Ah, Barbados. The place where we learned how to drive on the left side of the road, saw wild monkeys, and drank the best rum cocktails we’ve ever had. It’s a relaxing, beautiful island filled with happy people. There are so many exciting things to do that it can be challenging to figure out what to include in your Barbados itinerary – hopefully, this post can help you decide.
I’m sharing what we did with our seven days in Barbados (in June 2019). There are over 20 activities included in this post, which we chose after carefully researching the island. This itinerary was a huge achievement – we saw a lot (with a toddler) and I’m taking you through each day of our trip and describing our experiences .
I may have outdone myself with this post; there are over 5,000 words and 70 photos, plus countless tips. So here’s an overview – with shortcut links in case you want to quickly find something specific:
Day 1: Travel day and our oceanfront cottage!
Day 2: Bridgetown, the South Coast Boardwalk, and Mullin’s Beach.
Day 3: Animal Flower Cave, River Bay, Cuckold Point, Cove Bay, Barbados Wildlife Reserve, Grenade Hall Forest & Signal Station, and an unnamed beach.
Day 4: St. Nicholas Abbey, Cherry Tree Hill, Morgan Lewis Windmill, Heywoods Beach.
Day 5: Carlisle Bay, St Johns Parish Church, Ragged Point Lighthouse, Bottom Bay.
Day 6: Welchman Hall Gully, Bathsheba Park, the Fish Pot, Folkestone Beach.
Day 7: South Point Lighthouse, Crane Beach, and going home.
Our Seven Day Barbados Itinerary.
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Day One: Travel Day.
We flew direct from Charlotte, North Carolina to Barbados with our 13-month-old, Toddler Meena. (In my opinion, 13 months barely qualifies as a toddler, and it felt a lot more like traveling with a fussy baby.) We arrived in Barbados by 3pm local time. We had just enough time to get our rental car, drive 45 minutes to check into our rental cottage, head to the local grocery store (where we discovered that groceries in Barbados can be really expensive), and fix dinner before Toddler Meena’s 7pm bedtime.
I enjoyed getting to drive around the island straightaway to get a feel for it (or, more correctly, ride along while Mr. Meena bravely navigated driving on the left) and stocking up on groceries so we could spend the next day focused on exploring the island.
This is the view from our budget-friendly oceanfront cottage upon arrival.
It has two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen with dining area, one very small parking spot, and a lovely back deck. We unpacked and then fell asleep to the sounds of the ocean (and some really loud crickets).
Day Two of Our Barbados Itinerary.
Our first priority was going to see Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados. Since we prefer to see a city by walking whenever possible, we planned a walking route through the city center. I created a Google map to easily highlight all the spots we visited:
We parked at the City Center Mall parking deck easily and for a reasonable price. It’s close to St. Mary’s Church and the Old Town Hall so we saw those sites first.
St. Mary’s Church.
From there it was a beautiful half-mile walk towards the National Heroes Square. On the way, we enjoyed seeing chickens, locals, colorful buildings, and the waterfront.
Bridgetown is a port city, so there’s a lot of nice waterscape views.
There is a neat Dolphin Fountain in the National Heroes Square but it wasn’t running while we were there. While standing in the square you can see the Parliament Buildings across the street. We then crossed the Chamberlain Bridge to see the Independence Arch, which celebrates Barbados gaining its independence from Britain in 1966.
Once you’ve crossed underneath the arch – which is a hot spot for hawkers, by the way – there’s a lot of shopping and restaurant options to your right. We went around these to see the Blackwoods Screw Dock.
Not only is the screw dock a fascinating and unusual sight, but it’s also the oldest surviving boat lift in the world – completed in 1893.
We circled back around to do a bit of shopping (and found nice gifts for our in-laws who were bird sitting and then have lunch and our first Bajan rum punch of the trip! We chose to sit on the second story of the Marina Bar & Restaurant to look out over the arch and the waterfront. It was lovely, even though I was nervous that Toddler Meena was going to throw his bottle over the edge and hit someone below. (He was in a major bottle-throwing phase).
I definitely recommend sitting up high and taking in the views over lunch. Fueled by rum and carbs, we continued our walking route. We started out on another half-mile walk by heading through the beautiful Independence Square, crossing back over the river on Bridge St, and continuing to the Bridgetown destination I was most excited about: Queens Park.
I had learned that there was a Baobab tree in Queens Park just a few weeks before our trip thanks to a local on Instagram. Baobab trees are ridiculously wide and wonderful, with trunks that can grow 23 to 36 feet in diameter – the largest on record measured at 52 ft. I had wanted to see one ever since my Horticulture 101 class in university and I was not aware that they grew outside of Madagascar, Africa, or Australia. So, you can imagine my excitement as we headed to the park to see one.
