48 hours in... Grenada, an insider guide to the sun-soaked Spice Isle
An easy-going Caribbean beauty
If you're after a week or two on a laid-back tropical island, Grenada may well be just the place you're looking for. For starters, it has a number of gorgeous, soft-sand beaches. Added to which it's incredibly scenic, with a mountainous and lush interior, and in hilly St George's you'll find one of the region's most attractive capitals. Nearly the size of the Isle of Wight, the island offers a couple of gentle-paced days of exploring, perhaps taking in waterfalls, the rainforest (hikes are possible), and chocolate, nutmeg and rum factories. Diving and snorkelling are also deservedly popular.
Tourism is conveniently concentrated in the south-west corner of the island, with hotels a short drive from the airport. It's all pretty low-key, with no high-rise development and only the Grand Anse area amounting to a resort. That said, there's a good selection of characterful places to stay to match all budgets, along with enticing restaurants and lively nightspots – students from St George's University, and yachties, keep things busy after dark.
Hot right now . . .
Fred Mawer, our resident expert, offers his top tips on the hottest things to do, as well as places to stay and drink at, this season.
Stay
Silversands (Grand Anse Main Road; 00 1 473 533 8888), an ultra-sleek, minimalist hotel with high-tech bedrooms and what it claims is the Caribbean's longest swimming pool, has now opened on Grand Anse beach. At the very least, pop in for a drink or meal and a gawp. Double rooms from $816 (￡643).
Drink
Offbeat floating bar Oasis (Mount Hartman Bay; 00 1 473 459 6246) recently opened out on the water in one of the protected, yacht-filled bays that indent Grenada's south-west coast. They'll send a boat over to pick you up if you haven't got your own. Note: it's only open Friday to Sunday.
? The best nightlife in Grenada
Do
The Grenada Chocolate Company (Upper Hermitage; 00 1 473 442 0050), a cooperative set-up that has been the pioneer in the island's sustainable bean-to-bar chocolate-making production, is now welcoming turn-up visitors to tour its ever-so-cute chocolate factory in the village of Hermitage.
? The best things to do in Grenada
48 hours in . . . Grenada
Day one
MORNING
It's most likely that you'll be staying in a hotel in the Grand Anse area, Grenada's main tourist focal point, in the south-west corner of Grenada. So after breakfast, get down with the locals and squeeze onto one of the frequent public minibuses that ply the route up to St George's. The journey takes about 10-15 minutes.
Get off at The Carenage, wander past the moored fishing boats and Georgian-era government buildings, and climb up to Fort George (Grand Etang Road). Having taken in the knock-out views over the pretty capital and the port, return down the hill and pass carefully through the Sendall Tunnel to the northern side of town and the market. Browse the stalls (fruit and veg are busiest on Saturday mornings), and return to the southern part of town via steep Young Street.
Stop off for a cup of rich hot chocolate at the House of Chocolate (Young Street), then head on for lunch at BB's Crabback (The Carenage; 00 1 473 435 7058), in a prime waterfront spot overlooking the harbour. The menu offers Caribbean and Grenadian specialities, including crab backs (baked crabmeat of land crabs), curried goat and side dishes such as pumpkin fritters, dasheen and fried plantains.
AFTERNOON
After a busy morning, it's time to take it easy. Return to Grand Anse by bus and rent sun loungers on Grenada's finest beach– lots are always available towards the northern end, near the Craft & Spice Market. Have a dip or two in the aquamarine sea, and when you've cooled off, stroll along the mile-and-a-half-long sands.
You could stop for a drink at buzzy Umbrellas Beach Bar (00 1 473 439 9149) half-way along, or at the Beach Cabana, the stylish and colourful beach club of Peter de Savary's Mount Cinnamon hotel (00 1 473 439 9900) near the beach's quieter northern end.
Round off the afternoon with a sundowner at Esther's Bar, a much-loved and frequented shack behind the beach in the Craft & Spice Market. It specialises in mojitos and rum punches, and also does fruit punches made from scratch with local produce.
LATE
Freshen up back at your hotel, then hop in a taxi over to the Lance aux Epines district. Have pre-dinner drinks at The Brewery (Lance aux Epines Stretch; 00 1 473 232 2337). Some of the ales and ciders on tap at The West Indies Beer Company's microbrewery pub are very potent, so perhaps ask for small flute glasses if you want to last the evening.
Dinner awaits just yards down the lane at Spice Affair by Red Crab (00 1 473 444 4424), a good, smart, recently opened Indian restaurant. Round off the evening at nearby Prickly Bay Marina(Lance aux Epines Main Road; 00 1 473 439 5265), where there's an outdoor tiki bar and regular entertainment several nights a week, including a spirited live band every Friday.
