• Friday 20th January 2023 - London to Barbados

Our direct flight was at 10.45am from London Heathrow Terminal 3 to Bridgetown, Barbados, landing at 15.30 local time.

We hired a car picked at the airport for the duration of the trip, handing it back on Saturday the 28th January at 8pm. The car rental company kindly upgraded us to a larger car.

The car rental company we used is Soutescar.

Hiring a car is not an absolute necessity and the decision should be based on your budget and programme of visits and activities – there is a decent network of public and private buses as well as a lot of taxis. We are keen on our freedom and like to wander around with a few targets for the day rather than a minute by minute plan (and we can’t spend all day on the beach etc.) so a car is a must for us.

The driving is relatively easy in Barbados (definitely easier than in London nowadays!); the drivers are quite polite and would usually let you pass at stops, or expect you to let them pass and thank you with a sharp honk!

There is only one motorway from north to south passing by Bridgetown but the closer to its extremities the lesser it looks like a motorway to finally linger on as a normal main road. The quality of the main roads is okay but the more remote and less use the road is the smaller and least maintain it will be, though always tarmac from what we experienced going to the places detailed below.

There is not a great deal of signs for directions apart on the main roads and sometimes the directional signs or private signs for a specific activity/place could be so far ahead from the place it would not really help (as they are not consistent enough along the way). We ended using google map from our phone most of the time for remote visits while ultimately we knew quite well the ways locally.

 Once we collected the car for the week, we then drove from the airport to the location of the AirBnB (‘Rosemary Cottage’ by Dover, in Oistins, 25 minutes west of the airport) we rented for 8 nights – kindly left all day on our last day [not a usual service so even more appreciated! Thank you!] as the house was not rent from that day (minimal booking is for five days).

The house is very well located less than 10 minutes by walk to a couple of the nicest beach we ultimately visited during our trip, there are a lot of restaurants locally over St Lawrence Gap road. Supermarkets are a bit further away and a car (or trip by bus) would be required. We always felt safe in our area at whatever time of the day and night – we even walked from our place to the Oistins fish market and back by night without any suspicion.

 Writing about Supermarkets, we would recommend Massy’s as they are good middle range with an affordable variety of local and imported products. We tried Popular Discounts on our first day in (by default as it was late and we were getting tired) but that was a mistake as we ended spending far more time in a never-moving-line (none move!) than actually picking the food in the shop; to the point that the locals drop their basket in a line right from their arrival and keep popping back regularly to fill it while still progressing in the line..

 After collecting the car, the house and the food, as we were getting tired, we did not venture too far when we popped out for dinner (no cooking on the first night!) and stopped at the first restaurant which seems decent – that was the Irie Foods on 2nd Avenue Dover in Oistins (3C8M+Q7 Oistins). We had a drink each (a Banks beer – standard lager, Caribbean islands are not recognised for their large diversity of beers; and a Sprite) with a dish each (a Jamaican jerk and a flying fish); which were pretty good (‘did the job!’) and most welcomed. We had a decent time there, the food was slow to come in but they apologised for it, we enjoyed it and once finished we paid (same kind of prices as London; service is usually included and mentioned on the bill though if you pay by card they will usually ask if you want to add up to the tip – we rarely did) and left to return back to the house. 

•  Saturday 21st January 2023

Following a lovely sunrise from Dover beach, we continued our day with a breakfast at the Bliss Café where we had a savoury waffle (there is a gluten free option) with cappuccino’s (classic and almond milk).

 Returning home, we decided to leave earlier to our destination and to stop by one of the Starbucks we identified on the island by Hagatt Hall, east of Bridgetown, on the Highway. Though open, so we could get our dose of coffee, we were disappointed there is no dedicated set of cups about Barbados – so we could not enrich our collection, promising ourselves though to visit the 2 other shops on the island to push our luck.

 We then started our trip to the PEG farm.

It could be a bit tricky to find as you get closer but with a good Google map it should be achievable.

The farm has a butcher shop which is quite surprising and unlike any other butcher shop as they welcome you at the door of what look in fact like a butcher frigorific room. We bought there a pack of 4 burgers and 12 eggs; the choice is decent but not seeing anything and deciding from a list on the wall is not making the experience very enjoyable.

 We then ventured into the forest area around the farm, discovering a nice valley, lots of beautiful trees, flowers and wildlife (hummingbirds, mongoose). Accompanied by a young cat all along; we discovered between the trees a nice high point of view of the rough west coast.

