Barbados is a massive attraction for beach lovers; it creates a paradise picture with powder-soft sand, crystal-clear blue, and hot water. When visiting Barbados, the best thing you can do is explore beaches on all sides of the island. The island's east side has a rugged coastline with epic and large waves ideal for watersports, while the west side is lapped by the Caribbean Sea's shallow and calm waters. Barbados has beaches for any tourist, whether you want to spend a vacation or even if you are looking for a day trip, but Barbados also offers something beyond its beaches. Today, we will see what you can explore in Barbados besides its beaches.
Of course, Barbados is an island. When thinking of islands, the first thing that comes to mind is stretches of sand, ocean waves, coconuts, and palm trees, but inside, there is something more. Barbados has more to offer its tourists, such as farms, hills, wildlife exploration, etc. Let's explore Barbados beyond its beaches.
On the southwest coast of Barbados is Oistins, a fishing village where the fishermen sell their catches in booths arranged in sequence between the main road and the beach every Friday and Saturday night. The suggestion is to arrive early in the morning to get a seat at one of the communal picnic tables which is simply put under the afternoon sunshine. The flock of locals and visitors arrive on Fridays to sit together shoulder to shoulder to have a delicious meal. The menu contains whatever was caught: a barracuda, Mahi Mahi, or a flying fish served fried and steaming hot. The catch depends on the season. As the sun sets, steel drums create a perfect party-like atmosphere. If you are in Barbados, this a place where you have to be on Friday Nights.
According to the locals, rum was invented by enslaved plantation workers in Barbados. They discovered that when molasses ferments, it becomes alcohol. It should not be a matter of shock that the world's oldest rum distillery, Mount Gay Rum Distillery, is present on this island, and according to the bottles, it dates back to 1703. On the West Coast, you can tour this facility in Bridgetown. First, you will get to see an introductory short movie about the history and process of making rum. There is also a museum that displays the company's things, including vintage bottles. You can also get involved in tasting the rum, and if you visit earlier, you can even stay for lunch on the patio, including a traditional Bajan menu, the elaborated version of Oistins. Where you will have fried fish with macaroni pie with lots of salad.
The exploration of the guided driving tour starts from Holetown, which still holds the charm of its colonial times, where the British landed first. The place is packed with luxury restaurants and branded shops. Then there is Speightstown, where the balconied buildings have lost the elegance of their prime, but you can still roam around and experience the former resplendence of this town. After that, your driver will take you to St. Nicholas Abbey, a restored Jacobean mansion across the island and the oldest plantation in the whole Caribbean. This great house is much smaller with only two rooms to explore, but it is one of the few great examples of Jacobean architecture and also gives you glimpses of the history of Barbados. After taking a tour of the Abbey, you can walk up to Cherry Tree Hill, have a lovely time there, and admire the breathtaking views of the coast.
One of the finest gardens in the Caribbean, Andromeda Botanic Gardens represents the whole life work of Iris Bnnochie, an award-winning horticulturist who handed the Gardens to the Barbados National Trust in 1988. You can spend a whole afternoon here among the tall palm trees or you can admire the cascades of bright pink flowers swaying from the breeze, spikes of heliconia with strangely shaped flowers. Bannochie was a great collector; he collected plants from all over the world from subtropical and tropical zones, so you will not just admire the native flora and fauna; the place is flooding with herons, hummingbirds, and monkeys. The suggestion is to visit the Andromeda Botanic Gardens in the Afternoon; although the place closes at 4:30 pm, you are free to stay as long as you want to.
The beaches are the best part of Barbados and it is the reason for most of the tourist arrivals, but what we discussed was something that doesn't revolve around its beaches. There are other things to explore: the Oistin fishing village and their Friday night festival, the Mount Gay rum tour where you can taste the rum made in the world's oldest distillery, the whole tour of the East Coast and the Saint Nicholas Abbey, and get a glimpse of Barbados's rich history, and lastly, the Andromeda Botanic Garden where you can have pleasure among the plants. This was the list of Best Day Trips in Barbados: Exploring the Island Beyond the Beaches, and surely Barbados has a lot of wonderful things beyond this list.