Barbados & Antigua: Caribbean Jewels

A morning on foot through English Harbour, ending at Nelson’s Dockyard, one of the few Georgian-era naval dockyards still in working use anywhere in the world. Yachts moor here today where warships once did, and the old boathouses and cordage buildings have been restored rather than replaced.

Lunch is at one of the harborfront restaurants that have grown up around the marina, before an afternoon left free for the beach back at the hotel.

Evenings on Antigua tend toward the quiet; most people are back at their resort well before the island’s small nightlife scene gets going.

A driving tour up the island’s less-visited north coast, taking in Fort Barrington and Fort James, both built to guard the approach to St John’s harbor and both offering views back across the water that the original garrisons would have used for exactly that purpose.

The afternoon turns toward the beach; Antigua’s coastline changes character every few miles, and today’s stretch is quieter than most, worth the extra drive to reach.

Dinner back at the hotel or a short drive into English Harbour for something livelier.

A short flight crosses to Barbuda, Antigua’s sister island, low-lying and largely undeveloped compared to its neighbor. The main draw is the pink-sand beach on the island’s west coast, miles of it with almost no development along the shoreline.

A boat trip through the lagoon reaches the Frigate Bird Sanctuary, one of the largest colonies of the species in the world, with thousands of birds nesting in the mangroves during the breeding season.

Return to Antigua by early evening, in time for dinner back at the hotel.

A quieter day by design, mornings are left free for the beach or the pool, since today ends later than most.

Shirley Heights, a former military lookout above English Harbour, is the destination for the evening, timed to catch the sunset over the harbor from the same vantage point once used to watch for approaching ships. On Sundays this becomes something of a local institution, with steel pans and barbecue drawing both visitors and Antiguans alike.

This is the last night in Antigua. Tomorrow moves on to Barbados.

A short flight this morning trades Antigua’s beaches for Barbados’s working coastline. There is no need to rush; the flight itself is brief.

The Sandpiper, on Barbados’s west coast, is the base for the remaining five nights, chosen for its position within easy reach of both Bridgetown and the island’s calmer western beaches.

The afternoon is left free to settle in, with dinner at the hotel to close out the first day on the island.

A drive across the island to Bathsheba, on Barbados’s Atlantic-facing east coast, where the water turns rougher and the coastline more dramatic than the calm west side seen so far. This stretch draws surfers from across the Caribbean, and watching from the cliffs above is as much the point as the water itself.

Lunch is at a small local spot overlooking the coast before the return drive back to the hotel.

The evening is free; most people are ready for an early night after a full day on the road.

An easier day, built around food rather than sightseeing. Oistins, on the island’s south coast, is best known for its Friday fish fry, but the fish market and surrounding stalls are worth a visit any day of the week.

The national dish, cou cou and flying fish, makes an appearance today, along with rum-based cocktails that are as much a part of the meal as the food itself.

The rest of the afternoon is free, for the beach or simply resting up.

A day built around Barbados’s oldest export. A morning tasting at Mount Gay, the world’s oldest rum distillery still in continuous production, followed by a drive north to St. Nicholas Abbey, a working plantation house and distillery dating to the 1650s.

Lunch is on the Abbey’s grounds, with the afternoon left open before a final dinner on the island.

This is the last night on Barbados.