Search results for

AFAR’s first-ever Travel Happiness survey asked: What is your happiest travel memory? We read about surrendering to a storm in Honduras, a photo shoot with orangutans, a family dinner in 14th-century French châteaus—and a parade of corgis.

Island-Hopping in the Caribbean Isn’t Just for the 1-Percent

What contracting Zika taught one traveler about traveling fearlessly

Stay up past your bedtime for these one-of-a-kind experiences.

After almost 20 years, tourists are able to explore Montserrat’s exclusion zone.

AFAR staffers wax poetic about their most significant solo adventures.

Overview

These 5 restaurants may be the best authentic eateries in the diverse melting pot of the Caribbean. Whether it’s eating in an extended family’s back yard, learning how to be happy with a rum-loving German, or sitting on some steps tucking into a local lunch plate—you can’t go wrong with any of these Antiguan restaurants. And if you want to give back to the Antigua community with your gourmet dinner purchase, well, there’s a place for that, too!

The best hotels in Antigua are all about beach access and poolside lounging. Fulfill your private island fantasies at Jumby Bay, set on a private 300-acre island 10 minutes by boat from Antigua. Antigua’s Curtain Bluff Resort has one of the island’s most envious settings straddling two beaches, while guests at the St. James Club & Villas hotel have to choose between the beach or six different swimming pools. Foodies should be sure to book a reservation at the restaurant at Carlisle Bay.

It’s not difficult to find the forts of Antigua; as one of Britain’s crown jewels in the Caribbean, Antigua was fortified with watch stations, formidable ramparts, and more to keep her harbors safe. Today, these forts and fortifications lie in various states of ruin, but many have been given new life as party venues, restaurants, and destinations for the best views on Antigua. Here are my favorite four... plus a curious church, all worth a visit!

It’s time to drink like a local in Antigua: the island plays host to stellar spirits & brews, with the majority coming from two local places: the Antigua Distillery Limited and Antigua Brewery Limited. From Antigua’s distillery you get national rums like Cavalier and English Harbour, while from the Brewery there’s Wadadli and also Wadadli Gold, which kicks up the manliness a notch. But if you really want to drink like a local, check out Bushy’s and get a taste before it’s gone!

With just three proper resorts (and a handful more guesthouses), Barbuda remains an undiscovered Caribbean hideaway, perfect for an off-the-beaten track holiday. Antigua’s sister island lies just 27-miles to the north, but feels worlds away. Barbuda’s major export is sand, which despite shipping out by the ton, it still has plenty of, in silky pink and white, fronting its gin-clear, aquamarine sea. It’s also home to a thriving reef system providing excellent snorkeling and amazing birdlife.

Cavell’s Cook Shop hides in plain sight along the road that hugs the shore on Antigua’s southwestern coast. Its humble, nondescript outward appearance bears every likeness of a simple storage shed or roadside workshop. Thick, encroaching foliage on either side further suggest its owner might prefer his or her place to maintain a low profile. The long line of cars regularly parked astride the road outside Cavell’s at all hours of the day, however, tells a different story. So too do the savory aromas emanating from beneath her galvanize roof, and the smiles on the faces of her steady stream of people filing in and out of here. You see, small and simple though it may be, Cavell’s is the prime spot for real local food in Antigua. The sun pounding down on the galvanize roof combined with the heat put forth by the various cooking apparatuses maKe standing inside Cavell’s feel like limin’ in an oven. No one was complaining, though. Cold Wadadli’s and good company have a way of keeping things cool here. Come to Cavell’s with a smile, some patience, and an open mind and you’ll make friends of the broad swath of local Antiguans, representing all walks of life, easily.

Antigua (pronounced An-tee’ga) encompasses 108 square miles of coastline and 365 white sand beaches between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. For an uncommon, all-inclusive Caribbean holiday, stay at The Galley Bay Resort and Spa. In and around the property are ruins of forts hundreds of years old, wrecks for snorkeling, a spa with tree houses for treatment rooms, plenty of authentic dining options, and even world-class sailing opportunities.

No trip to Antigua, the “Land of Sea and Sun,” would be complete without spending quality time on one (or two, or three) of its fabled 365 sugar-white, sparkling beaches and the Galley Bay Resort and Spa sits on one of the best of the bunch. Galley Bay Beach is graced with three-quarters of a mile of quintessential Antiguan beach. Perfectly sized sand won’t blow in the breeze, palm trees dot its length providing natural shade, beds and hammocks dare you escape their relaxing embrace, and the water… Well… The water looks like you see above. Immaculate. Turquoise. Radiant. In the distance, you can see Nevis and St. Kitts on the horizon almost close enough to touch adding to the impossible perfection.