How to save money on your Barbados Vacation

The Barbados National Trust orgainises free guided walks or guided hikes every Sunday .



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This is Gun Hill Signal station, where we started our guided Barbados hike. The walks are graded, and whatever your level of fitness there is a walk for you. Walks or hikes take place on a Sunday in the main winter tourist season, and are really well attended by enthusiastic visitors and locals alike. The guide stops at regular intervals, and tells you all sorts of fascinating information and history.
Wear sensible shoes, take water and sunscreen, and enjoy a really fascinating budget Barbados experience.A great Barbados vacation tip.
For details of Barbados hikes during your Barbados vacation, see Barbados National Trust Guided Hikes . The hikes are free- but donations to the Barbados National Trust are very welcome.A great budget Barbados money saving tip -Take a free guided hike
On the Friday nearest the full moon, visit Gun Hill by Moonlight.
Food, music , drinks and fun as the sun sets- a great Bajan experience for a very small charge. Oragnised by the National Trust.

The sun sets off the West Coast of Barbados around 6 pm. Some days the sun just goes down without a fuss- no color, no drama. On other days , the climatic conditions lead to spectacular sunsets. After a few days in Barbados you begin to sense if the weather conditions are right for a great sunset.
If it looks like being a great Barbados sunset, get off your balcony or sun terrace, and find a new spot to watch the sunset.
The picture on the right here, with the lookout tower, is actually taken on the Barbados South Coast, on Miami Beach, also known as Enterprise beach. Here you can join the locals at the picnic benches, buy a drink, watch beach volleyball and enjoy the Barbados sunset. A wonderful Budget Barbados tip. Another money saving tip for your budget Barbados vacation Watch the sun go down on the west coast for a great free show

This picture is taken at the little beach at the northern end of Fitts Village, just down the road from the all inclusive Crystal Cove Resort - Every evening local residents take a sunset dip here, and love to welcome visitors. There's lots of chattering, lots of fun.
For a really great value sunset cocktail,in a top location, uncrowded and beautiful, my top tip is Il Tempio Restaurant and Bar, Fitts Village This great Italian restaurant right on the beach has half price drinks and cocktails from 4pm to 6 pm . No hassle, just chill .Barbados on a budget at its best.

Rum cocktails- nothing could be more Carribean, and Barbados is the centre of Carribean rum production.Most famous is Mount Gay Rum .A tour of Mount Gay Rum is a great visit. Rum is great value in the supermarkets, and rum cocktails slip down so well in Barbados.

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The other top Barbados drink is Banks Beer the beer of Barbados. It's a light beer, perfectly suited to drinking in the hot climate. Available absolutely everywhere, great value. Don't even think about drinking expensive imported beers, Banks Barbados beer is the best.
Top Barbados tip. Drink the local beer and the local rum - great Barbados drinks for your Barbados vacation.This is my top Budget Barbados tip!
For a great Bajan experience visit a Rum Shack. These local bars are dotted all over the island. Friendly, cheap, relaxing, good conversations and sometimes food too. They don't look the smartest thing, but they are local bars at local prices, and great fun.

Oistins Fish Fry on a Friday night is many people's #1 tip for a great, good value evening out in Barbados. Walk, drive, or take the bus. (Buses in Barbados are great value too).
Choose your stall, order your fish and sides, grab a Banks beer and take in the atmosphere.
You will have a wide choice of the freshest possible fish, cooked perfectly. Great Bajan food.
Music, stalls, people watching, fun, great atmosphere- and very inexpensive.
There are Barbados fish fries at other locations all along the west coast, if you are too far from Oistins, but Friday night at Oistins is the loudest, biggest, most famous fish fry. This is a must for your Budget Barbados vacation. A great money saving tip to enjoy Barbados on a budget. Go to a fish fry

If you are visiting Barbados in February, The Holetown Festival offers a week of free concerts and events, culminating in two days of street parades.

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In July the Cropover Festival is brilliant.
Whenever you visit Barbados there are celebrations, concerts and fun events to visit, many of them free, or at a small charge. You can check here for events during your Barbados vacation.
Another great value tip - catch a carnival

Humming birds, sandcrabs, turtles, exotic flowers- Barbados has them all. amd much more.
Don't take nature for granted- look around and see the free treats of nature. I took this picture of a beautiful humming bird that visited the garden of our villa, and the picture of the sand crab was taken on the local beach.

The sand crab was running around the beach, in between the footstpes in the sand.
For exotic flowers there are many beautiful gardens that you can visit. Many of these are privately owned, open to the public for a small contribution on special days.