The park isn’t that large, but a local man saw our eagerly swiveling heads and smiled as he told us where to find the tree.
It’s magnificent. Likely over 1000 years old, this tree is theorized to have grown from a seed that traveled over the ocean from West Africa. It takes 15 adults to circle around the massive trunk with outstretched arms.
I kept going around the tree looking at how the trunk divided into so many branches.
There are actually several Baobab trees in Barbados, though only two have grown to a grand size. They are part of the Seven Wonders of Barbados.
Our time in Bridgetown was coming to an end so we started heading back to the parking garage, with one last stop at St. Michael’s Cathedral on the way. Our route was less than 2 miles in total, and I recommend it.
Since we were already in the area, we drove 15 minutes to the South Coast Boardwalk. It is a wonderful place for an oceanside walk, although I’ve read that occasionally sections become covered with sand. My favorite part was the natural fountains built into the beach. These are beautiful outcroppings where the water would run over, sometimes creating bursts of water that shot up into the air.
Afterward, we drove back to our rental house for Toddler Meena’s afternoon siesta and to switch gears into beach mode. We were so excited to go swimming that we wanted to get started right away, and we could because our rental house was right on the water and next to Mullin’s Beach. Mr. Meena went first while I stayed behind with the baby monitor. He swam for maybe 45 minutes and then it was my turn. I walked down the stairs from the deck at Darrel Cot, took a few precarious steps across the beach (which was unfortunately just rock at the time) and swam into the Caribbean water!
You’ll want to be careful swimming in this area as the water is shallow, there are lots of spiky sea creatures, and the boats and jet skis travel at high speeds. The snorkeling was nice – I’m pretty sure I even saw an eel at one point. I’m not sure it’s worth going out of your way to visit Mullin’s Beach, but I enjoyed it. There are large underwater rocks that create tunnel-like areas where interesting fish were hide out. And there’s a floating platform you can climb onto to rest for a minute; I met a very nice British man while sitting there who told me about his annual vacations to Barbados and gave me lots of tips!
The location of the house (see it on Google maps, next to a good beach, was our main reason for booking it. We used the same strategy of staying right on the coast for snorkeling when we visited Curaçao. If you have young children that need to nap once or twice a day, this is a good way to maximize your vacation time by being able to enjoy the ocean while they sleep.
Day Three.
We headed for Animal Flower Cave bright and early on day three of our Barbados Itinerary. This attraction is at the northernmost tip of the island. It’s more than just a cave, there’s a restaurant and paths going along the cliff tops for spectacular views of the ocean.
The cave was about a 20-minute drive and we managed to arrive just after they opened at 9am. Thanks to being the first people there, I got to go one on one with the tour guide. We couldn’t take Toddler Meena into the cave (at least not at 13 months old and in a carrier), since there’s a high risk of falling on the slippery rocks, so Mr. Meena and I took turns.
It’s a steep descent via stairs into an expansive cavern. The rocks are a bit tricky to walk on – in fact, my guide was instructing me exactly where to step as we went along. He also pointed out specific rock formations in the walls as we went, there are spots that resemble a hand, a turtle, and a lizard – it was very cool!
There are several openings in the cliff wall that serve as windows for the ocean. Even though they seem to be rather high up, my guide said that the cave will occasionally have water surges during storms. He also told me that some people like to jump off the cliff into the water and he’ll see them fall past the cave openings.
We went into other parts of the cave where my guide pointed out the beautiful sea anemones that the cave is named after. They were in a small, quiet pool of water.
After my tour I ordered a rum punch from the restaurant – I was on a mission to try rum punch from as many places as possible in Barbados (and I was not the only tourist drinking before 10am). This was actually my favorite rum punch on the island and I think it was only 6 Bajan dollar (BD) or 3 USD, whereas my second favorite punch from the Fish Pot cost about twice as much.
There’s also a play area for children and a few stores with various local items.
It’s 25 BD or about 12 USD per adult to tour the cave and completely worth it. Visiting the Animal Flower Cave was one of the coolest things we did on our trip and I think it should be included on any Barbados itinerary.
We left the cave to visit River Bay which we just admired for a moment, I don’t recommend going out of your way to see it. Then we continued along the coast to Cuckold Point but we got a little lost as many of the roads in that area were little more than dirt paths. We had a fabulous time while we were lost. According to our photo GPS details, I believe we actually ended up at Corbens Bay.
We saw an abandoned windmill in a field of cows on the way to the coastline – getting to see this and walk around it was one of the highlights of the trip for me.
