantation.com
Price: ££