Then, back to the farm for lunch at 1pm at the Farm House Café situated under a nice ‘varangue’ (i.e. open-air veranda).

From the menu, we had a dish made from the local hen with vegetables and plantain and a lovely sauce – that was a very enjoyable dish!

Through the open-air veranda we had a fair it of bird watching and photo during the lunch.

After the lunch we returned through the north road until catching the highway.

We stopped in Holetown: most shops were closed due to National Holiday but had a nice view of the shopping mall (lovely colonial building) and the craft village next door on the other side of the Massy supermarket.

As the sun was declining we then returned home on time for sunset from our preferred Dover beach.

•  Sunday 22nd January 2023

We picked the car to get to the nearest Starbucks (3CC8+W39, Garden Road No.2, Bridgetown) for a coffee and possibly complete our cup collection – but fail again as it seems no Barbados cup are produced yet.

We then visited the Worthing Beach just on the other side of the street. Having a photo session of the beach and area, we spotted a sugary-water tank for birds with yellow birds and humming birds (which breed?).

Then we drove east as we had a brunch booked by Caroline to a recommended location, we arrived early so we ventured around and stopped by Marley Vale as we wanted to get closer to the sea from the cliffs. This is a nice spot as there is an old light house at Ragged Point. Walking around there, we came across a local Barbadian who took us for a tour of the area down to the edge of the cliff where the met station is located and introduced us to the man in charge there.

Then we went for our brunch at Dis Ole House in Long Bay where we had savoury waffles (Bajan chick’n waffles)  and a chocolate dome cheesecake as dessert with 2 cappuccinos.

Weather becoming hazardous (we were well protected under our parasol during a 5-minute wash-out), we decided to leave the east coast to re-join the west coast and settle in Pebbles beach – because it is Sunday after all!

This is the first beach directly south of Bridgetown town centre, easy to park. There are a few bars by the beach, and street-food providers as well as a lot of beach chairs and parasol providers. We settled there for the remaining of the afternoon, renting a couple of chairs and a parasol for $16 (BBD32). 

We left an hour before sunset to return to our home and watch the sunset from our local Dover Beach as it was already becoming our favourite one.

Dinner at home there with a fresh salad and burgers from the PEG farm.

• Monday 23rd January 2023

 Sunrise on Maxwell Beach – we were a bit late but it was not a powerful one anyway.

Then we started our trip to the north of the island to the St Nicholas Abbey which is one of the 4 distilleries of Barbados with Mount Gay, FourSquare and The West Indies.

There are 2 types of tickets, we picked the one allowing to board the steam train which were about to live and brought us through a 10-minute trip to the Cherry Tree point of view to the north east coast of the island. People then helped the drivers to reverse the locomotive through the original reversal platform which can be manipulated by hand as the mechanism is all about a perfect balance.

Then, tchoo-tchooing back to the distillery where the holders of a full tickets would be dropped at the end of the line and in front of the Dutch style main house. People are then treated with a guided visit of the house main floor before being guided to the main warehouse where the rum is distilled, having a view to the complex distillers and barrels. 

 At the end of the visit we were offered a tasting of the local production the 40% white rum, the taste is quite unique, quite soft and flavourful despite the level of alcohol. We were lucky enough to be offered to taste the 60% which is quite astonishing too. Ultimately we ended up buying a bottle of the 5y old aged in barrel (we would have loved an even older one by the prices are quite high quite quickly as you go up in the years).

Freed from the visit, we wandered a bit in the park and then returned to the main building where we had a drink and decided to stay for lunch. We had a Greek salad (most appropriate gluten free meal for me) and a ham & cheese wrap for Caroline while having the opportunity for more photos of the beautiful area and birds. The forest around the domain is lovely but the choice on the menu does not match the experience despite being a notch above the average prices of the island for such food.

They we drove off to the Farley Hill National Park – paying the small fee to get in (BBD6 per car), and visit of the place with a former colonial in ruin, beautiful trees all across the hilly park with a nice view to the east coast of the island. We spotted lots of birds and also quite a lot of mongooses.

We missed the sunset as we enjoyed our day out; well, we saw it from the car rather than a nice Barbadian beach. We had dinner at home.

• Tuesday 24th January 2023

On a bright day, looking for a place to have a breakfast or brunch out, Caroline found a place called Mimosa (located at St Lawrence Gap). We no specific programme in mind we decided to walk there following the coastal road St Lawrence Gap. It allowed us to scout the various place for food but mainly to picture the various beautifully coloured Chattel house on the way, as well as the various beach access of course.

