What Travelers Say About Bridgetown
Bridgetown is the capital of Barbados and sits on the island's sheltered southwest coast, around the curve of Carlisle Bay. Founded by English settlers in 1628, it is one of the oldest towns in the Caribbean, and its old centre together with the nearby military Garrison is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, full of colonial Georgian buildings, a small careenage harbour, and the pink-and-grey Parliament. Barbados stayed British for over three centuries, became independent in 1966, and in 2021 cut its last constitutional tie by becoming a republic.
Barbados has a reputation as one of the easiest and most settled islands in the region: stable, friendly, and well organised, with good roads and a strong sense of national pride (the singer Rihanna is the island's most famous daughter). The west coast facing the Caribbean is calm and clear, good for swimming, while the Atlantic east coast around Bathsheba is wild and rocky, better for watching the surf than getting into it.
Local life and food are a big part of the appeal. Bajans take their cooking seriously: flying fish and cou-cou, peppery fish cakes, and rum that traces back to 1703, when Mount Gay began distilling what is often called the world's oldest rum. A Friday night at the Oistins fish fry, with grilled fish, music, and dancing, is the classic local night out.