
If you want swaying palms, warm crystalline waters, and powder-soft white beaches, Barbados holidays are for you. At Co-operative Travel we have bargain holidays to Barbados’ most popular resorts, including Bridgetown, Christchurch, Accra Beach and Crane Bay, to name just a few.
While most people book late deals in Barbados for the perfect beaches, the island has far more to offer than just sand, sea and sunshine. A sparkling island that resounds to the song of calypso music, a Barbados holiday offers culture and natural beauty too. A coastline of stunning silver beaches, coves and caverns is home to many varieties of marine life, while inland is a lush landscape of sugar cane plantations, Jacobean mansions, and picturesque candy-coloured houses. Wherever you go, the warmth and hospitality of the Bajan people shines through.
Paradise seekers – Barbados is as close to a tropical paradise as you’re ever likely to find.
Couples – The locals are welcoming to everyone, but the paradise of Barbados beaches plus the natural sway and rhythm of the local music is particularly perfect for romance.
Nature lovers – Barbados is known for its natural beauty, and has a wealth of protected areas and wonderful caves and corals to explore.
8-9 hours
26°C (January) – 27°C (August)
St James is an area on Barbados’s stunning west coast, where the main area of Holetown provides visitors with a glitzy shopping and dining experience, plus an electric nightlife. By day, St James’s white-sand beaches are where you’ll discover a brilliant blue sea and a coast dotted with tropical palm trees. St James Parish Church is another popular highlight of the area, with its charming Gothic architecture and stone inscribed to King William.
At the south of Barbados, the little town of Hastings is edged by some of the island’s most beautiful beaches. Hastings Beach is great for families, as the sea is warm, shallow, and perfect for paddling, despite there being some rocks. The beach boardwalk is a perfect spot to enjoy for a walk at any time of the day, while up on the promenade you’ll find all the facilities you’ll need for a full day on the sand: a children’s playground, fast food, showers, toilets, and a bandstand.
“The Gap” as it is known locally is a small street at the south of Barbados, where the businesses and people comfortably contrast with each other. Million-dollar properties stand beside budget accommodation, quiet bars and party nights have a few steps between each other, and street vendors sell food near restaurants serving fantastic fine dining. Go to the west side if you are looking for The Gap’s vibrant side, and the east side if you are looking to relax.
The parish of St Peter lies on the west coast of Barbados, and offers important historical sites, charming fishing villages, plus great hotels and restaurants. Speightstown is the home and rum plantation of St Nicholas Abbey, which is open to the public. The area is known for its amazing diving and spectacular beaches, and the Barbados Wildlife Reserve is not to be missed either, with its Barbados Green Monkeys, deer, peacocks, and more.
Must visit – The joy of Barbados is that you could spend your whole holiday lying beneath the sun on a tropical beach and you would not have wasted your time. There’s lots to do, but the Caribbean atmosphere is perhaps the most mesmerising reason to visit, lulling you into a world of soothing holiday relaxation. Aside from sunbathing, though, make sure you snorkel or dive if that’s to your tastes, visit Bridgetown with its historic sites and engaging street markets, and sample the wonderful Bajan rum at either the Mount Gay Rum Distillery or the Malibu Visitor Centre.
Family fun – Children and families love Barbados for its beaches and chilled-out tropical vibe. It offers a warm, welcoming experience blessed with perfect beach weather and plenty to do. If your children are too young to enjoy a dive, why not take them in a submarine to see the jaw-dropping beauty of the island’s tropical fish, coral reefs, and even a shipwreck? Or what about an off-road jeep adventure that’s perfect for older kids and teens? Then you can finish the day by dropping by Oistins Friday Night Fish Fry, where the locals dance to live reggae and cook up succulent flying fish.
Natural attractions – Barbados brims with natural beauty, with its caves and parks, forests and swamps, reserves and gardens– and that’s not even mentioning the famously blissful beaches. The Animal Flower Cave, which appeared in Billy Ocean’s music videos, has several entrances in St Lucy, and contains pools that are large enough to swim in! Keeping with the flower theme, the Flower Forest is a gorgeous tropical garden in the Barbados countryside. It’s impossible to list all of the natural spots you can enjoy during your Barbados stay, but the bubbling streams at Bath Beach are wonderfully tranquil. You can discover the rest yourself!
Culture and history – Barbados’s official language is English, but it is spoken with a lilting Bajan dialect that is an iconic part of the Caribbean experience. Music and festivals are a huge part of the Barbadian culture, where calypso, reggae, and R&B are played in bars and across the beautiful beaches. The cuisine is another important aspect too, with its piquant African, British, and Indian influences. Barbados gained its independence from the British in 1966 and if you are interested in learning more about its colourful past, visit the Barbados Museum and Historical Society in Bridgetown, housed in the atmospheric former British Military Prison.
Food and drink – The Bajan cuisine is a diverse melting pot of Creole, British, Indian, African, and Irish influences, with an emphasis placed on seafood, flavoursome meats, and no shortage of delicious beverages. The national dish is cou-cou (cornflour and okra), fried flying fish, and a spicy gravy. Curried goat, saltfish, grilled prawns, and of course rice and peas are hugely popular in Barbados. For dessert, try conkies, which are made from coconut, raisins, pumpkins, and corn flour, or black cake, which is a fruity cake made with rum.
Night life – Barbados is known as a party island. St Lawrence Gap is a prime spot for tempting food, drinking, and live music, while Holetown and Bridgetown have some of the island’s most popular venues such as Harbour Lights Carlisle Bay and the Red Door Lounge. If you really want to try something special, Barbados party cruises provide all the food, drinks, and dancing you could want from a Caribbean night out, but from a boat swaying on the waves. Nightclubs are far from the only way to spend an evening in Barbados, so if hard partying isn’t your thing, stick to the chilled bars and restaurants.
Turkey, Benidorm, Canaries, Lanzarote, Mexico, Florida, Tenerife, Orlando, Ibiza, New York,
Majorca, Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol, Costa Dorada, Portugal, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria
Family holidays, All Inclusive holidays, School holidays, Luxury
Update your browser to view this website correctly. Update my browser now