Barbados Travel Forum

My wife and I are planning ahead for a trip to Barbados and St Lucia for next winter. We are in our 50's and looking for somewhere peaceful, good beach, but also near bars and restaurants, but not too lively. We don't really want all inclusive. Our budget would be around $200 per night. Can anyone recommend an area and hotel? Also if anyone has done the twin centre stay Barbados and St Lucia any tips would be welcome. ie is it best to fly or catch a boat?

Boat will be interesting option to travel. Barbados is a beautiful island.

It would help to know how much time you have for the trip.

I know both islands pretty well, - the Caribbean is my old stomping ground and I have done that, both working on the cruises and hangin' in the islands, - almost all of them. Here is first some stuff on St. Lucia.

There are two places to stay that I can personally recommend. The Ti Kaye and the Calabash Cove. I prefer the Ti Kaye as it s a place lovingly put together by a nice family. I have recommended it before to honeymooners, and they were in heaven. Also have recommended it to people looking for an anniversary trip. The owners will make any special occasion a memorable one. That you can count on. Tell me what you think, and if you don't think this is for you, we will find others.

http://www.tikaye.com/

http://www.calabashcove.com/activities/index.htm

Now, here is a website that will inform you about all there is to do and see, on St. Lucia, done by another family of enthusiasts, - Scuba Steve, and his lovely wife Shirley. They are technically a scuba diving place, and as such it is great, - but they can do almost anything that you may like to do while in St. Lucia. Take your time to explore their website, it has a lot to review.

http://www.scubastevesdiving.com/

St. Lucia has two airports: - Vieux Fort (Hewanorra) at the southern end of the island (airport code UVF) which accepts wide-body jets and direct flights from the UK and USA, and Vigie (G.F Charles) at the north end of the island by Castries

The travel time by road from Vieux Fort to the Rodney Bay area (which is where most of the Hotels are situated) is around 90 minutes with the route following the Atlantic coast road before entering Castries, (the capital city), by the harbour and then following the Caribbean coast road up to Rodney Bay.

Travel time by road from Vigie to the Rodney Bay area is about 20 minutes. As an alternative, there are Helicopter transfers available from Vieux Fort to Vigie which take about 12 minutes flying time. It has been a while but i know that there are coach transfers available from the airport to the north end of the island. Here are the taxi prices:

http://www.a2btransfers.com/en/index.asp?aid=163&s=v7j

Here are the heli transfer prices...

http://stluciahelicopters.com/airport_shuttles.htm

You will not be disappointed with St. Lucia.

If the "Twin Centre" you are referring to is the Caribbean Multi Centre from Holiday Gateway, - I have not, but it looks quite expensive.

Now, in the Barbados, I like to stay hang out at "The Gap", or St. Lawrence Gap, as it is properly known.

http://www.barbados.org/map_print.htm?Map=StLawrenceGap

When I am there i favor the Souuthern Palms Hotel, as it is really in the heart of the Gap and makes for easy access to everything there.

http://www.southernpalms.net/index.html

Here is some information on the Barbados bus system, which is quite easy to handle, along with other stuff that may help you. Here is also plenty of information on what is available in the area for entertainment and tours and such.

http://www.barbados.org/stlaw.htm#

http://barbados-guide.info/getting.around/buses/

Check out The Plantation Theatre, which has the best stage show on the island. Remember, you can pretty much walk to all the activities in the Gap area.

http://www.plantationtheatre.com/

The St. Lawrence Gap area is of course not the only area on the island that is worth staying at, just the one I like the best. That said, there are many more fine hotels and resorts all over the island. Here is a listing you should look at, and if some of those are more appealing than the Gap area, let me know which ones you like and I will let you know what I know about them. Better than me trying to guess what you like.

http://barbados.org/barbados_hotels.php

Hope this helps give you a fair idea of what you are in for in those two destinations. I am an island bwoy at heart, and will likely end up right back in the Caribbean. Enjoy.....d:o)

Thanks for the detailed response. We are planning a two week break so with flights that would give us 6 nights on both islands. I have heard that 'the Gap' is a good place to stay.

You are very welcome.....d:o)

You are doint this right with two weeks to play with. So many people want to do the "five islands in three days......" thing.

I did not address the transport issue. A flight is 30 minutes plus transfers. The airport info on St. Lucia is correct connencting with Bridgetown in Barbados which is about 7 or 8 miles from town (BGI).

There has been talk of ferry service between Barbados and St. Lucia and other islands for years. One was started back in 2005 (I think), but did not work. The main player in this is Star Ferry Service, and I had expected that it would be in full operation by now, but I cannot find a website.

However I have heard of a French or Belgian/Caribbean company called L’Express des îles, that was supposed to start a ferry service in 2009. I have no further information on this other than this.

http://repeatingislands.com/2009/08/19/new-ferry-service-expected-for-eastern-caribbean/

Here is the L'Express des isles site. The link is huge due to translation

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.express-des-iles.com/&ei=ZqUwTe7QE5K-sQOG1YTWBQ&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCEQ7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3DL%25E2%2580%2599Express%2Bdes%2B%25C3%25AEles%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26prmd%3Divns

Have fun....d:o)

Spouse and I were there a few years ago and stayed at the Crane Resort on Crane Beach (yes, it really is pink). To get close to your price range you will have to stay in the Historic Hotel, which is where we stayed and we loved it. Three foot thick walls cut from coral and lime stone floors. We took a deluxe hotel room, which was awesome; end unit with doors on two sides and very private.

A budget of 200.00 is actually not much considering you are looking for a winter accommodation. however, there are possibilities, but don't expect total luxury. The gap is a good place. have a look at www.barbados.org and check out some of the accommodations that may interest you.

Planes are the only mode of transport these days as the ferry service planned has not happened and likely will not happen, the way things are going.

enjoy your trip.