Experience a Fantastic Barbados Excursion You’ll Never Forget!

Whether you’ll be picked up at the Barbados cruise port or you’re in Barbados on a longer visit, we recommend hiring a private guide to bring you on a full or half day Barbados excursion. There are so many great reasons to do a day trip with a local private guide. We try to do it whenever we visit a new destination. It gives us the viewpoint of a local all the while making it easy to see as much as possible in just one day, especially when travelling with kids.

I reached out to several private guides in search of the ‘perfect’ Barbados excursion before our visit to Barbados in March and we decided to go with a local gentleman, Sanjay, that only operates by reputation. He doesn’t have a web site, just an email address, and while this was our first time booking an excursion this way, he was honestly fantastic. He books up quickly so if you’re looking for contact information, don’t hesitate to drop me a message on our contact page for details. He said it was ok if I tell our readers how to contact him. ?

Sanjay, or another Barbados tour operator, will pick you up at the Barbados cruise port or at your local accommodation. Sanjay has several excursions that he suggests but I had my heart set on visiting a few locations that we wanted to explore that were a bit further away from our vacation condo. After all, I still wasn’t quite sure how driving on the opposite side of the road was going to go.

During our day with Sanjay, we visited Earthworks Pottery, Bathsheba, Morgan Lewis Mill, Cherry Hill, St. Nicholas Abbey and Animal Flower Cave. We also stopped for a great lunch along the way. We were never rushed to move along. It was a relaxing day that took approximately six hours. This is perfect timing for those coming from the Barbados cruise port.

A Visit to Earthworks Pottery

Our first stop was Earthworks Pottery. It’s located in St. Thomas Parish (about 20 minutes from the Barbados cruise port) and is open from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm and Saturdays, 9am to 1pm. It’s closed on Sundays and holidays. Remember the latter just in case you’re considering taking a Barbados excursion on the weekend.

We arrived at Earthworks Pottery before 10am and there were no other visitors there.

We were welcomed and told to explore the shop. We didn’t realize before arriving that while their hand made pottery is sold here, there is so much more happening. This is a Barbados attraction that so many visitors miss. I’m so glad we didn’t!

We wandered to the back of the shop and one of the ladies working greeted us and brought us through their workshop.

We had the chance to watch and learn about creating the pottery from molds, how it is fired, how it is painted and how it is glazed.

The kids were fascinated. It was so cool to see everything first hand from those making the pottery. Each job is done by a different person so we had a chance to speak to many artisans involved in the process.

After exploring the workshop, we wandered the shop. Their local handmade pottery is beautiful.

They make dinnerware as well as lovely decorative items. We left with a beautiful dish, a unique Christmas ornament and a few small ceramic animals for Sydney and Caiden. The prices were very reasonable and they were duty free.

Beside Earthworks Pottery is the Batik Studio. There is an art gallery with beautiful prints and a batik workshop and boutique. Batik is fabric that is printed in various prints by hand. The artist was out at the time so unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to learn much but the batik products were beautiful.

Beautiful Bathsheba

When we finished our visit at Earthworks Pottery, we left to explore the incredible east coast of Barbados. Pictures of Bathsheba have amazed me since starting our planning so I couldn’t wait to see it in person. And it was stunning! There’s a reason that so many visitors count Bathsheba as a must-see Barbados attraction.

Just a note, there are a lot of tour buses that visit Bathsheba, many on organized tours from the Barbados cruise port, but be patient, they don’t stay long and they don’t wander beyond the ‘must have’ photo locations.

Wander down the coastline just a short way and you’ll have the area all to yourself.

We explored the coastline, the out crops of rocks, and the massive boulders that seem to burst from the ocean.

Once you’ve wandered along the beach, you can cut across a grassy area to return to the road. You’ll be further down the road from where you started so look for this wonderfully colourful sign.

Make sure you walk up the short hill in the road.

There is an overlook there that has a fantastic view towards the north and south where the shores rest on the Atlantic. The northern area is known as the soupbowl. You may even see one of many surfers that frequent the area.

Lunch at Sand Dunes

After exploring Bathsheba, we were all a little hungry so Sanjay brought us to a wonderful little restaurant, Sand Dunes.

The food was plentiful, delicious and not expensive at all.

The interior was small but we took advantage of the outdoor seating.

They had some of the best macaroni pie we tasted during our time in Barbados and they make a fantastic mahi mahi and potato salad. This was definitely one of our favourite restaurants in Barbados.

Barbados Excursion to Morgan Lewis Mill

We visited windmills in Belgium and we really wanted to see the Morgan Lewis Mill. This is the only in tact sugar mill in Barbados and the only one of two in the Caribbean (the other one is in Antigua).

We didn’t spend long here but the gardens are beautiful and the history itself makes it definitely worth a visit if you do a similar Barbados excursion.

Stop at Cherry Tree Hill

Cherry Tree Hill is one of the best viewpoints in Barbados so we had to include it on our Barbados excursion. The view from the top is beautiful and looks over the Atlantic coast and the green hills of the parish of St. Andrew.

