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This community-run museum in St John's has an eclectic collection of displays on island history, but everything looks as though it could do with a dusting. There's a touchable section with stone pestles and conch-shell tools, a reconstructed Arawak house, and modest displays on natural history, the colonial era and the struggle for emancipation. The highlight is the well-worn cricket bat of former West Indies team captain-slash-god, Vivian Richard.
cnr Market & Long Sts
(Antigua)
www.antiguamuseums.org/MuseumAntBar.htm tel info 268 462 1469
Betty's Hope was Antigua's first sugar plantation, built by Christopher Codrington in 1674, and named in honour of his daughter Betty. Ruins of two stone windmills and a distillery remain on the site, along with a small visitors centre. One windmill has been restored, and the caretaker offers informative tours peppered with historical insights.
(Antigua)
www.antiguamuseums.org/BettysHopeHome.htm tel info 268 462 1469
Set aside as 39 sq km (15 sq mi) of national park, this historic dockyard, which dates from 1745, is Antigua's most popular attraction. Abandoned in 1899, it languished until the 1950s, when its resurrection and restoration began. Today the handsome buildings have been converted into inns, shops, a market, restaurants, an art centre and a nautical museum.
(Antigua)
www.nationalparksantigua.com tel info 268 481 5022
| child | East Caribbean Dollar free |
| full | East Caribbean Dollar 13.00 |
St John's is Antigua's capital and commercial centre, and home to over a third of the country's population. It's also the island's tourist centre, but most of the city remains unaffected by international influence, remaining solidly West Indian in flavour.
St John's tourist activity is confined to the harbourfront complexes of Heritage Quay, a favourite with cruise ship passengers, and the more rustic Redcliffe Quay, where shops, restaurants and galleries inhabit restored stone buildings and wooden huts.
Once a naval base and now Antigua's most popular tourist attraction, English Harbour has the richest collection of historic sites on the island. You could easily spend the better part of a day roaming around the sites, which include restored buildings, hilltop forts and museums.
Don your gaiters and garden gloves for the 10-minute walk among cacti to Fort Berkeley, overlooking the harbour's western entrance. Other attractions include the governor's Georgian-style rural residence and Sandy Heights, which has scattered 18th-century fort ruins and excellent views.
The harbour's main attraction is Nelson's Dockyard, an 18th-century British naval base named after the English captain Horatio Nelson. Today it's still attracting sailors as the island's most popular yacht haven. Buses run between St John's and Nelson's Dockyard.
