Travel Information
Culture
Literature: Two Barbadian writers whose work has had great influence throughout the Caribbean are the novelist George Lamming and the poet Edward Kamau Brathwaite. Lamming’s first novel, In The Castle Of My Skin (1953), a part-autobiographical story of growing up in colonial Barbados, deals with one of the major concerns of anglophone writers: how to define...Advertisement
The West Coast
The mass development of the west coast was carried out only recently. The beaches are easily eroded and can be covered with broken coral after storms. Pre-war, the area was regarded by the local Bajans as unhealthy. They preferred to go for their holidays to the east coast. Nowadays, the road north of Bridgetown on Highway 1 is wall to wall hotels. Highway...Southeast Coast
The area around Six Cross Roads was where the Easter Rebellion of 1816 took place (see Easter). You can visit one of the great houses (Oughterson Plantation House is no longer in operation). Sunbury Plantation Turn north at Six Cross Roads for Sunbury Plantation. Some 300 years old, the house is elegantly furnished in Georgian style, much of it with...The South Coast
Oistins Oistins, the main town in the parish of Christ Church, was named after Edward Oistine, a plantation owner in the area. It was important in colonial times as the place where the ‘Charter of Barbados’ was signed in 1652, giving the island to the Commonwealth Parliament. It is now the main fishing port. Christ Church parish church overlooks the town...The Scotland District
St Nicholas Abbey Just to the northwest is St Nicholas Abbey which is approached down a long and impressive avenue of mahogany trees. Dating from around 1660, it is one of the oldest domestic buildings in the English-speaking Americas (Drax Hall, St George, open occasionally under the National Trust Open House programme, is probably even older). Three...The Garrison Area
Cross the Careenage by the Charles Duncan O’Neale Bridge (one of the bus terminals and market area are just to the west) and follow Bay St around the curve of Carlisle Bay. You will pass St Patrick’s Cathedral (Roman Catholic), the main government offices with St Michael’s Hospital behind it before reaching the historic Garrison area. From here you can...The Centre
Northeast of Holetown and reached from St Simon’s Church are Turners Hall Woods, a good vantage point. It is thought that the wood has changed little to that which covered the island before the English arrived. The 50-acre patch of tropical mesophytic forest has never been clear-felled (although individual trees were often taken out). You can walk over the...The Atlantic Parishes
The five-mile East Coast Rd, opened by Queen Elizabeth on 15 February 1966 affords fine views. From Belleplaine, where the railway ended, it skirts Walker’s Savannah to the coast at Long Pond and heads southeast to Benab, where there is Barclays Park, a good place to stop for a picnic under the shady casuarina trees. A walk up Chalky Mount has been...St Lucy
The road north of Speightstown is mercifully free of buildings and there is a good sandy beach on Six Men’s Bay. Go through Littlegood Harbour and notice the boat building on the beach. The jetty you can see is at Harrison Point. You are now entering the unspoilt (apart from Arawak Cement Plant) parish of St Lucy. Almost any of the roads off Highway 1b will...Bridgetown
The capital, Bridgetown, is on the southwest corner of the island. The city itself covers a fairly small area. It is busy and full of life. There are no really large buildings except Tom Adams Financial Centre, which houses the central bank. The suburbs sprawl most of the way along the south and west coasts, and quite a long way inland. Many of the suburban...Tourist Information
Embassies & Consulates: Australian High Commission Bishop’s Court Hill T4352834 Belgian Consulate Rockley Resort T4357704 Brazilian Embassy 3rd Floor, Sunjet House, Fairchild St T4271735. British High Commission Lower Collymore Rock St Michael, PO Box 676 T4307800 , F4307826. Canadian High Commission Bishop’s Court Hill, St Michael T4293550. Colombian...Communication
Telephone Services: Calls from a pay phone cost 25 cents for three minutes. Otherwise local calls are free. Many business places will allow you to use their telephone for local calls. International calls can be made from most hotels or (more cheaply) from Barbados External Telecommunications (Wildey). Faxes can also be sent from and received at BET’s office...Getting Around
Air Helicopters: For those who want to make a lot of noise buzzing around the island, Bajan Helicopters do tours from US$75 per 20 minutes, US$125 per 30 minutes right round the coastline. The heliport is near the deep water harbour at Bridgetown, T4310069. Land Car: The island is fairly small but it can take a surprisingly long time to travel as the rural...Getting There
Air 1. From North America: BWIA and American Airlines fly from New York, Washington DC and Miami daily; Air Jamaica flies from New York and Baltimore; Air Canada flies from Montréal and Toronto. BWIA also flies from Toronto. 2. From Europe: British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and BWIA have several flights a week from London. Concorde has a scheduled service in...Before Travelling
Documents: Visitors from North America, Western Europe, Commonwealth African countries, Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia, and Brazil need a passport but no visas. Visitors from most other countries are usually granted a short stay on arrival, and tourist visas are not necessary. Officially, you must have a ticket back to your country of origin as well as an...Ads