Bridgetown

Specialties at this lively, modern, air-conditioned restaurant include fresh pasta, thin-crust pizzas, colorful salads, and decadent desserts. Enjoy an aperitif, martini, or their specialty sorrel cocktail at the chic bar. This a favorite spot for lunch, family get-togethers, and date nights.

This food-truck park is a great spot to sample a wide variety of dishes for lunch or dinner. Venezuelan arepas, Italian pizzas, Jamaican jerk pork, Trinidadian roti, and Bajan classics are among the many options here. There's live music on Thursday, and sometimes there are other special events as well. Though the area is shaded, it's best to go at night, when the temperature is a bit cooler and the lights add a nice atmosphere.

The main store on Broad Street sells an array of clothing for men, women, and children; make-up and perfume; jewelry; and souvenirs and luxury goods at duty-free prices. Branches are at Holetown's Sunset Crest mall on the west coast and at the Vista shopping complex in Worthing and Sheraton Mall in Sargeants on the south coast; the airport departure lounge and cruise ship terminal each have a boutique.

This lively, family-friendly club—complete with beach chairs, bars, good food, and shower facilities—is on a beautiful, calm beach with excellent snorkeling spots. Lounge under an umbrella on the sand, cocktail in hand, or enjoy fresh fish tacos while watching a sports match on an indoor screen. This is also a venue for concerts and outdoor movie screenings during the Barbados Independent Film Festival. Day passes include use of amenities and act as credit that guests can redeem at the bar and restaurant.

This duty free shop carries fine watches and jewelry fashioned in Italian gold, Caribbean silver, diamonds, and other gems. They also carry Cartier, Breitling, Bulgari, and Crown of Light. The main shop is on Broad Street, with branches at the Limegrove Lifestyle Centre and the cruise ship terminal.

This open-air, beachfront club claims to be the "home of the party animal." Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday nights (during high season) are the hottest, with dancing under the stars to reggae and soca music. On Monday and Wednesday evening, there's a family-friendly "cultural" dinner show on the beach, along with three live bands and a Bajan barbecue dinner, with drinks.

Located on the waterfront, this lovely, shaded spot is a great place to relax and take in the sights and sounds of Bridgetown, while you enjoy the view of the parliament buildings and National Heroes Square across the water. Note the statue of the island's first prime minister, the late Errol Walton Barrow, affectionately known as the "Father of Independence." Don't miss the Independence Arch on the Chamberlain Bridge right next door.

This minichain's shop, where you can find perfume, jewelry, cameras, audio equipment, Swarovski and Waterford crystal, and Wedgwood china, is at The Colonnade Mall in Bridgetown.

Overlooking National Heroes Square in the center of town, these Victorian buildings were constructed around 1870 to house the British Commonwealth's third-oldest parliament (after Britain itself and Bermuda). A series of stained-glass windows in the East Wing depicts British monarchs from James I to Victoria. The National Heroes Gallery & Museum of Parliament is in the West Wing.

This national park is the site of beautiful gardens, a children's playground, a sports/events field, and one of the island's two immense baobab trees. Brought to Barbados from Guinea, West Africa, around 1738, this tree has a girth of more than 60 feet. Queen's Park House, built in 1783 and the historic home of the British troop commander, now houses the Daphne Joseph Hackett Theatre, which hosts special events and exhibits, and the Queen's Park Gallery, which features work by both emerging and established artists.

Although no one has proven it, George Washington is said to have worshipped here in 1751 during his only trip outside the United States. By then, the original structure was already nearly a century old. Destroyed or damaged twice by hurricanes, the cathedral was rebuilt in 1789 and again in 1831. Officially called "Cathedral Church of Saint Michael and All Angels," it currently seats 1,600 people and boasts the largest pipe organ in the Caribbean.

Providing for the spiritual needs of one of the oldest Jewish congregations in the western hemisphere, the Nidhe Israel Synagogue was formed by Sephardic Jews who arrived in 1628 from Brazil and introduced sugarcane to Barbados. The adjoining cemetery has tombstones dating from the 1630s. The original house of worship, built in 1654, was destroyed in an 1831 hurricane, rebuilt in 1833, and restored in 1986 with the assistance of the Barbados National Trust. The adjacent museum, opened in 2009 in a restored coral-stone building from 1750, documents the story of the Barbados Jewish community. A significant project in 2017 updated the grounds and restored artisans' workshops and other buildings on the newly designated Synagogue Historic Site. You can arrange an insightful, private tour of both the grounds and the museum. Friday-night services are held in winter months, but the building is open to the public year-round. Shorts are not acceptable during services but may be worn at other times.

There's never a dull moment at this popular beachside bar—day or night. From happy hour until the wee hours, you can enjoy refreshing cocktails, beautiful sunsets, and lively music. There are also several offerings for children, including a rope swing into the sea and a trampoline in the water.

In the early days, Bridgetown's natural harbor was where schooners were turned on their sides (careened) to be scraped of barnacles and repainted. Today, The Careenage serves as a marina for pleasure yachts and excursion boats, as well as a gathering place for locals and tourists alike. A boardwalk skirts the north side of The Careenage; on the south side, a lovely esplanade has pathways and benches for pedestrians and a statue of Errol Barrow, the first prime minister of Barbados. The Chamberlain Bridge and the Charles Duncan O'Neal Bridge span The Careenage.