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Nelson's Dockyard on your own - how we did it


Morgsmom
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Hi everyone,

Just an update for those adventurous souls. DD (15) and I were in Antigua last week and following the great advice here we easily took the #17 bus out to Nelson's Dockyard and English Harbor. We did not want a beach day after a harrowing riptide experience in Virgin Gorda the day before, so I changed my plans to take the bus to Valley Church and went to the Dockyard instead.

 

Basically if you took the tour through the cruiseline it was $55; if you got off the ship and asked at the Visitor's Information office they were ferrying folks to buses that would take you for $25 + $7 admission; we went the route of the $3 RT bus...

 

Just to let you know, we are both petite blondes, well traveled with a normal degree of caution and a bit of "don't mess with me" tough-guy-ness. We felt completely comfortable the entire experience and would recommend the buses in Antigua.

 

Antigua Bus Routes

#17 - Valley Rd, Joseph's Lane, All Saints Road, Belmont, Clarks Hill, All Saints Village, Liberta Village, Falmouth, Cobbs Cross, English Harbour.

 

 

To Bus stop:

From the dock, you walk straight -- Keep going straight to Market Street and turn right. Then it's a short walk and you'll come to a fork in the road where you bear right (there's an enormous sculpture at that fork, you can't miss it). There is also the big public marketplace. Once past the fork you'll come to the bus station on the right. Some posters have described this walk as going through "seedy" areas. If you have ever lived in any metropolitan area or ventured out at all this area is not seedy; it's just 'real life.' Only danger is the uneven sidewalks. I would not recommend for anyone not physically fairly fit/active due to the uneveness of the roads and the fact that it is a good 10+ minute walk.

 

You do not buy tickets. Just look for Bus # 17 (or your desired route) - the buses are in "slots" with numbers assinged to them. We waited about 10 minutes to leave. We and a German tourist family were the only 'non Antiguans' on the bus. Cost was $1.50 each. The driver wanted payment up front. On the ride back we paid when we got off.

We took a lovely leisurely ride all the way to the last stop at Nelson's Dockyard and wandered around it, and the English Harbor for a bit. Flagged down a returning bus in a matter of minutes and took it back to the bus station. Since you are going terminus to terminus it was super easy. Granted, there was no narration involved, but a lot of scenery and 'real life.' On the ride back we were the only tourists on the bus.

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We too took the local bus no 17 to Nelsons dockyard last Friday. We had a long wait for the bus to fill up but as soon as we were on our way it was good fun sitting with the locals.

 

We enjoyed Nelsons dockyard and then walked for 5 minutes to Falmouth harbour. We saw some enormous yachts and had a coffee overlooking the harbour. As we were walking back to the dockyard a driver stopped and asked if we needed the bus. So on we got, chatted all the way back to town. It was a lovely ride and nice to be independent.

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I love to hear this kind of thing. If there is a down side to this it's missing Shirley Heights. It's the hill to the east over looking the dockyard and has some of the most scienic views in the Carribean. On a clear day you can see Guadalupe which is over 40 miles away.

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I love to hear this kind of thing. If there is a down side to this it's missing Shirley Heights. It's the hill to the east over looking the dockyard and has some of the most scienic views in the Carribean. On a clear day you can see Guadalupe which is over 40 miles away.

 

 

Well if you really want to, you CAN include Shirley heights. Take the water taxi from Nelson's Dockyard over to Galleon Beach, about 5 minutes. Go out through the entrance of Galleon Beach Resort and walk about 200 yards, about 10 minutes. Take the signposted Lookout Trail which goes off to the right of the road and walk up the hill to Shirley Heights, about 45 minutes to an hour. All in all about an hour and a half up, probably an hour down plus the time you spend looking at the view.

 

There should be a prize for the first people to do this trip for the price of a bus and water taxi ticket.

1071158951_LookoutTrailtoShirleyHeights.jpg.b954f3d0dd942933969aac9881e193e2.jpg

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  • 2 months later...
  • 2 months later...
Hi everyone,

Just an update for those adventurous souls. DD (15) and I were in Antigua last week and following the great advice here we easily took the #17 bus out to Nelson's Dockyard and English Harbor. We did not want a beach day after a harrowing riptide experience in Virgin Gorda the day before, so I changed my plans to take the bus to Valley Church and went to the Dockyard instead.

 

Basically if you took the tour through the cruiseline it was $55; if you got off the ship and asked at the Visitor's Information office they were ferrying folks to buses that would take you for $25 + $7 admission; we went the route of the $3 RT bus...

 

Just to let you know, we are both petite blondes, well traveled with a normal degree of caution and a bit of "don't mess with me" tough-guy-ness. We felt completely comfortable the entire experience and would recommend the buses in Antigua.

 

Antigua Bus Routes

#17 - Valley Rd, Joseph's Lane, All Saints Road, Belmont, Clarks Hill, All Saints Village, Liberta Village, Falmouth, Cobbs Cross, English Harbour.

 

 

To Bus stop:

From the dock, you walk straight -- Keep going straight to Market Street and turn right. Then it's a short walk and you'll come to a fork in the road where you bear right (there's an enormous sculpture at that fork, you can't miss it). There is also the big public marketplace. Once past the fork you'll come to the bus station on the right. Some posters have described this walk as going through "seedy" areas. If you have ever lived in any metropolitan area or ventured out at all this area is not seedy; it's just 'real life.' Only danger is the uneven sidewalks. I would not recommend for anyone not physically fairly fit/active due to the uneveness of the roads and the fact that it is a good 10+ minute walk.

