Barbados has superb beaches, top class hotels and restaurants, and the best sunshine record in the Caribbean.

Its west coast has the fine beaches, warm Caribbean Sea, and many luxury hotels and villas. The east coast is far more rugged facing the Atlantic Ocean, with cliffs and coves, but is not so spoiled by mass tourism.

If you decide to visit Barbados, what are the things you need to make sure you don’t miss?

You must visit Bridgetown for its boutiques, and the quayside bistros where you can eat freshly caught seafood for you lunch.

Go to the Barbados wildlife reserve, walk through the mahogany forest and see the monkeys and macaws.

Visit the Graham Hill Nature Reserve for the most popular place for bird watching.

Between January and March, May to October you can take a sunset horseback ride on the sands at Garrison Savannah.

Get underwater either by snorkelling, scuba diving or submarine.

Don’t forget the island’s jazz festival in mid January, the Holders opera season in mid March, the open golf tournament in December, and of course cricket almost all the time, with the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2007.

Why not take a charter flight to the Grenadines for a champagne and lobster picnic on the beach.
You can hire a four wheeler, and go on a journey of discovery and see places other tourists don’t. This could include the pastel washed houses of cliff-top Bathsheba, potteries for ceramic art, the Morgan Lewis windmill, and the garden and arches of St. Nicholas Abbey.

There is so much to do that you will be amazed. You can go caving, to Animal Flower Cave where you will see a rainbow of colourful coral, or there is the mile long underground train trip through Harrisons Cave.

One of the best things about Barbados is how easy it is to travel to other islands from Barbados, so why not consider a multi centre vacation? Grenada, or Tobago spring to mind as two relatively peaceful places for a twin centre holiday.

In fact any respectable Travel Agent can organise that for you.

Whatever, Barbados can and will give you the vacation of a lifetime.

Submitted by: Ian Smith Ian Smith gtravels and writes about hotels and places. Check out Barbados Vacations