Mimosa is straight on the sea, with an access to a beautiful despite tiny beach, idyllic view really. The decoration and setting of the place is made with taste and make the most of the scenery. The food was good and the price standards, not abusing the location to overcharge clients.

From there we then decided to continue to follow the coastal road which then joins the H7 in direction to Bridgetown. More Chattel houses, then walking along Worthing beach, the opportunities for great pictures are plenty. We stopped by the Worthing Street Food Court – despite all closed – to check the place and the variety of food on offer. The place is pretty set despite at the corner of a relatively busy road (in Barbados it is mainly around 9am and 4.30pm – and Friday evening of course).

Our walk brought us then, through the Richard Haynes boardwalk on Rockley Beach which we walk up entirely. 

We took a break on a lovely café, the Artsplash, where we had a couple of ice teas – green for her and vanilla for me.

We decided then to walk back to our home, only to a quick pause at the supermarket nearby before deciding to settle for the afternoon at our preferred Dover Beach. We laid down there all afternoon, enjoying the view, the peace, and the life around with turtles, birds and hummingbirds. Lots of opportunities for photos until sunset.

We then headed back home for dinner as we had the burgers and salad to finish as we guessed we would go out nearby for the next few evenings we had left.

• Wednesday 25th January 2023

 Breakfast at home before heading to the Welchman Hall Gully to visit the valley and possibly see the endemic monkeys of Barbados.

We went through the nicely maintain track along the deep valley and back, discovering a beautiful flora and a lot of fauna (but no monkeys for us that day) down to the cave. We had a bit of rain but were protected by the shelter of the trees. Once back to the entrance we climbed the short track up which provided us a great view to the east coast of the island and the Chalky Mountains. Not much of a Café there though so we continued our trip.

We then drove to the Chalky Mountains as the sky was clearing up. The road to the tiny walking track is getting narrower as you progress and go through the inhabited area at the top. The start of the track is not easy to find (target the end of the line of the public bus getting there, there it is Not the main track down in front of you but rather the hidden one on your right, passing on the left of the house there – yes it looks like you are getting to those people property, but they seem used to it). 

The track is narrow, not very long for the best part – the rest is quite difficult to follow and very bushy. Though the 360 degrees view is beautiful and the mountain itself and its amazing structure is astonishing, very photogenic with its unique shapes and diverse colours.

Back to the car and now starving, we had a quick search over places to eat around but we did not find anything appealing, so we decided to drive straight to the west coast where Caroline knew a nice place – she had then booked for Thursday – where we could push our luck: The Sea Shed in Mullins.

The staff there was very nice and accommodating despite our lack of booking, it is more expensive than the average restaurant on the west coast but the quality of the place, service, food and view direct on the sea and Mullins Beach made it worthwhile (though we would not have the budget to return the day after!). We had a couple of starters with ‘roasted sweet pepper hummus’ (BBD 36 – served with breadfruit chips, perfect for gluten-free dieters) and a chargrilled octopus (BBD56 – though you get only one leg, not 3 as on the photo on the website). Then we had a ‘tuna poke bowl’ (BBD 56) and a ‘grilled market fish’ (BBD 64), obviously with cocktails (rum punch and pina colada). As dessert we had the ‘coconut crème brulée with pineapple tartare’ and a ‘Mount Gay bread pudding with rum raisin ice cream’. The food is very tasty, well presented and overall of very good quality, the atmosphere is nice as well as the surroundings – but as you noticed, it does not come cheap and should be consider as a treat.

As we had a couple of cocktails, we decided to go for a walk to discover a bit more of Mullins. Luckily, as we were getting closer to a lovely neighbourhood nearby, close to the forest, we spotted a trough of green monkeys jumping from roofs to roofs in search for easily accessible food. The beautiful surroundings of these houses, the forest and the monkeys provided us with a great photo session. We then walks back to the Sea Shed to pick the car, with a few more birding photo session on the way by the beach (what birds ?)

Then sunset on Pebbles Beach / Carlisle Bay.

Back home, we then rest a bit before venturing out again to check the restaurants available on St Lawrence Gap. We set our choice on Harlequins after checking their menu, where the manager kindly accommodated for a table despite the restaurant being very busy and us not having booked. The food was very good and the price on the expected range for the area and the service good and polite. We had a ‘Fresh Catch’ (BBD 58) I chose a red snapper blackened) and a ‘Bajan style flying fish’ (BBD 54) with cocktails (generous portion of rum!). Only one dessert, a ‘Bajan Lime pie’ (BBD 18).

