Travel Smart’s guide to the Caribbean islands

The Independent

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00:00Hello and welcome to Travel Smart, your weekly guide to the best of the world

00:05from the travel team at The Independent. We aim to inspire, entertain and inform

00:10you all about the industry of human happiness. And there are few places to be

00:15happier than on one of the islands of the Caribbean. Whether you're seeking

00:20adventure, culture or simply a pristine white sand beach on which to dream the

00:25days away, there's an island waiting for you. But which one?

00:42Let's start with Barbados, by far the most popular island in terms of the

00:48flights from the UK. The most glamorous area is the sheltered West Coast with

00:54resorts like Sandy Lane and Cobbler's Cove ready to deliver your holiday

00:59dreams.

01:03For travellers without platinum credit cards, the South Coast is the place to be

01:09in and around St. Lawrence Gap, halfway between the airport and the island's

01:14capital Bridgetown. As always, if you book a proper package holiday, flights

01:19and accommodation combined, you'll get top-grade consumer protection as well as

01:24excellent value. Barbados has plenty of culture too. Historic Bridgetown and its

01:31garrison is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as an outstanding

01:37example of British colonial architecture. I'm a big fan of the other English

01:43speaking Caribbean islands, particularly Antigua, Grenada, St. Lucia and Tobago.

01:50Antigua is rich in heritage, while the other three enjoy spectacular scenery

01:55with opportunities to hike through the rainforest. One island we'd recommend

02:00that you can't fly to direct is Dominica, not to be confused with the big and

02:04touristy Dominican Republic. Small, friendly and off the circuit of big

02:09cruise ships, there are some excellent all-inclusive resorts in Dominica,

02:12particularly at the eastern end. My favourite Caribbean island is probably

02:17Jamaica, whose scale and geographical diversity makes it ripe for exploration.

02:22The music of Bob Marley provides a soundtrack to exploring the cool green

02:26hills and meeting the friendly people of this beautiful island.

02:32Budget and Caribbean don't always go well together, but I'm a big fan of the Dutch-speaking island of

02:39Aruba off the coast of Venezuela. It offers excellent value as well as

02:45terrain and towns that reward exploration.

02:52Another Dutch territory, St. Martin, shares an island with France, with Guadeloupe and Martinique being fully-fledged overseas départements.

03:02They provide a different vibe to much of the rest of the Caribbean and for my

03:07money have some of the best food and drink.

03:21The largest and most diverse Caribbean island is Cuba. Not the easiest to reach,

03:26with most trips requiring a change of plane, but from the joyful atmosphere of

03:30Old Havana to some superb diving on the Isle of Youth, Cuba has so much to offer.

03:36It's the one Caribbean island where I recommend a fly-drive trip to see every

03:40dimension, or sign up for an organised trip to discover the parts that many

03:44tourists miss. Let me personally recommend the cities of Trinidad,

03:48Sancti Spiritus and Santiago, where the pace of life slows exquisitely.

04:00Time for a couple of quick travel questions.

04:03Simon, Jane would like to know, is September a good time to visit Barbados?

04:08Well, you're certainly going to find good value because September is pretty much in the middle of the storm season,

04:14which runs from June to November. If you're planning to explore some of the

04:19great culture and heritage of that beautiful island, a really good idea

04:23because you're not going to get the throng of visitors that comes in

04:26generally during the rest of the year from all the cruise ships. In September

04:31they're all in the Mediterranean. Great, and another question, this time from John,

04:36he would like to know, is it possible to visit a string of Caribbean islands

04:40using the local ferries? Wouldn't it be wonderful if there was a whole network

04:44of ferries running all the way from Trinidad through the eastern Caribbean

04:49along to the Dominican Republic, across to Cuba and so on. Well, you haven't got

04:54anything like that, I'm afraid. It's not the Greek islands. Yes, there are

04:59individual ferries from Trinidad to Tobago. There's a company called Les Reis des Îles,

05:05which will take you from St. Lucia to Martinique to Dominica to Guadeloupe

05:11and there's a whole network around the US Virgin Islands. You've got nothing

05:16very coherent, I'm afraid. Sounds to me like perhaps a Caribbean cruise is a way

05:20to get around the islands. Certainly is, but not in September.

05:26That's all we've got time for, but please do get in touch with personal

05:30recommendations on your favorite Caribbean islands and journeys. For all

05:34the latest travel news, reviews and advice go to independent.co.uk

05:40forward slash travel and do have a listen to my daily travel podcast.

05:45See you next time.

05:56Oh

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