We kept going down various dirt paths and reached the most incredible cliffs that looked down upon the ocean. Mr. Meena and I took turns (as Toddler Meena slept) walking across the spongy surface of the ground for a few hundred feet to see the point where the waves crashed furiously.
The pictures really don’t do justice to the incredible crashing of the waves at this spot. I was standing at the edge looking down in awe. It was an epic experience. The coastline along either side also awe-inspiring.
Notice how the trees are permanently bent from the intense winds and how our rental car looks like it’s precariously perched along the rugged coast (I promise it was actually at a safe distance).
Next up was the beautiful Cove Bay, which was just around the corner but also a bit tricky to find.
We turned our route inland and drove about 20 minutes to the Barbados Wildlife Reserve, which is a natural habitat for tons of local animals. You can walk through the four-acre forest along brick paths, visit the aviary, and see the Grenade Hall Signal Station and Forest for 30 BD (15 USD) per adult. The animals roam freely inside and sometimes you can get quite close to them.
We arrived around noon and spent an hour and a half at the reserve – barely missing the 2pm feeding time but were fortunate to see lots of animals anyway. Once we entered there was a small café where we immediately ordered a rum punch and it was just okay. We then started along the brick pathway which can be a bit uneven and tricky to maneuver – you’ll definitely need good shoes and balance to walk on it.
There were turtles everywhere – I felt like we were being followed by a small stampede at one point! They were quite… hormonal, which led to some ridiculous noises and scenes.
There are also roosters, peacocks, the unusual Brocket deer, agouti (rodents that look a bit like huge guinea pigs), and lots of green monkeys – some with babies!
We had worked up an appetite and stopped at the restaurant for a delicious meal of hot dogs and chips for 15 BD. It turns out we had perfect timing because a downpour hit pretty much as soon as we were seated! People flocked into the small covered area. The lesson here is that you should pretty much always carry an umbrella in Barbados.
Afterward, we went to the Grenade Hall Forest & Signal Station, located near the parking lot, since it was included in our tickets. It was still drizzling and cloudy so we didn’t get great views. The attendant was kind and stamped our tickets in case we wanted to return the next day with better weather.
We went back to our rental house for Toddler Meena’s nap, and then around 4pm we set off for Paynes Bay Beach, however, we were unable to find parking. We kept driving for a little over a mile until we found a place to park (we ended up parking at the Jordans Supermaket. We crossed the street and found ourselves on a beautiful, secluded beach. I loved the trees and had a great time snorkeling here.
This is definitely one of the coolest things about Barbados – every beach is public, nothing is off-limits. So you can go swimming wherever you find a beach. There are enough beachfront areas that you can easily find a place to enjoy some solitude.
Day Four.
Day four of our Barbados itinerary started off with a visit to St. Nicholas Abbey. There are many things to do at the abbey, but we were most interested in seeing the Heritage Railway – a relatively new attraction – and visiting the beautiful Jacobean-style mansion on the property.
We started off with a 9:30am tour on the railway, which had just opened in January 2019 – a few months before our visit. You need to arrive early and we actually had a difficult time finding the entrance to the railway (the abbey grounds don’t open until 10am so that was doubly confusing). It turns out you actually need to drive past the entrance to the grounds to get to the railway entrance a bit further down the road.
Tickets to ride on the renovated steam locomotive are 60 BD (30 USD) for adults but we ended up paying a bit more for a joint package that included a tour of the mansion. As the locomotive rolled out of the station we learned tons of historical facts about the plantation, the train, the mansion, and the family that lived there.
There were perhaps 20 people on the tour with us and it turns out there were two people on the train celebrating their birthday. The staff sang Happy Birthday and it was like a party for a while.
Unfortunately, the train ride was very short, perhaps just five minutes long. It took us to Cherry Tree Hill, which is an epic spot to enjoy and should definitely be prioritized on your Barbados itinerary, but we were stuck there for nearly 45 minutes. There were people selling wares and we had great conversations with the other passengers, but I was frustrated that the advertised hour-long train ride was actually more like 10% train ride and 90% standing around at Cherry Tree Hill.
It was a bit foggy that day, but we still had a great view at Cherry Tree Hill.
We did have a lot of fun when the engine of the train had to be turned. Passengers were invited to help turn the train and there was lots of cheering – we had a great group of people on our tour.
We were also invited to take photos with the train while wearing the fancy hat and waving the red flag around.
