Trinidad / Special Interests / Island Tours

Trinidad is synonymous with Carnival, steel band and calypso and if you can’t attend the event itself in the days before Ash Wednesday then there are cultural tours available which will give you some of the flavour. It’s also possible to visit the mas camps and pan yards under your own steam, but organised trips are probably more rewarding (see our Trinidad Carnivals & Festivals section for more information) although given that the Trinis are the liveliest of all the Caribbean islanders, if you are invited to a party, go.

Port of Spain has a rich architectural, cultural and religious heritage with numerous denominations amongst its polyglot society and this is also best explored with dedicated guides. A simple stroll round the Savannah will startle anyone with an eye for architecture and the history of the “Magnificent Seven” buildings is an education it itself, and well worth appreciating.

Any visitor to Trinidad should always contemplate a layover in Tobago too if time allows, the sister island having an allure all its own; the ferry service from downtown takes 2½ hours or you can fly with Caribbean Airlines’ air-bridge service, with several flights per day which take less than twenty minutes (see our Trinidad Island Hopping section). See the Definitive Guide to Tobago.

Below we recommend a handful of the best tour/guide operators, each of which has their specialist knowledge.

The Travel Centre - A long-established professional company based in Woodbrook, Port of Spain. Full range of tours, top-class guides and expertise.  

Banwari Experience, Lower Santa Cruz  - Offer a wide range of tours including Carnival options, cultural tours, beach picnics, and river limes.

There are also a number of exceptional individual guides, prominent amongst them being Christo Adonis, a Carib descendant fully au fait with medicinal plants in the northern forests and Jalal Khan, an authoritative and well travelled hiker.