Driving tour-is this too too much?

[lauriedun]

We are thinking of renting a car for the day and touring the island. There is a lot I want to do, and am not sure if all of it is doable in one day. I am thinking...

 

Get to Sunbury when it opens-then go to St. John's Church. Head to Bathsheba. Eat lunch somewhere (suggestions??)-head to the Wildlife Reserve by 1:30ish to see the afternoon feeding of the monkeys, then relax on one of the west coast beaches for an hour or so before heading back to the ship.

 

Is this realistic, or am I being too ambitious? :)

 

Also, does anyone know if the rental car places give you a sufficient map, or should I buy one ahead of time?

[bajan queen]

This is doable,all the car rentals will give you a map,Sunbury house is great,

if you want lunch at Bathsheba,there is Round House or Edgewater,both look over the ocean.

[lauriedun]

Great, thanks! I ended up buying a map so I could map everything out ahead of time, plus I figured it would be more detailed than the rental place map. I appreciate the lunch suggestion-just what I had in mind!

 

As far as getting to the reserve at feeding time, I have heard that it is very crowded then, not so much in the morning. Would it be better to go in the morning and hope for a monkey sighting? I would not be terribly disappointed if I didn't see one, as long as we got to see some other animals.

[jaysue]

I would second the recommendation on the Round House at Bathsheeba for lunch - get a table by the window or outside for some awesome ocean views. Enjoy driving on the left hand side - the road maps from the rental agencies are quite detailed - remember there are few to no road signs so be patient and allow for extra travel time

 

Cheers

jaysue

[Aplmac]

I would second the recommendation on the Round House at Bathsheba for lunch

- get a table by the window or outside for some awesome ocean views.

Round House

It really is round!

 

 

This is the view on the way in..

 

Here's that outside table she mentioned.

 

 

-and if you know where to look,

there's a fabulous view looking North along the coast,too.

 

 

 

.

[lauriedun]

Thanks! Round house it is for lunch! I looked on there website and there is no address. Is it easy to find once you get to Bathsheba?

[lauriedun]

Ok...now I am getting nervous about driving ourselves from reading posts about getting hopelessly lost. I have looked on a map and it doesn't look too complicated, since I really am only thinking of 4 stops. Any advice on the best route to take, or what could potentially trip us up?

[caribbeannewbies]

We just got back from Barbados-- and I was also thinking of renting a car and exploring the island, but decided to do a tour instead. And I'm VERY glad I did-- the roads are windy, not well marked, and it would be very easy to get lost. The biggest scare is how they drive on the wrong side of the road-- I didn't think that would be a big deal, but IT IS!!! It totally freaked us out many times-- the roads are narrow, windy, very different there than in the states. I would recommend just negotiating with one of the taxi drivers waiting as you get off the ship-- they will take you around the island for about $30.00 pp.

[jaysue]

Apologies for missing this thread as I was in Barbados for a land based vacation. We took a Garmin handheld GPS that we had loaded maps of Barbados into from the OSRM project and also purchased an electronic set for $19.95 as well. Between the two mapsets in the GPS and the map of Barbados (from digicel), we had no problem at all finding places. It would appear that there are more road signs than last year as well.

 

We drove around for 9 full days - had a lot of fun and no issues and on a number of occassions, we asked for help and received great assistance including one charming lady who actually drove out of her way to help us find Welchman Gully

 

Cheers

Jason