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This poster is of Andromeda Gardens, open to visitors at a small charge.
It's run by the Barbados National Trust, so if you a a member of the National Trust in your home country, take your card along for a discount
Top money saving tip for Barbados- look around, enjoy all that nature has to offer- it's free ( or nearly free!)

The Folkstone Marine Reserve is located on the edge of Holetown on the west coast of Barbados. The coral reef and a large swimming area is cordoned off so that there is no danger from passing boats or jet skis. If you haven't brought snorkelling gear, you can hire it for a small charge.
Top money saving Barbados tip! There is no entrance charge, no parking charge, no charge to use the picnic benches or rest rooms.There are free showers.
This incredible free resource is somewhat run down at present- renovations are in progress, but the location is amazing, the snorkelling is brilliant, and it is so quiet you just can't believe that you on the middle of the Platinum West Coast of Barbados, slap bang up against high end resorts and exclusive villas.
This faciilty is an unappreciated gem- shhhh - let's keep it that way!
Top money saving tip for snorkelling in Barbados- visit the Folkstone Marine Reserve, Holetown.

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There are amazing grand Plantation Houses, like Sunbury Plantation House shown here, all over Barbados. Some of these, like St Nicholas Abbey are open to the public, and are well worth visiting, even though there is a substantial entrance charge .
The wonderful National Trust of Barbados has a programme of Open days on Wednesdays, featuring a different great house each week. Some of these are private houses, which never usually open for public viewing.
Admittance to these Open House Days, is at a very small charge ( even less if you bring your home National Trust card with you).
You have the chance to see inside some remarkable buildings- it is absolutely fascinating- a real treat.
The Open House Programme tells you what you can see when you visit Barbados Open House Programme - another top tip for a great visit at very low cost! ( Barbados uses British spelling )

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This Is St Joseph's Church, Barbados.
Barbados is divided into parishes, each of which has its own church dating back hundreds of years. Call into one of Barbados' ancient churches, and wonder at the architecture in these historic buildings.
It's free to call in and worship - but please leave a donation to help with the upkeep.
Don't forget to visit these wonderful old churches on your Barbados vacation.

This T shirt in the colors of the Barbados flag is great for your Carribean vacation.

i love barbados by afrocaribbean
Browse other Barbados T-Shirts

The law in Barbados says that all the beaches must be open to the public. Even exclusive developments such as the famous Sandy Lane Hotel and resort, have to allow public access to the beaches.My photo shows Bottom Bay on the east coast, accessible on foot from the clifftop car park.
Walk the beaches, hike the beaches, swim from the beaches, marvel at the surf on the east coast beaches, picnic on the beaches, photograph the beaches, count how many different beaches you can visit!

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Mullins Beach, home to the exclusive Royal Westmorland Resort spa, but free for anyone to use.




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Lion Rock at Bathsheba on the Atlantic East Coast- no swimming here, but you can watch the expert surfers at the amazing Soup Bowl ( free of course- another money saving tip)
Barbados on a budget! Another great money saving tip - beach hopping on Barbados- free to all.

Barbados is famous for sport. Some of the sports, such as golf at the Royal Westmorland, can be very expensive.
However, even if you are on a tighter budget there is still so much great sport to see.
Have you ever been to a Polo Match? Me neither until I went to Canada v Barbados at Holders House Barbados.(shown on my photo) Even for this top match there was only a modest entry charge. Polo is a Barbados passion. In the past mostly supported by the wealthy British expats, polo is now more widely followed- what a great experience this was!

For lovers of Horse Racing, the Garrison Savannah stages great race meetings- a really fantastic experience- very low cost ( unless you get stung with a bad bet!)

For lovers of cricket, The Kensington Oval, Bridgetown home of the West Indies cricket team in Barbados, is a place of pilgrimage. The top cricket nations, including England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India and Pakistan all love to play at the Kensington Oval against the Windies. Entry prices are reasonable. One day matches and T20 matches are thrilling days out.
All over Barbados local cricket matches take place, and can be watched free or for a small contribution.
Do you love football/soccer? The Bajans do! If there is a major match on, such as Manchester United from the English Premier Leage (my team), head down to a sports bar and for the price of a Banks Beer experience the joy and mayhem , arguments, discussions and just all round fun of watching soccer with the Barbados fans.
My top place , and my top money saving tip, is to go to watch a top soccer match at Surfside Restaurant and Beach Bar , Holetown. Another top tip for real fun and excitement watch a soccer match in a Bajan sports bar