Tour Barbados East
There are many things to do and see on the east coast of Barbados so you can either take a self-driven tour of this coast or you can go on an organized bus tour.
Starting at Grantley Adams International Airport follow the main road past the Barbados Concorde Experience on your right and continue on this road into the parish of St. Philip. Carry on until you see signs for St. Martin’s Church on your right; take this right hand bend in the road. You will then see St. Martin’s Church, which is a very grand old Anglican church that is open for you to walk around and enjoy.
Continue on until you come to a Texaco gas station on your right, follow the road around to the right until you come see signs on your right for Foul Bay. Pull in to Foul Bay to see a fantastic beach, which is ideal for a picnic and body boarding.
Back on the main road; carry on until you see The Crane Hotel on your right. The Crane Resort is one of the oldest hotels in Barbados and over recent years has undergone a complete refurbishment, they have a number of fine dining restaurants and it is a wonderful place to stop for lunch and sit on the balcony overlooking the Crane Beach, which is voted as one of the world’s top 10 beaches.
Pull out of the Crane Resort and turn right, follow the road until you see signs for Sam Lord’s Castle. This historic property operated as a hotel for many years, but is closed down at present (December 2008), however there are two spectacular beaches located here that are well worth venturing down to. The sea here can be rough for swimming but the views are wonderful.
When you leave Sam Lord’s Castle, take the first right hand turn off the main road, and at the next junction turn left and follow the road until you reach the Six Roads roundabout, here you will find a shopping centre with Emerald City Supermarket, which has a wide choice in groceries. There are also some other retail units selling clothes and shoes.
At the Six Roads roundabout, you can take the third exit to Sunbury Plantation House on your right hand side. Sunbury is open to the public and has an impressive collection of horse drawn carriages and a delightful courtyard restaurant.
Further along this same road you will find Daphne’s Sea Shell Studio with hand painted shells for you to buy as gifts to take home.
From Daphne’s Sea Shell Studio head back to the Six Roads roundabout and take the third exit, then on your left you will come to the Four Square Rum Distillery and Heritage Park. Here you will find a fully functional rum factory, where you can take a tour, sample the rum and buy souvenirs from the gift shop and get refreshments in the restaurant. Heritage Park is great to wander around, as it is mainly shady and very tranquil.
Now your tour of St. Philip is complete, you can head out of the Four Square Rum Factory and turn right, back up to Six Roads roundabout, take the third exit and go back past Sunbury Plantation House and follow the road all the way until you see signs for Kendal on your left.
Here you will find Kendal Sporting Range, where you can enjoy a full shooting range with paint balling, rifle shooting, clay pigeon, and a hand pistol range. There is a full bar and restaurant and swimming pool so it can be a
great place to spend the day with the family.
When you come out of Kendal turn left back on to the main road and continue onto the parish of St. John. When you come to the junction turn right, and carry on until you come to another junction. Here you need to turn left and continue until you come to an area called Society, turn right here.
Follow this road until the next junction where you will turn left and then on the right you will see Codrington College, a renowned theological college and private school for children. The grounds and college itself are beautiful to have a walk around and to enjoy the sightseeing.
Back on the main road from Codrington College, keep heading north until you see signs for Bath. Bath is a lovely little village with great beaches, picnic areas, children facilities and a protected coral reef providing great rock pools for swimming and snorkeling.
From Bath, take Highway 3B, and at Four Cross Roads, turn left until you see signs for Lemon Arbour on your right. Here you will find car number plates from all parishes of the island as locals gather at the local rum shop, which is famous for it’s pork at Saturday during lunch times.
Now your tour of St. John is complete, now you will head up to the next parish of St. Joseph. From Lemon Arbour get back onto the main road and head back to Four Cross Roads. Turn right back on to Highway 3B, and turn left at St. John’s Parish Church, at the next junction turn right and follow this windy road all the way to Easy Hall, at this junction turn right until you reach Highway 3. Turn right onto Highway 3 and follow the signs to Bathsheba.
Bathsheba is stunningly beautiful and somewhere that you have to visit on your tour of the east coast of Barbados. It is famous for it’s great surf spot ‘The Soup Bowl‘ where International Surfing Competitions are held annually in November.
Bathsheba is a quiet little village with a very relaxing atmosphere; you could spend your afternoon having some lunch at The Round House, The Edgewater Inn or The Atlantis Hotel, all of which have great restaurants.
Next door to The Atlantis Hotel you will find Andromeda Botanical Gardens, which are magnificent for a relaxing sightseeing experience strolling around taking in the tropical flora and fauna.
As that completes your tour of St. Joseph head now to the parish of St. Andrew. From Bathsheba head out to the Highway along the coast, past the area of Cattlewash and through Barclays Park, which is again an ideal picnic area. Carry on until you come to a junction, and then turn left onto Highway 2.
Go along Highway 2 until you see signs for Chalky Mount Potteries on your left. Here you will find a generation of potters selling unique pieces for you to buy and take home.
After the potteries, get back on Highway 2 and head north and enter the parish of St. Peter. The first place of interest that you will come to is Farley Hill National Park. This was the home to Barbados’ grandest house, which was used as the setting for the 1950’s classic film, ‘Island in the Sun‘. Sadly the house was destroyed by fire only a matter of months after filming finished. The remains of the house are now used as a stunning backdrop for major musical events such as Jazz on the Hill and Reggae on the Hill.
From Farley Hill follow the sign posts for the Barbados Wildlife Reserve. Here you will find a wonderful park filled with green monkeys and other interesting wildlife.
From the Barbados Wildlife Reserve, turn right back onto the main road heading north. At the next junction turn right, where you will see signs for St. Nicholas Abbey, one of the only three remaining Jacobean properties left in the western hemisphere.
In this area around St. Nicholas Abbey is Cherry Tree Hill, where there are some excellent photo opportunities.
Finally to complete your tour of the entire east coast come down from Cherry Tree Hill and follow signs for Morgan Lewis Mill, which is open to the public for sightseeing.
For more information on the places of interest mentioned in this article please visit the tourist attractions section of Totally Barbados.
