Tammy and I visited Barbados for a quick trip with the kids in March 2025. We had an early morning flight out of JFK so stayed at the TWA Hotel, connected by Air Train to all the terminals. It's the iconic TWA Terminal designed by architect Eero Saarinen and opened in 1962. The hotel in incredible, with nice rooms, a couple restaurants, lobby bar in the old boarding lounge, a rooftop pool and bar, and a display of vintage TWA flight attendant uniforms. The hotel alone was worth the drive from Philly!
Barbados has a lot of history, great resorts, and beautiful beaches (wild and rocky on the east, and more placid on the west. They accept USD, and their currency is pegged 2:1 to the dollar. Taxis are the way to get around, but they are expensive and unmetered, so agree to the price before the trip.
Barbados was the richest of the British American colonies, and is considered the most "British" of the Caribbean Islands. The capitol Bridgetown is a UNESCO World Heritage site, with several very historic buildings for the British colonial period (17th and 18th century). We took the two hour "A Guided Walking Tour of a Historic City - Bridgetown" through Viator, which was really informative The Parliament building and Methodist church are impressive. The Synagogue is among the oldest in the western hemisphere, dating from 1665. St Nicholas Abbey was built as a plantation mansion in 1658 and is one of the three oldest Jacobian mansions in the western hemisphere (2 in Barbados and Bacon's Castle in Virginia). St Nicholas runs a rum micro-distillery that offers an interesting tour and tasting.
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| Parliament Building |
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| Synagogue District |
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| Methodist Church |
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| Anglican Church |
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| St Nicholas Abbey |
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| St Nicholas Distillery |
We stayed at The Crane Resort, which is a beautiful resort and had a 3 bed 3 bath units.
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| View from Crane Resort |
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| Crane Resort |
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| Crane Beach |
Two restaurants that we loved were: Dis Ole House, with great outdoor patio and excellent local cuisine; Le Shack, French inspired island cuisine in a great venue. Both were excellent. Some local Bajan (Barbadian) favorites we enjoyed: |
| Dis Ole House |
- Fried Flying Fish "Cutter" (sandwich)
- Fish Cakes made with cod
- Mac Pie (macaroni and cheese)
- Blackened Barracuda
- Rum Cakes
- Cou Cou (cornmeal and okra) and Fish
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| TWA Hotel |
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| Independence Arch |
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| Heroes Square |
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| Mutual Assurance Building |
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| Bridgetown Waterfront |
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| Rocky Coast at Crane Beach |
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| Le Shack |