After the short journey back, the train dropped off everyone who had purchased a joint package in front of the mansion (also referred to as the Great House). We met our tour guide and headed inside to learn about the house and estate. The tour was fascinating, although I missed a significant portion due to Toddler Meena being fussy. I did get to explore quite a bit of the grounds surrounding the house thanks to having to take him outside.
After the tour of the house, you get rum punch, watch a film (which I also missed as I was outside with Toddler Meena), have a rum tasting, and learn about the distillery. The rum at St. Nicholas Abbey is expensive – I think bottles started at 50 USD and went much higher – especially compared to the Mount Gay Rum which we had purchased for about 10 USD a bottle.
Most people went on to explore the grounds, but it was nearly noon and someone was overdue for nap time. Of course, I had to say hello to the birds on the property on our way out, at which point I unexpectedly became friends with a lizard who fell on me.
I got a little closer than planned to the wildlife this time!
Overall we really enjoyed our time at St. Nicholas Abbey and recommend it, but I do wish they were a bit more forthright about their railway tour. At least you know now.
Thankfully Toddler Meena fell asleep almost immediately once we were in the car, so we took advantage and headed to the nearby Morgan Lewis Windmill. This is one impressive windmill; it’s the only intact one in Barbados. I went up to admire it while Mr. Meena stayed in the car, and it was deserted at the time. The single employee closed down the café to give me a quick tour of the windmill for a reasonable 5 BD (2.50 USD).
The tour is pretty simple. You put on a hard hat, go into the interior, and learn a bit about how the mill operated (and how they accidentally learned to make rum). You can also go up the steps inside the windmill but you don’t really get to see much. The whole thing took perhaps ten minutes but I enjoyed it.
We went home for lunch, the requisite afternoon nap, and prepared for our visit to Heywoods Beach. This beach is near Speightstown and turned out to be great for snorkeling. The water was beautiful and clear, with a quiet beachfront. We enjoyed the calm and solitude.
The sunset that evening was lovely.
Day Five.
It turns out that day five of our Barbados itinerary fell on a Sunday. There isn’t a ton to do on Sundays – many attractions are closed – so it was the perfect day to venture down to Carlisle Bay. This beach has been described as the beach to end all beaches. If you get there at sunrise you can see racehorses going for a swim, but sunrise in June is at 5:30am and it was a 30-minute drive so that didn’t happen for us.
Carlisle Bay is great for snorkeling as far as sea life – I saw two sea turtles and an amazingly large and fast manta ray. There are also shipwrecks you can explore; we did not go to them but I did spot the odd anchor and other ship pieces here and there. I didn’t see many natural structures such as coral, though we were in a small part of the Bay. We spent about two hours there – that was as far as we could push Toddler Meena.
The pictured tent is a pop up and it was fantastic for traveling with. It shielded us from the sun (I am very photosensitive because of lupus) and let the wind flow through to cool us down.
Carlisle Bay was quite busy, of course. We chose a private(ish) stretch of beach to camp out in, but the water was still crowded. While I was completely distracted by the sea turtles, several boats came right over the buoy line into the roped-off swimming area – one actually floated within about 10 feet of me. I was really nervous after that. So while I highly recommend Carlisle Bay, it’s not as relaxing and isolated as some of the other beaches we explored. Make sure you pay attention to your surroundings while you’re there.
Predictably, we took a nice afternoon siesta after our fun in the sun. In fact, we overslept and ended up leaving for our afternoon sightseeing much later than expected. This time we were exploring more of the eastern part of the island; first up was St. John’s Parish Church – a dominating Gothic church built in 1846.
This absolutely beautiful church sits on the edge of a cliff, which allows for great views of the surrounding areas.
It’s certainly worth a stop. We didn’t go inside as it was Sunday and there was a service going on – which sounded lovely.
Next up we visited Ragged Point Lighthouse, which overlooks awesome cliffs. There are four lighthouses in Barbados and I had hoped to see them all (I became somewhat obsessed with visiting lighthouses after our trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina).
You can’t actually go inside the lighthouse, but Ragged Point is the easternmost point of Barbados and is worth seeing for the view alone. We had so much fun there.
We then headed for the gorgeous Bottom Bay and arrived as the colors of sunset were starting.
The tall palm trees stole my heart instantly.
It was enchanting to watch the towering trees swaying in the wind. I so wished we had visited earlier in the day so that we could have enjoyed the beach more. We left at nearly dark.
Day Six.
This morning was dedicated to Welchman Hall Gully, a valley created by collapsed caves that has become fabulously overgrown – it feels like stepping into a jungle! We arrived just as they were opening at 9am and paid 28 BD (14 USD) per adult to enter, which includes a brochure for the self-guided walking route. At the time of our visit it was cash only and they didn’t have much change for USD, so come prepared. We also paid a little extra for bird feed and it was so worth it!!
