Half day in "Town" & Half day at Accra - Which order?

[galliegirlie]

I think we've finally decided that Barbados is going to be our shopping and walking tour port. We are doing all day island tours on all the other stops, so we wanted to have one laid back day. We love historical buildings, churches,parks & local sites, so I hope we won't be disapointed. Then I thought we would round out the day with a few hours at Accra. Sounds simple enough, but I've got a few questions.

 

For our walking tour I'm thinking the Parliament & Treasury buildings, Heroes Square, the Chamberlin bridge, St. Mary's or St. Michael's Church.... am i missing anything worthwhile?

 

How about shopping venues? I know we'll swing by Pelican Craft Village on our way to town, but where else? We are not the Diamond's International types if that helps.

 

Should we do the beach in the morning or in the afternoon? Is catching a taxi in town just as easy as at the port? I'm not too apt on what taxi etiquette is, do we pay him to wait at the beach for us, or will he come back and pick us up at a designated time? Are there one way drivers just hanging out in the beach area? What can we be expected to pay for each of these options? Sorry that was alot of questions all at once.

[Johnthed0g]

Plenty of taxis around, ensure you get the price agreed in a currency you both understand & remember that 1xUS$ is 2xBDS$. I posted a taxi calculator on here somewhere for a rough guide. I wouldn't get a driver to wait, but remember the area round "town" can be busy late afternoon so allow for that. I would wander around "town" in the morning then go to the beach, only thing is you will have to watch what you have bought that way round. Bridgetown is not the most interesting place.

[Aplmac]

Bridgetown is not the most interesting place.

I rather agree. ;)

 

I can't see you spending more than two (three TOPS) hours in/around Bridgetown

so if I were you, I'd make an early start and be all done with Bridgetown

and be chilling on Accra Beach by about 11 a.m.

 

 

Btw... Shopping is spelled this way - St.Maarten (if you're stopping there,that is)

.

[galliegirlie]

Well, I appreciate the insight. We really don't have a shopping port on our itinerary (Samana, Tortola, Antigua, Barbados & St. Kitts), so i guess we will just have to spend our money on ship booze instead :D

 

New Plan! Scenic Barbados Tours offers a 4 hour cruise passenger tour that includes 2 hours at Accra beach at the end (12pm-2pm). If we decide to ditch the tour once we're there and spend an extra hour at the beach, would we be able to flag a taxi down to take us back to town (around 3pm)?

 

We don't have to be back on the ship until 5:30pm, and the only other ship in port leaves at 5pm. Even if it takes 30min to get back into Bridgetown, that gives us almost 2 hours to walk our way through town and back to port. And from what you guys said above, that should be just the right amount of time :)

[Johnthed0g]

You will have no trouble getting a cab....in fact you will have more trouble NOT getting one (remember these words!). I think it is too far to walk from Accra/Rockley to the port, but that's me (old fart)

[Aplmac]

We don't have to be back on the ship until 5:30pm,

and the only other ship in port leaves at 5pm.

Even if it takes 30min to get back into Bridgetown, that gives us almost 2 hours

to walk our way through town and back to port.

And from what you guys said above, that should be just the right amount of time :)

Sounds to me like your ship pulls out at 6 p.m.

 

Assuming that is correct, you guys might languish on Accra beach until 4 p.m. latest

--if you can stand that much tropical sun--

and still get back to the ship, well in time for 5:30 -for a 6:00 sailaway.

 

Even if you caught the City-bound bus back in,

it couldn't take you longer than about half-hour to walk across Bridgetown

from the Fairchild Street Bus Terminal on the Eastern side of town

to the Bridgetown Port on the Western side.

 

Yes, there are taxis waiting right around the Accra Beach Hotel area.

.

[perry001]

we have booked this tour and are also considering extending our stay at accra when we are there next month. it seems that getting a cab at accra won't be a problem. have you discussed your itinerary with Edwin @ the tour company? from other threads on cc boards it appears that he is flexible, however i'm not sure that Bridgetown is a part of this tour. when we were there 2 years ago we walked around town and visited St. Michaels on our own. it took no more than an hour or two. i believe that it is not far from town to accra but you should have a clear understanding of where you are going and what you wil be seeing. this time we are looking forward to getting out of town for a couple of hours and seeing more of the island. if you back out the cost of a cab ride to accra which is part of the package, this tour is a bargain.

[cruiseeli]

Well, I appreciate the insight. We really don't have a shopping port on our itinerary (Samana, Tortola, Antigua, Barbados & St. Kitts), so i guess we will just have to spend our money on ship booze instead :D

 

New Plan! Scenic Barbados Tours offers a 4 hour cruise passenger tour that includes 2 hours at Accra beach at the end (12pm-2pm). If we decide to ditch the tour once we're there and spend an extra hour at the beach, would we be able to flag a taxi down to take us back to town (around 3pm)?

 

We don't have to be back on the ship until 5:30pm, and the only other ship in port leaves at 5pm. Even if it takes 30min to get back into Bridgetown, that gives us almost 2 hours to walk our way through town and back to port. And from what you guys said above, that should be just the right amount of time :)

How did you book with scenic? I've emailed them but haven't heard back? Thanks