Barbados is the 'Little England' of the Caribbean. Bajans, as the islanders call themselves, are as West Indian as any of their neighbours, and have tended to appropriate rather than adopt English customs. You'll notice this the first time you check out a local cricket match, since the gentlemanly English game has a totally different rhythm here. Nonetheless, there are old stone Anglican churches in every parish, horse races on Saturdays and portraits of Queen Liz hanging on plenty of walls.

Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados is a busy commercial city set on Carlisle Bay, the island’s only natural harbour. It’s short on must-see sights but certainly worth sauntering around for half a day. It’s an architectural hodgepodge of modern and colonial, with side streets leading off into residential neighbourhoods sprinkled with rum shops and chattel houses.

True to the island’s British heritage, there are monumental obelisks, gothic parliament buildings, and a large Anglican cathedral. More surprising perhaps is Bridgetown’s distinctive 19th-century synagogue; the first synagogue on this site was built in the 1600s, when Barbados had a Jewish population of more than 300.
Bridgetown’s outdoor attractions include the Careenage, a finger-like inlet lined with recreational boats that cuts into the heart of the city; and Queen’s Park, which has good picnicking lawns and a huge old baobab tree for shade.

Military history buffs should head to the Barbados Garrison, the 17th-century base of the British Windward and Leeward Islands Command. It has a museum, fortifications, brigs and cannons a-plenty. The Barbados Museum has engaging exhibits, and for a quick immersion in the island’s history you couldn’t do better than to spend an hour or two here. The best way to wrap up the day is to visit the street food stalls and rum shops along the well-lit sections of Baxter’s Rd, Bridgetown’s ‘street that never sleeps.’

Holetown, is the oldest town in Barbados, but you’d hardly know it from its modern appearance. Founded in the 1620s, Holetown is now a major cog in the island’s tourism machine. You can absorb some of the town’s history at St James Church, a 19th-century structure that still has traces of its 17th-century past, including a bell inscribed with the name of King William.

Sam Lord’s Castle on the southern coast’s Long Bay has an interesting, albeit much embellished, history. The mansion was constructed by Sam Lord who, according to legend, hung ‘wrecker’ lanterns off the point to lure ships onto nearby Cobbler’s Reef. The ships thought they were entering a safe harbour, and when they crashed on the reef Lord purportedly went down to collect the cargo.

Along the southwestern coast there’s a cluster of small, low-key towns with excellent beaches that provide much of the island’s low to mid-range accommodations. St Lawrence, about 15km (9mi) southeast of Bridgetown, is the liveliest, offering plenty of opportunities to boogie down or fill up on flying fish.