Your Ultimate Guide To Barbados

Inland Tour

Barbados' inland doesn't have the pristine beaches that are rampant to the coastline areas of the island. However, there's still an abundance to be seen on a tour such as our inland tour.

A thing of beauty is a sight to behold. Every country around the globe has at least one natural wonder which it invites everyone to come see, enjoy and appreciate. Harrison's Cave is such a natural gem; a limestone cavern in the depths of the earth in the parish of St. Thomas on the island of Barbados. One of the most sought after sight-seeing spots on the island, it is an underground adventure. The cave is named after Thomas Harrison who owned the majority of land in the area back in the 1700s. This is the same person who established Harrison College, one of the top secondary schools in Barbados, in 1733. The caves basically remained closed to the mind and to the imagination until 1970 or so.

Art and craft is a very important component of life on the island of Barbados. In every parish, one will find some artist or artisan, whether local or naturalized resident, who has combined talent and ingenuity to create something special, whether in the medium of ceramics or clay, basketry, shell-work or macramé, just to name a few. The owners of Earthwork Pottery, located in Edghill Heights, St. Thomas have created such. As one reaches the premises and starts to climb the steep steps to the display area, one of the first things noticed is the exterior of the building which invites and entices. It is painted in bright, cheerful colours and designs, providing more than a hint of what is to be found inside.

In Groves, St. George, off Highway 3, a haven of beauty in the form of Orchid World, has been nurtured and created for the pleasure of those who decide to enter its premises. Scattered systematically throughout the six (6) acres of lush landscape are over twenty thousand (20,000) species of orchids. As one meanders, through the well-appointed groves and paths, one can fully appreciate the design of the gardens. This includes a waterfall, which has been placed in the garden and this adds another dimension to the recreation component of Orchid World. There are five (5) orchid houses on this St. George property and numerous varieties of the flower are in bloom all over so one is encouraged to also look down when walking to ensure that nothing is missed. In the case of some of the types which require very special conditions in order to thrive, every effort has been made to re-create same. Reds, pinks, purples, hybrids, you name it.

An early morning expedition is made every Saturday morning by a large number of Barbadians as well as members of the expatriate community into the parish of St. George. It is the Brighton Farmers' Market which is an open-air market, the home of which is on Brighton Plantation, located approximately fifteen (15) minutes outside of Bridgetown. From 10:00am to 2:00pm each Saturday morning for the past 10+ years, the plantation grounds are transformed into a market and social thoroughfare, where local farmers, artists and vendors also have the opportunity to display their ware as attractively as possible in order to obtain as many sales as they possibly can.

St. Thomas Parish Church dates back to 1629 with that first building being destroyed by the hurricane that hit Barbados in 1675. The parish church was rebuilt in 1675 but this structure too was demolished by the great hurricane that struck the island in 1780. It was some six years before the church was rebuilt and by 1831 it was again destroyed by the hurricane that reduced most of the churches on the island of Barbados to ruins. The current building of the St. Thomas Parish Church is sited just a little ways away from the original site and was constructed at a cost of two thousand, six hundred and sixty six pounds (£2666.00) and measures some three thousand, seven hundred and thirty five square feet (3735 sq. ft.).

Every island seeks to conceptualize and deliver innovative attractions to keep its visitors and local adventure-seekers happy. The island of Barbados is certainly no exception. In the parish of St. Thomas, in the center of the island there is The Aerial Trek Zipline, the only such attraction on the island. From the vantage point in the air, there are magnificent views of the island and the dense and lush vegetation all around. That is, of course, if you can keep your eyes open. Walking through the grounds, the exotic flora and fauna can hardly be missed. It must be mentioned that a concept and structure such as this is considerably driven by environmentally friendly policies. There must be absolutely no littering on the property, during the tour and wherever possible they have minimized the practice of using chemical products so as to lessen the negative impact of such on the environment.

Bagatelle Great House in the area of Bagatelle, in St. Thomas, was a former sugar plantation now reformed and put largely to use for the dining and entertainment pleasure of any member of the public, whether local or visitor. Built in 1645, the property has passed through numerous owners over the years and now it is home to several restaurants, which each potentially cater to a completely different set of customers. The individual restaurants will have their own hours of business, however the Great House maintains hours of 12 noon to 6:00 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 12 noon to 2:30 p.m.; Fridays noon to 2:30 p.m. and from 6:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. On Sundays, it is open from 6:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.