We had the gully all to ourselves thanks to our early arrival! It was wonderful. The walking path starts after the Children’s Adventure Park, which looks quite fun with swings and a zip line.
As we walked we looked for the plants and trees marked on the brochure map, including a very young and small baobab tree.
It’s hard to describe how unique it is – how tall the trees are, how some of them look like their trunks have split into hundreds of pieces, the tropical feel, and how unusual some of the plants were. You’ll just have to see it for yourself.
The walk is ¾ of a mile and it didn’t take us all that long to walk down and back. Near the entrance to the path there are stairs leading to a spectacular viewing platform – we saved it for last.
We then relaxed briefly at The Chunky Monkey Café, which is the same place that you purchase entrance tickets, with a rum punch. We also purchased nutmeg, which grows naturally in the gully, to take home for use in our own rum punch.
While we were sitting at the café we got to chat with newly arrived visitors from England, who have family in Barbados and were having an absolute blast. We wandered back over to the zip line to watch their kids use it and laugh together. Getting to meet friendly people happened so frequently on our trip – it’s actually number one on my list of eight things I loved about Barbados.
Unfortunately, we had to leave the gully shortly before the 10:30am feeding (due to a cranky little human) and we didn’t see any monkeys during our time there. It was still a great experience and I definitely recommend adding it to your Barbados itinerary.
Our original plan was to head to another nearby garden – there are many to choose from: Flower Forest Botanical Gardens, Hunte’s Gardens, and Orchid World & Tropical Flower Garden. But Toddler Meena fell fast asleep in the car so we skipped a second garden experience and drove another 20 minutes over to Bathsheba Park. This is a beach area with a very unusual rocky terrain.
We were able to take turns walking around and exploring the stunning rocks while Toddler Meena continued sleeping. However, while Mr. Meena was waiting for me in the car he was approached by an aggressive man with a baby monkey. It is best to avoid these people, as we were told that they will steal an infant monkey to use for tourist photos and then abandon it once it’s too old to be cute.
Soon it was lunchtime and our last full day in Barbados, so we went to the Fish Pot (or, as the locals who recommended it said with a gigantic smile, DE FISH POOOOT). This is an oceanfront restaurant housed in an old fort with absolutely delicious food. It is a bit on the pricier side. I loved the rum punch and Mr. Meena’s plateful of eel (one of the specials) and risotto so much that I don’t even remember what I ordered to eat.
After a restful afternoon, we went to Folkestone Beach, which wasn’t on our original Barbados itinerary but was highly recommended by locals we met on our trip. There was a beautiful yellow building and a great little cove to hang out in.
While we really enjoyed our time snorkeling there, it felt a bit dangerous. The currents and waves were very strong – in fact, I was unable to explore some spots because I wasn’t strong enough to swim against the current. Many of the rocks were close to the surface; I did get pushed into rocks a few times and felt unnerved. Perhaps it was low tide and/or an unusual day, but we experienced this phenomenon at several beaches in Barbados. I mean, it is the easternmost island of the Caribbean and more than 200 ships have sunk there, so it is only logical that you will find rough waters.
After showers and dinner, our day ended with one last beautiful sunset in Barbados, enjoyed from the porch of our cottage.
Day Seven.
Despite my many protests to Mr. Meena about calling the airline and rescheduling our flight, this was our last day in Barbados. We packed up, checked out, and headed to see some sights near the airport before our afternoon departure.
We visited the southernmost part of the island and saw the South Point Lighthouse (making it two out of four in my attempts to see the lighthouses in Barbados).
We also drove past the airport to see Crane Beach.
That was a really cool spot – the waves were intense and the water was beautiful – and I’d definitely consider spending a night or two in that part of the island if we return. It was the last thing we saw before heading to the airport… I was not ready to say goodbye to the friendly people and lovely sights of Barbados! It helped that we got a free seat for Toddler Meena on our return flight, though. Things were so much more peaceful with him tucked into his car seat.
So, which part of this seven day Barbados itinerary was your favorite? Would any attractions make it onto your must-see list? Personally, I would keep everything the same and just add in more beach time. There are several beaches and a few attractions that we wanted to see but just couldn’t quite fit into seven days (or weren’t possible with a toddler – in case you’re wondering why Oistins Fish Fry wasn’t included). Those will be shared in a post about things to do in Barbados (coming soon) in case you need more ideas!
Feel free to tell me all about your Barbados plans in the comments!
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If you enjoyed this post, check out my 10 Day Curaçao Itinerary.