 

You do not buy tickets. Just look for Bus # 17 (or your desired route) - the buses are in "slots" with numbers assinged to them. We waited about 10 minutes to leave. We and a German tourist family were the only 'non Antiguans' on the bus. Cost was $1.50 each. The driver wanted payment up front. On the ride back we paid when we got off.

We took a lovely leisurely ride all the way to the last stop at Nelson's Dockyard and wandered around it, and the English Harbor for a bit. Flagged down a returning bus in a matter of minutes and took it back to the bus station. Since you are going terminus to terminus it was super easy. Granted, there was no narration involved, but a lot of scenery and 'real life.' On the ride back we were the only tourists on the bus.

We'll be in Antigua in November. This sounds a great way to get to the dockyard. Last time we went we were on an organised trip and only had 30 minutes there so we want to go back and do it at our own pace.

Could you tell me if we can pay in US dollars on the bus or do we need Caribbean dollars? Thanks.

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We'll be in Antigua in November. This sounds a great way to get to the dockyard. Last time we went we were on an organised trip and only had 30 minutes there so we want to go back and do it at our own pace.

Could you tell me if we can pay in US dollars on the bus or do we need Caribbean dollars? Thanks.

 

They're only too happy to take US$, but don't expect change in US$.

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  • 11 months later...
Well if you really want to, you CAN include Shirley heights. Take the water taxi from Nelson's Dockyard over to Galleon Beach, about 5 minutes. Go out through the entrance of Galleon Beach Resort and walk about 200 yards, about 10 minutes. Take the signposted Lookout Trail which goes off to the right of the road and walk up the hill to Shirley Heights, about 45 minutes to an hour. All in all about an hour and a half up, probably an hour down plus the time you spend looking at the view.

 

There should be a prize for the first people to do this trip for the price of a bus and water taxi ticket.

 

Our family of five is considering this for February:

  • #17 Bus to English Harbour
  • Water Taxi across the harbour
  • Lookout Trail to Shirley Heights
  • Trail back down and spend time on Galleon Beach
  • Water Taxi across the harbour
  • #17 Bus to Port

 

My understanding is that the water taxi is inside of the National Park. Would we need to pay the $7/pp admission to the park to get access to the taxi? The advantage to paying the $7/pp is that we could tour Nelson's Dockyard correct?

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Our family of five is considering this for February:

  • #17 Bus to English Harbour
  • Water Taxi across the harbour
  • Lookout Trail to Shirley Heights
  • Trail back down and spend time on Galleon Beach
  • Water Taxi across the harbour
  • #17 Bus to Port

My understanding is that the water taxi is inside of the National Park. Would we need to pay the $7/pp admission to the park to get access to the taxi? The advantage to paying the $7/pp is that we could tour Nelson's Dockyard correct?

 

You should be able to walk around the ticket office entrance and tell the guard that you're going to the water taxi, but frankly, for the price, it's well worth walking through the dockyard and looking at the exhibits.

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You should be able to walk around the ticket office entrance and tell the guard that you're going to the water taxi, but frankly, for the price, it's well worth walking through the dockyard and looking at the exhibits.

 

Thanks for the info and the advice. It will depend on how much time we have after returning from Shirley Heights.

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Returned Sunday from a cruise to Antigua and these directions from post #1 are spot on.

We took the #17 bus after waiting 15 or so minutes for it to fill up to the dockyard and they dropped us off right in front. Admission is now $8/pp to the dockyard and we had a fun time walking around looking at all the boats and museum. We were hoping to take the water taxi to Shirley Heights but the lady at the front desk said it was no running that day.

We spend a couple hours wandering around and then walked back out to find the #17 bus and immediately took us back. The way there on the bus there were several stops maybe a 30 minute drive and on the way back it was a 15 minute drive as fast as our driver was driving. Round trip on the bus for 2 people and entrance into the park was $24.

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Great info--thanks. We definitely want to get back to Nelson's dockyard for a longer look. Does anyone know if you can get a bus from Nelson's to Jolly Beach or Valley Church beach, or do you need to go back to the main terminal and then to the beach?

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  • 1 month later...

We're going to try this in a couple of weeks and wondered if we can fit it all in--we would also like to snorkel at Galleon beach. Anyone know where the best place to go in might be? I am a little confused about the time required for the Shirley Heights add-on. Is it 2 1/2 hours to go from Nelson's Dockyard to the Heights and back not including looking around or 2 1/2 hours once you get to Galleon beach? How much time does it take to do the Dockyard justice?

 

Thanks for all the information. This sounds like just the adventure we are looking for.

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We're going to try this in a couple of weeks and wondered if we can fit it all in--we would also like to snorkel at Galleon beach. Anyone know where the best place to go in might be? I am a little confused about the time required for the Shirley Heights add-on. Is it 2 1/2 hours to go from Nelson's Dockyard to the Heights and back not including looking around or 2 1/2 hours once you get to Galleon beach? How much time does it take to do the Dockyard justice?

 

Thanks for all the information. This sounds like just the adventure we are looking for.

Hi Charles and Mary Anne, We are part of the 11/23 meet n mingle also and are thinking of taking the local bus over to Nelsons Dockyard. Are you all still thinking this is what you are planning?

 

Kathy

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We're still trying to decide what to do. If we go this route, we'll get off the ship asap to make sure we can do as much as possible. Not sure I'll make it to the meet and mingle so maybe we'll see you on the bus. If we don't do this, we'll take the bus (most of the way) to Long Bay--we did that the last two times in Antigua and are looking for something new. Love using the local transportation.

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