We then called it a night and went back home for a good night rest!

• Thursday 26th January 2023

After breakfast at home, direction to Carlisle Bay to settle at Pebbles Beach for the day.

Back to our preferred end of the bay (the north side), we picked a couple of chairs and an umbrella at Savvy on the Bay while we get registered to be picked at 10.30 by Tranquillity Cruises to go snorkelling. We chose their ‘Barbados Turtle & Shipwreck Snorkel Adventure’, $30 per head, which take you for 90 minutes on a short trip (200 metres from the shore) in the middle of the bay for snorkelling sessions over 2 spots, including a shipwreck.

Once back, we returned to our chairs where we spend a relaxing day enjoying the view, navigating between the sea and the Savvy bar as well as the street food park literally just near to the beach bar, where we found nice local dishes. We also like a cappuccino while taking it easy in the afternoon – venturing outside the beach area, I found at the café ‘A la mer’ a French speaking chef who kindly got me prepared the brews despite being very busy cooking. We chilled out then on our lounger for the rest of the day and left the beach around 4.30pm to beat the traffic rush and settle on time to our local Dover Beach for another beautiful sunset.

Back home, we had some rest before going out again locally on St Lawrence Gap to the St Lawrence Barbados restaurant (unfortunately they don’t have a website). Having not booked again (sic!) we were happy to wait for a table with a delicious Barbadian rum punch – we barely had time for a sip before having a table with our cocktails (also generous with rum here too – seems to be the way to make it in Barbados!). Unfortunately, we had such a great time we did not pick any picture nor notes about the food – we remembered everything was very good and the atmosphere really nice.

We then walked back (not with a straight line) home for a good rest!

• Friday 27th January 2023

As Friday was our last full day in Barbados we decided to take it easy and enjoy once last time our preferred local spots.

We started with a breakfast at the Bliss Café where we had our ‘usual’ (gluten free for me!) with cappuccino’s (classic and almond milk).

We then headed to the Dover beach with our Tommy Bahama beach chairs (nice foldable – once you know how – beach chair from our AirBnB) (mettre lien comment les fermer). We had a lazy day there under our palm trees, enjoying the scenery, the quietness, the beautiful views as well as the local fauna (local turtles, birds, humming birds etc. all photo documented). We even made our own cocktail with rum from the St Nicholas Abbey mixed with fruit juice (not quite yet the exact recipe of the Barbadian punch but good enough!).

We lazed down nicely until sunset when we then headed back home to refresh before going out for one last meal out where we walked to the Oistins Fish Market which apparently come best fully into life on Friday evenings. And indeed, it is a very joyful despite crowded experience – it is swamped with people but has a very large choice of places to eat, many areas to sit – though still difficult to find a space – and lot of craft shops, music, noise and a scene with more music! We had flying fish with rice and plantain on site, on standard local price, tasty food delivered in a take away format – paid in cash so make sure to have any with you (the ATM at the local gas/supermarket station will rip you off with fees – 11.16%!, getting BBD100, being debited BBD111.16) We then went for a tour of the market to enjoy the atmosphere, music and shops before walking back home. That’s a 30-minute walk but we felt very safe though there is not much life and the pavement is quite uneven!

• Saturday 28th January 2023

 On our last day, as our flight back to London is quite late in the evening, the owner of the AirBnB proposed for us to keep the house all day as there was no new client expected to arrive that day. We accepted the kind off and decided to go for another relaxing day on the coast of Barbados. 

We took the car to head towards Bridgetown and return to the ArtSplash Café by Rockley Beach to experience breakfast there – particularly as we noticed they have gluten-free options (a breakfast bowl and a savoury gluten free breakfast dish). They also host a small farmer and craft market in their garden we then visited (every Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 8am to 2pm.

We then returned back home, spent a few hours on our preferred Dover Beach before heading home with a quick lunch at Pronto Food & Drink not far from the beach (standard food but very nice service). We returned then home, finalise packing before heading back to the airport where we dropped the car easily and trouble-free. Registering the luggage and then wondering around the shops there once passed security. Boarding and leaving for a night flight arriving on time in cold and grey London!

Hope you enjoyed this summary, use the buttons at the top for any question or to reach the full photo gallery about this trip and do not hesitate to look at all our other sets of photos also on ShutterStock/Getty Image or Instagram (also through the buttons and links at the top) !