Barbados Excursion - St Nicholas Abbey Caribbean Cruise Excursion Review

We had been planning to visit St Nicholas Abbey for a while but decided to save it until my mum's visit in November. We weren't really sure what to expect, but at least they have a website so you can check opening times and costs etc before you go, which is a nice change in Barbados.

We live on the West Coast, so decided to get a bus to the area and walk the last 10 minutes or so. The bus stop I had seen on the map (I use Moovit) looked like it was next to the shorter route, but turned out to be the back entrance. It was very simple to find and the people on the bus were very helpful in pointing out the dirt track that would take us there. It didn't take long to get to the site but you do have to walk through the whole site to go and buy your tickets and get your wristband upon arrival. Having walked the other route back to the bus stop to go home I still think we chose the better way in as the main entrance is along a longer road and is uphill. My track was a little uneven and you don't get the impressive entrance but it was much shorter. See my route below.

Once we had our tickets we had a look at their train station. We had decided we didn't want to do the train ride, as it was just as expensive as the entrance tickets and didn't seem to go far on a track in the grounds. But if you like trains then you will enjoy it. The station had information boards that you could still read without going in. The lady at the entrance also told us they are in the process of extending the train line so this might be more appealing to me in the future.

We walked around the grounds and made our way back to the main house as we had walked past everything on our way in. There were a few seats at the entrance and the guide said the next tour would be in about 10 minutes. We had one other couple join us and our guide took us into the house. She was very informative and entertaining, showing us some of the decorations and telling us the history of the house. It was never religious so don't let the name put you off.

My favourite item was the gentleman's chair I really think they should come back into fashion and everyone should have one. It had several nifty attachments, could fully recline for the Master of the house to have a snooze, and was on wheels so if his snoring became too loud he could be wheeled away! Brilliant! I was slightly disappointed that we didn't get to see the bedrooms upstairs, but there are some photos and I suppose if hundreds of people are going up and down the stairs it would take a toll on the house.

After the house tour, I thought we would be finished, but this was just the beginning. The guide took us over to the distillery. She explained the rum-making process, they still have a steam-powered sugar cane press, installed in 1890, although this only operates from January to May when they cut the sugar cane from the fields, We were shown the barrels and she answered any questions we had before taking us to the room where they bottle and add labels by hand to every bottle they sell. This room showed us how the company tries to stay true to its roots. They use local materials as much as possible and recycle everything, even the pressed sugar canes become dried fuel to be used by the steam press to continue the process. The paths around the property are the old bilge bricks.

We saw the very advanced (for the time) bathrooms and watched a short but very informative video (a home movie filmed circa 1935) before moving into the tasting room. We got to try the 5 year rum, white rum and some banana liqueur (which was my favourite). The guide then left us to look at the shop and the artefacts and photos they have in this area.

After the tour, it was getting towards lunchtime and we found an oasis next to the shop. Their beautiful restaurant is surrounded by forest. We had the day's special which was a fish platter and some lemonade. It was a lovely place to relax and enjoy the scenery. There is another café-style restaurant near the train station so you can get something to eat there as well.

After the meal and just enjoying the beauty of where we were, we left the Abbey grounds and walked up to the top of Cherry Tree Hill so we could get the views over the East Coast. This is where the train journey takes you. There are stalls selling souvenirs and when we visited there was an ice cream van which was the perfect end to the day. We walked back down the hill to get the bus back to the West and enjoyed a fantastic day.

Overall thoughts

Lots of people visit here as part of an island tour, so probably don't spend much time here. Yes, it is easier if you have a car, but don't let not having one stand in your way. The local buses will get you there. It was a great location and well thought out, we spent about 3 hours here as we didn't rush. It seems that they are expanding the visitors area so it would be great to visit again in a year or so and see what they have done.