Advice about Barbados....

MJay

Hi Guys!
Taking my (grown) children on holiday to celebrate a special occassion. We are not going all inclusive. We are staying around the St Lawrence area. We all drive. Any advice on the following:
1. What currency should I take i.e. just Barbados dollar / or USA dollar / or English or a mixture and if so, what percentage of each?
2. Should I use my (best) credit card for food etc instead of cash?
3. Any restraunt reccommends (not cheap but defo NOT top class!)
4. Any place we should defo go on the island?
5. Anything else you can tell me that you think I should know?

Thank you

Mary

HoofeHearted

We went a few years ago; All-Inclusive in HoleTown.

We took few $US to start us off/tipping etc. Went to local bank to change £ to $Barbadian for local shopping.

One thing to note is:- If you purchase anything in a Duty Free shop around the island, you pay for it in the shop and give your return flight details. You then have to take your receipt to a pick-up point at the airport on your way home.

The airport is small and when we were returning, there was no real queue to pick up the goods.

Diamond_Olly

Try the local restaurants - they may not look much, but the food can be fantastic. We were there in October and walked one evening, in between rainshowers, to a restaurant on the main road from our hotel. We were the only people there and the owner sat with us, brought us his best rum. Next day, we saw him in the supermarket - he took us to the rum section and showed us the rum he'd served us!!! Very friendly people. Use the local minibus taxi service - dozens of people fitting in a small space - great fun and cheap. Go to Oistins on Friday night for the fishfry and party.

Oh - I want to go back again now!

Currency - use Barbados dollar for small purchases - most places accept both this and US dollars.

Mands

MJay wrote: »

5. Anything else you can tell me that you think I should know?

• USD to start with, change to BBD when you arrive.
  
• The buses, white minibuses with a purple stripe down the side, are cheap and entertaining. I *think* it's 50¢ per trip. It won't be a quick journey but you won't forget it for a while ;-)
  
• Oistins fishfry on Friday or Saturday night. It is cheap but it's good fun. Pick your stall for food, take it to one of the picnic tables. The food comes on paper plates; the rum punch in plastic cups.

Enjoy! This'll be the first year in three years we haven't been there for at least a couple of days. I think I'll miss it :-(
Mands

sairy2010

I have been to Barbados 3 times but not for a few years. We stayed on Rockly Beach which is fab. I agree about the fish fry on Friday nights it is great fun. There is also a fish market most days where you can buy freshly caught fish quite cheap.
The supermarkets arent cheap but you can buy most things we have and a few unusual things like pigs trotters!
St Lawrence Gap has every sort of bar you could want all in one place and a nice beach.
Go to Fishermans Wharf in Speightstown, if it is still there, at lunchtime. They do real Bajan food very reasonably priced.
Have a great time.

mrcow

If you are self catering - then the big supermarket a few miles from the airport is the cheapest place for food.


If you've got a car, then go to Bathsheba, go to the WIldlife Reserve (it's great), go to Codrington College - really old school and definitely get yourself to Harrisons Cave - it's brilliant.


Also - if you are into really weird stuff - go to Christ Church Parish Church. Don't go into the church, but go into the cemetary and on the first path on the left, you'll see the steps to the Chase family vault - you can go down and peer in (at least you could a few years back):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chase_Vault

mrcow

Oh - and go to the Malibu Rum Factory - it would be rude not to

space_rider

If you like fish and even if you don`t go to Oistins on a Friday night. Brilliant atmosphere and food.

There is a fantastic, although not cheap, safari done by island safari. http://www.islandsafari.bb/ If you do decide to go try and go on the tour done by Raol if he`s still there. He is one of the best guides and he is very genorous with the rum punches. They go to alot of the places you wouldn`t go to as it`s off the beaten track.

I`ve always stayed in St Lawrence Gap and the last place was Yellow Bird Hotel. It`s very close to the night life but can be noisy. St Lawrence Gap is very good for night life and the boat inn ( I think that`s what it`s called) did a really good Sunday carvery lunch.

Rockley beach (Accra) is really nice, in fact I never found a bad beach apart from the ones on the Atlantic side that aren`t safe for bathing. They still have their own charm. Best thing I like about the beaches in Barbados is that none of them are private and they do have police/security that petrol them so you don`t get hassled.

I find Barbados quite safe and I have been once as a couple and twice with my young daughters. I`ve travelled mostly by the buses as they are so cheap and the first time, we hired a car for a few days to go round the island. As someone else as said Bathsheba is amazing and so are the caves.

There was a decent mexican restaurant in St Lawrence Gap last time I went, it`s not cheap but it wasn`t very expensive. The only place I would say to avoid is the chinese restaurant a few bus stops from St Lawrence Gap towards Rockley Beach. There is a good American style restaurant again towards Rockley Beach which does really nice breakfasts.

I`ve been to Barbados 3 times and I love it. I`m now thinking should I apply for a 12 month interest free on purchases just to book a flight!

thedeckking

You will love Barbados, it's a beautiful place and the people are all sooooo friendly. Def go visit the Malibu Factory and the tour of the Banks Beer (it's the islands main lager) Factory is great too. Check to see if the horse racing is on when you go, I've never been in the uk but found it a fab day out. Race dates can be found at barbadosturfclub.com Don't go in the grandstand, instead go trackside with the locals, you just walk up from the road-no entrance fee. There's a booth for you to place bets (I think the min bet is $2Bajan, so it's not expensive). The locals set up bbq's and sell food a drink (great value for money), make sure you try the fishcakes-it's an island speciality.
Some of the restraunts can be quite expensive and it's better staying away from the more touristy places. Talk to the locals-taxis driver, hotel staff, etc. and they'll tell you where they eat. It's much cheaper and much better!!
We did Ted's Tour, which was a day trip round the island. It was booked through the hotel. It was good to do early on in the trip as you can then go back and re-visit the places you like the look of.
The monkey forest is worth a look and orchid world is nice if you like flowers.
Have a good trip and have a Banks for me!

jcorbygas

Your 'children' and you will love going on a catamaran day trip for the snorkelling, etc. I can highly recommend a company called Cool Runnings (they have their own website) - great food,drink and atmosphere.

On the West Coast if you are travelling around there is a great beach bar called Surfside and a good supermarket/shopping arcade just across the road.

The whole place is wonderful and not too expensive to eat and drink once you are there. Your children will love it and unfortunately like mine are now spoilt by going there rather than places like the Med!!

I am glad to see you are self-catering as so many seem to go All Inclusive and miss out on the atmosphere of the island.