John had a telephone call for work so he wasn’t able to eat with us at the Sand Dunes so we took his to go. Sanjay dropped the back of the van so he could eat with a view!

Cherry Tree Hill is part of the St. Nicholas Abbey plantation but it is accessible to the public without access to the plantation. There is just recently a small tourist train available at St. Nicholas Abbey that travels to Cherry Tree Hill if you aren’t able to visit Cherry Tree Hill on your own or with a guide.

A Visit to St. Nicholas Abbey

Our next stop was St. Nicholas Abbey. I’ll be honest, I didn’t know much about it before our arrival and I think that really impacted our visit. We didn’t have a guide inside and as such, we just kind of wandered. We enjoyed our visit but it was very short and we missed a few key locations, including our included rum punch.

St. Nicholas Abbey is not and never was a religious building despite its name. It is a sugar plantation that has been in operation since the 1600s. The great house is beautiful. There was a lady giving information to a group when we arrived so we listened in and it was incredibly helpful. She explained all the rooms and decoration on the main floor.

We left through the back door of the great house and wandered a bit. We came to a location next to the souvenir shop where there was rum tasting. We did have a nice chat with the owner who was playing bartender at the time.

We mistook this for the rum punch tasting that is included in the entrance fees so we didn’t actually seek out our rum punch. I’ve read that its in the restaurant area so be sure to seek it out.

We wandered the grounds and made our way to the distillery. It was a really interesting location but our visit took place on a day that the distillery wasn’t operating. We really should have checked out our timing to visit this great Barbados attraction in advance.

We were able to wander though and met the gentlemen cutting sugar cane in the back. They were very sweet and offered to cut a few pieces for us and the children to try.  

Overall, it was a nice visit but during your visit, learn from our mistakes. Be sure to take part in the hourly tour of the great house, syrup factory and bottling plant as mentioned on their website. We were unaware of it and it wasn’t brought to our attention on leaving the great house. Also be sure not to miss the free rum punch offered in the terrace café. Finally, try to visit on a day that the distillery is operating. It’s an extremely popular Barbados attraction so I’m sure our initial impressions are solely due to poor planning on our part.

If you’re visiting from the Barbados cruise port and you’re interested in bringing some wonderful Bajan rum back on the ship with you, make sure you check out the gift shop before you leave.

Explore Animal Flower Cave

Our final stop was Animal Flower Cave at the far north of the island. The beauty of this area is just stunning. It is located where the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea meet.

If driving on your own, there is a parking lot just beside the entrance. Tickets can be purchased at the nearby open-air restaurant. Animal Flower Cave is open from 9am to 4:30pm daily and tickets are $25bbd per adult and $10bbd per child under 12. We didn’t eat at the restaurant but the food is said to be quite good. There are kiosks outside the cave selling all types of souvenirs if you are interested.

We went directly to pay admission so we could enter the caves. We put on our water shoes (just in case) and our guide brought us down the steep wooden steps.

The caves are named for the sea anemones that can be found in the pools of the cave.

There wasn’t much water inside so we would have been fine with sneakers. Just make sure you wear sturdy footwear. There was a young lady with flip flops in the cave and she struggled to keep her footing.

The interior of the caves is a series of ‘rooms’ many of which have large ‘windows’ open to the crashing sea just outside. The views from inside are just stunning and are perfect for beautiful photos.

As we wandered from cave to cave with our guide in the lead, the caves became more and more interesting. Our guide told us stories of changes that have occurred in the caves over night and during storms.

The colours inside are beautiful. Many areas are shades of brown, green and orange due to the oxidation of copper and iron inside the cave.

At the last cave the kids were able to swim in the large pool inside the cave while we waited on an underground beach-like area.

There was no rush for us to leave and our guide was happy to answer all of our questions.

Exploring the caves is definitely one of our favourite activities in Barbados and we’ll repeat it on our next visit. It will be interesting to see if the caves have changed in our absence.

Once outside again, wander to each side of the entrance.

Don’t miss these views! On both sides of the cave you can watch from above as the waves crash into the steep cliffs below. It’s hard to believe that the caves are below you.

If you’re in Barbados with younger children, Animal Flower Cave also has a playground.

Despite being at the opposite end of the island from the Barbados cruise port, Animal Flower Cave is only 45 minutes away by car so there is plenty of time to visit as a part of a Barbados cruise excursion.

Summing up our Fantastic Barbados Excursion

Whether staying in Barbados for a week or visiting from the Barbados cruise port for just a day, this Barbados excursion will give you an opportunity to visit some of the most historic and scenic locations on the island. You’ll visit a variety of coastlines, see the lush interior of the island, experience true Bajan cuisine and have a fantastic day.

If you’re looking for a day filled instead with water fun, check out our wonderful Barbados catamaran excursion.

If you have more than a day, try our series of one day Barbados itineraries to plan your visit so there’s plenty of time to explore and relax while in Barbados.

Whatever your plans for your Barbados vacation, you see amazing sights from coast to coast.

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