Antigua and Barbuda / Places of Interest

If you can tear yourself from the beach there is actually quite a lot to see in Antigua, particularly if you are interested in history. As one of Britain’s three main strongholds in the Caribbean (along with Barbados and Jamaica), Antigua has an extraordinary naval and military history and the island is literally ringed with barracks and fortifications.

The most important area is in the south-east, around English Harbour, particularly Nelsons Dockyard, a restored Georgian dockyard. It is also a living place because its modern use as a base for sailors is quite similar to its original use. For a in-depth look at Nelsons Dockyard, see our Culture & Heritage - Historical Sites section.

At one stage in the 1700s, Antigua was also completely covered with sugar cane. The plantation story can be seen at Betty’s Hope, a sugar estate that has been partially restored. Finally, the story of emancipation is told in the villages of Freetown and Liberta. They are normal Antiguan villages now, but are the villages created by the slaves freed in 1838.

St John’s

St John’s, Antigua’s capital, is set on a huge natural harbour on the western side of the island. It was laid out on a regular grid pattern in 1702 on ground that rises gradually away from the waterfront to the east, to the heights now dominated by the twin towers of the Cathedral (the town became a city in 1842). St John’s has a population of around 23,000 and it is the main commercial centre of the island as well as the main port. You will see the container ships in the bay as well as the cruise ships at the modern terminal.

St John’s is becoming gradually more and more modern, but there are still a few individual stone and wooden ‘shirt and skirt’ buildings that show the traditional style of the town. Others have consciously been restored. You will find a number of excellently conserved buildings at Redcliffe Quay (now turned into shops and restaurants), unlike those at the optimistically named Heritage Quay on the waterfront, which are overwhelmingly modern and pastel coloured. St John’s straight streets contain all the banks and shops you would expect of a modern Caribbean town, but you will also see roadside traders selling in the traditional West Indian way from stalls.

The town has expanded considerably beyond the limits of its original grid now, and there are outlying residential and light industrial areas in all directions. To the north are residential areas and to the east at the top of the hill you come to the East Bus Station, the cricket ground and new government buildings and the new hospital. As you leave the main grid of streets to the south you come to the main covered market, the fish market and the West Bus Station. They are one of the hives of modern Antiguan life, a source of gossip and West Indian banter.

For art galleries and studios to visit on Antigua, please see our separate section on Art & Artisans.