Highlights

• Oistin’s Fish Market for fish fry
• Needhams Point Light House
• Charles Fort
• Old town hall
• Royal Mail postboxes
• Bridgetown Duty Free Shopping on Broad Street
• National Heroes Square
• Independence square
• Queen’s Park House
• Ancient baobab
• General Post Office, which opens at 8
• Pebbles beach
• Browne’s beach
• Garrison Savannah
• Bathsheba Beach
• George Washington house and tunnels
• The Richard Haynes Boardwalk
• Hortons Beach
• Hastings Beach
• Rihanna Drive Monument
• Kensington Oval
• Barbados Sign
• Port of Bridgetown
• Brandons Beach
• Mighty Grynner monument
• Folkestone Marine park
• Mount Gay Rum Distillery
• Shark hole
• Sam Lord’s Castle
• The Cliffs Of Awe
• Foul Bay
• Lavender Point

Before you go

• UK and US citizens don’t need a visa to stay for up to 6 months. However, you must have a valid passport and return ticket. British need to complete a landing form online in advance
• The capital of Barbados and largest city is Bridgetown
• Rihanna, the famous singer, is from Bridgetown
• English is the official language and many locals also speak Bajan Creole
• Many smaller businesses do not accept credit cards so have either US or Barbadian dollars available
• You often need Barbadian dollars for parking machines
• People from Barbados can be called Barbadians but a common term is also Bajans
• The flying fish is the national fish, and the national dish is flying fish with coucou (cornmeal and okra)
• Taxis can be expensive so consider hiring a car if you want to explore
• Roads are sometimes rough with many pot holes
• Driving is on the left side of the road
• Traffic at rush hour in the morning and evening can be heavy
• Weather is tropical and there can be sudden rain
• Although there are mosquitos, there is no malaria
• It is strictly illegal for civilians (including children) to wear camouflage clothing
• Book in advance for certain attractions such as Mount Gay Rum Distillery and the Oval
• Enjoy some of the less frequented beaches for beautiful, peaceful views

Transport

• The main airport is Grantley Adams International Airport (BGI), located in the Christ Church area
• From the airport, taxis were about 50 USD to Bridgetown. Hiring a car made more sense for me to get around for my short stay. I used the local company, Stoutes, and they were great. I suggest getting the full insurance with no deductible if you can
• Buses and shared taxis are very popular. If you take those, check schedules on the transport website. Also remember that you will need Barbadian dollars to pay
• You can walk around Bridgetown, but be aware of pickpockets

Accommodation

• Hotel PomMarine is a 3-star hotel near Bridgetown and just a short walk from the beach
• Good air conditioning, spacious room, free delicious breakfast, security, free parking lot, wifi and a pool
• It’s not fancy but I enjoyed my stay and it was comfortable and safe
• As usual I recommend checking reviews on Google Reviews or using AirBnB

Currency

The official currency of Barbados is the Barbadian Dollar
As of November 2025, 2 Barbadian dollars are equal to 1 USD and many vendors accept either currency. I didn’t need much Barbadian cash except for parking.

I recommend to check the currency conversion just before you leave as this fluctuates

Food

Cou-Cou (cornmeal and okra) and Flying Fish is the national dish of Barbados. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to try the cou-cou but I did have flying fish! Local food contains a lot of fish, which was great for me.

Coconut rusks were one of my favourite snacks. They are a savoury and slightly sweet cracker, and they can be found in most supermarkets and shops. When I bought them at the petrol station, I noticed that they were for dogs, but the attendant assured me that people can eat them too!

Blakey’s Bar & Restaurant was close to my hotel and on the beach, so it was a great place to have my first meal in Barbados. Service was friendly and my server recommended the fried flying fish with macaroni pie. Yummy, and I was happy to find flying fish.

Oistin’s fish market is an experience for the Friday night fish fry. There are many restaurants at the market, and they are all trying to attract you into their space. I went to Yvonne’s Bar & Grill, and despite the mixed reviews, I really enjoyed the food. The servers do try to up-sell you to lobster which got annoying after they did that several times. However, the fish and salads were tasty and reasonable.

Hibiscus Cafe was a cute place I stopped at for a takeaway brunch. I had the fried fish sandwich and plantains and it was delicious!

Chilly Moo’s ice cream was a fun treat, located in a mini mall. However, I have seen that it is now permanently closed. I was paying cash and was 50 cents short, so a local customer in the cafe kindly gave me the coins to pay for the ice cream. So generous!

Finally, if you are into liquors then the island produces rum including from the original rum distillery, Mount Gay. I was fortunate to go on the tour and do some tasting.