Points of interest

Argyle Falls

The triple-tiered Argyle Falls are on the Argyle River, just west of Roxborough on the southeastern coast. In addition to the entry fee, you must pay an authorised guide to lead you on the 20-minute hike up to the falls. Along the way you can cool off in a series of natural pools.

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Tobago Forest Reserve

Established in 1765, this is the oldest forest reserve in the Caribbean and provides excellent bird watching, plus several hiking tracks. Authorised guides at the trailhead offer two-hour hikes through the forest to the Main Ridge lookout hut, where you'll enjoy sweeping views of Bloody Bay and the offshore Sisters Rocks.

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Fort King George

Tobago's best remaining colonial fortification (1779) is well worth a visit for its history, coastal views and parklike grounds. Cannons line the fort's stone walls, and there's a working lighthouse, a shop selling local crafts and a small museum with displays on Amerindian artefacts and Tobago's colonial history.

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Attractions

Port of Spain

The islands' capital Port of Spain is a bustling metropolitan hub of approximately 300,000 people. It's not the country's tourist centre by any means, since its attractions are limited to a few 19th-century colonial buildings and its hotels are geared toward business travellers rather than tourists.

The pulse of the city is Independence Square - not really a square at all, but rather two long streets bordering a narrow pedestrian strip. It's at Independence Square that you can pick up a taxi and find travel agents, banks and cheap eats.

The city is crowned by Queen's Park Savannah, once part of a sugar plantation and now a public park with a race track. Largely an expansive grassy field, the park itself is not particularly interesting but there are some sights along its perimeter. In the park's northwest corner there's a small rock garden with a lily pond and benches. Along its west side is the Magnificent Seven, a line of seven fancy colonial buildings, including Stollmeyer's Castle, built to resemble a Scottish castle complete with turrets.

Asa Wright Nature Center

The Asa Wright Nature Center is a former cocoa and coffee plantation that has been turned into an 80ha (198ac) nature reserve. Located amid the rainforest in the Northern Range, the centre has attracted naturalists from around the world since it was founded in 1967.

There's a lodge catering to birding tour groups, a research station for biologists and a series of hiking trails on the property. The sanctuary encompasses Dunston Cave, which is home to a breeding colony of the elusive nocturnal guacharo, or oilbird.

A wide range of bird species inhabit the area, including blue-crowned motmots, chestnut woodpeckers, palm tanagers, channel-billed toucans, blue-headed parrots, 10 species of hummingbirds and numerous raptors. Asa Wright Nature Centre is less than a two-hour drive from Port of Spain.