Bridgetown

Bathsheba

This little fishing village on the east coast is a favourite spot for photographers because of its picturesque rocky terrain. It also boasts one of the island's most spectacular beaches. It is situated about 14 miles (23km) from Bridgetown in St Joseph and is known locally as 'the Soup Bowl' because of its foaming surf. It is a favourite surfing spot and the venue of the annual surfing contest.

Gardens

Barbados offers the tranquillity of several beautifully landscaped tropical gardens. Just outside Bridgetown, in the parish of St Michael, is the Lazaretto Garden with its magnificent waterfall cascading over a rock face. A little further inland are the Ayshford Ratite Gardens, with their breathtaking selection of tropical plants and fine restaurants attended by international executive chefs. The gardens are illuminated every night and are open from 9am to midnight for meals. Exotic birds, ostriches, pheasants and fancy pigeons roam the gardens to the delight of visitors. In the heart of the countryside, surrounded by sugar plantations is a six-acre former chicken and pig farm that has been transformed into the Orchid World, a floral paradise where more than 20,000 orchids are grown and displayed. Visitors can take self-guided tours past a waterfall, through a coral grotto and onto five orchid houses. Further towards the East Coast, in the Scotland District of Barbados, is the magnificent Flower Forest. The variety of plants and species here is awesome, with the brilliant colours of flowers like Begonias and Heliconia reflected against the lush jungle greenery. The Flower Forest is open seven days a week from 9am to 5pm and admission is US$7 per person. In the parish of St Joseph is yet another spectacular garden, the Andromeda Botanical Garden. The garden covers six acres and contains several varieties of orchids, palms, ferns, hibiscus, bougainvillea and other exotic flowers and trees. Turners Hall Woods span 50 acres in the Parish of St Andrew. The woods survive as one of the last remnants of the indigenous tropical forest that covered Barbados before the first settlement in 1627. It contains examples of indigenous trees like the Sand Box, Silk Cotton, Cabbage Palm, Trumpet Tree and Macaw Palm. In the Parish of St Thomas is a long gully, known as Welshman Hall Gully after its original owner. It contains some impressive tropical trees. Here also is the world's largest pillar that has been formed by the joining of a stalactite and stalagmite.

Graeme Hall Swamp

Not far from Bridgetown, in the parish of Christ Church, is the largest expanse of inland water on the island. This expansive swamp, with red and white mangrove trees, is a natural habitat for more than 40 species of birds. A boardwalk allows visitors to walk dry-footed around the swamp and experience close up views of the mangroves, marine and bird life. One can also spot green monkeys and mongoose. Some uncommon plants, particularly varieties of sedges, also grow in the swamp. Development is currently underway and facilities will eventually include a souvenir shop, written guides and an education room.

Harrison’s Cave

This huge underground cavern is one of the most popular attractions on the island with its amazing gallery of stalactites and stalagmites, streams of crystal clear water, breathtaking waterfalls and deep emerald pools. Tour guides conduct visitors from the attractive Visitor’s Centre on a drive in electrically operated trams down through an extensive system of caves. At the bottom level of the cave visitors alight to gasp at a spectacular waterfall.

Address: Welchman Hall, St Thomas; Telephone: (246) 438 6640; Website: www.harrisonscave.com; Transport: Bus 4 to Shorey Village or Chalky Mount from Bridgetown; Opening time: Open daily; regular tours are available from 9am to 4pm; Admission: Bds$40 (adults), Bds$20 (children)

Jacobean Mansions

St Nicholas' Abbey in St Peter and Drax Hall in St George are two of the oldest buildings in Barbados. Both are world-renowned examples of Jacobean architecture that features curved Dutch gables and coral-stone finials, each furnished with antiques. Both buildings were constructed in the 1650s. Drax Hall was one of the earliest and largest sugar plantations in Barbados, built by James and William Drax. They were a wealthy family like many other plantation owners who prospered by growing sugarcane and established considerable influence at home and abroad. Visitors to the Jacobean sugar mansions can enjoy a film about life on the sugar plantations. Another relic from the plantation days is the Morgan Lewis Mill at St Andrew, one of only two restored sugar mills in the Caribbean. It is maintained by the Barbados National Trust and provides an insight into how sugar was produced through windpower.

Website: www.stnicholasabbey.com

West Coast beaches

The west coast is known as the 'Platinum Coast'. Running north from the capital Bridgetown, are numerous luxury beach resorts resting along the shore of the clear warm Caribbean waters that lap gently onto golden sands. Some of the most popular beaches for swimming and sunbathing are Batts Rock and Paynes Bay in the St James parish, or Mullins Bay and Heywoods in St Peter. Hotels here bear exotic names like Treasure Beach, Smugglers Cove, Mango Bay and Discovery Bay. Treasure Beach at Paynes Bay, St James, for example is a tranquil luxury hideaway famous for its Bajan cuisine and freshwater swimming pool surrounded by tropical gardens beside the turquoise sea.

Wildlife

The waters around Barbados are a treasure trove of marine life. In the far north of the island is the Animal Flower Cave (in the parish of St Lucy) where sea anemones abound in cave pools deep enough to swim in. Scuba divers flock to the Folkestone Marine Park, which has an artificial reef created by the deliberate sinking of the ship Stavronikita in 1976. Less adventurous snorkellers enjoy swimming in the Recreational Zone of the park on a reef that is home to numerous fish and marine species, corals and sponges. The Park also has a museum and an aquarium. It is situated in St James, near Holetown. The Barbados Wildlife Reserve is mainly a monkey sanctuary set in a natural mahogany wood in the parish of St Peter. Green monkeys provide entertainment for visitors as they play in a natural environment. There are also ducks, turtles, tortoises, birds, peacocks, otters, raccoons and deer roaming the woods.

Holetown Festival

Holetown, located on the west coast north of Bridgetown, was the first settlement on the island of Barbados. It was initially named Jamestown by the first English settlers who landed in the small channel in 1625 when King James I was on the throne in England. Today the town is famous for its colourful annual festival of crafts, music and historical parades held in commemoration of these first settlers. The festival takes place mid-February every year and runs over a one-week period. Events at the Holetown Festival include historical lectures, fashion shows, beauty contests, street parades, tattoo shows, exhibitions, concerts, theatrical presentations, sporting events and an antique car parade.

Date: 17-24 February 2008; Website: www.holetownfestivalbarbados.com

Barbados Jazz Festival

The major music event on the Barbados calendar is the Jazz Festival, held each year in January. The festival celebrates the best in international and local jazz talent and is held across a variety of venues throughout the island, from the modern Sir Garfield Sobers Sports complex and the historic Sunbury Plantation House to the open-air venue of Farley Hill National Park.

Date: January 2009, TBC; Website: www.barbadosjazzfestival.com