? The best restaurants in Grenada
Day two
MORNING
It's an island tour today. Rent a car or book a private tour: Caribbean Horizons is a well-run outfit offering both. Before setting off, check opening times of the sights covered below, as some are closed on certain days.
Make an early start, and drive up the west coast past St George's and the Kirani James Athletic Stadium – at the 2012 Olympics the 400-metre runner won Grenada's first-ever gold medal. Grenada is a proud little nation, and en route to James' home town of Gouyave notice how many kerbs, walls and telegraph poles are painted in the red, gold and green colours of the national flag.
At rough-and-ready Gouyave, take the brief tour of the fascinating Nutmeg Processing Station (Upper Depradine Street). Then head on windy back roads across the lush and hilly interior to River Antoine Rum Distillery (River Antoine; 00 1 473 442 7109) near Tivoli, and be shown round this time-stood-still factory that has been making hard liquor for over 230 years.
AFTERNOON
The Belmont Estate(Belmont; 00 1 473 442 9524) is the best place in the vicinity for lunch – it does reasonably priced buffets of local produce and dishes. Afterwards, learn how cocoa beans are turned into chocolate bars on the informative estate tour.
Head south to the bustling fishing town of Grenville, then cut south-west across the island up into the Grand Etang National Park, a forest-covered, mountainous area where it's noticeably a little cooler. Stop for photos and hopefully a greeting from a mona monkey or two at the 36-acre Grand Etang Lake and the nearby park visitor centre.
No day on Grenada should finish without a swim. So whiz down to La Sagesse, a gorgeous long arc of palm-shaded golden sand at the rear of an undeveloped bay on the south coast. La Sagesse hotel (00 1 473 444 6458) has a casual bar behind the beach.
LATE
You need to dress up tonight. You're going to the romantic Rhodes Restaurant at the elegant Calabash Hotel (Lance aux Epines Beach; 00 1 473 444 4334). The vine-covered dining terrace is set behind torchlit lawns, and the Caribbean-meets-international food, with menus overseen by British celebrity chef Gary Rhodes, is the best there is on Grenada.
For a nightcap, you could pop over to the Dodgy Dock(Old Mill Road, True Blue Bay; 00 1 473 443 8783). The lively yet romantic bar occupies a wooden deck protruding out over the water at jolly True Blue Bay Resort, and there's live music four nights a week.
? The best nightlife in Grenada
Where to stay . . .
Luxury Living
The luxury, low-rise Spice Island Beach Resort is an all-inclusive hotel set along the stunning sands of Grenada's best beach, Grand Anse, and is popular with families and older couples alike. The bedrooms are gorgeous, service is first rate, the food good and the spa attractive.
Doubles from $1,145 (￡864). Grand Anse Beach; 00 1 473 444 4258
Boutique Bolthole
The intimate Lalunais an upscale hotel by a secluded beach in south-west Grenada which offers a casual-chic ambience, appealing Italian/Caribbean restaurant and enticing Indonesian spa. It's the island's premier, top-end romantic hideaway, so an unsurprisingly popular choice for honeymooning couples.
Doubles from $455 (￡343). Portici Beach; 00 1 473 439 0001
Budget Beauty
La Sagesse is simply one of the best budget hideaways in the Caribbean – a few-frills, back-to-nature, 12-room property on a magical, long crescent of golden sand, with hardly any other signs of human habitation around save a few villas. It's utterly romantic, and you may have the beach virtually all to yourself most days.
Doubles from $174 (￡131). La Sagesse Bay; 00 1 473 444 6458
? A complete guide to the best hotels in Grenada
What to bring home . . .
Grenadian chocolate. The island's five chocolate factories produce bars of high-quality dark and milk chocolate, some flavoured with local spices. To avoid melting issues, purchase in an airport shop on departure.
Local spices – nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, cloves and much else besides. At the markets in St George's and behind Grand Anse beach you can buy pre-packaged selections, neatly presented in a basket or calabash shell.
When to go . . .
It's a question of weighing up both the weather and the cost. Weather-wise, the high-season winter months – January to April – are best, as it's driest and least humid then. The worst months are September and October, the peak of the hurricane season; Hurricane Ivan devastated Grenada in September 2004. Though you'd be very unlucky to coincide with a hurricane, late summer/early autumn is also the wettest time of year, and the period when you're most likely to be hit by storms.
However, price-wise, accommodation rates are about a third higher mid-December to April than at other times of year, and in the summer and autumn hotels often offer additional financial enticements, such as free nights if you stay for a week or longer. Also note you'll pay a premium on transatlantic air fares to travel during any school holiday period. Factoring in the weather and cost, arguably the best times to travel are May and June.
Compared with the preceding months, the weather is often nearly as good then, while hotel and villa rates are much more affordable.In terms of busyness, bear in mind that the island is very quiet in the autumn, particularly in September, when some hotels close. The liveliest time, in terms of local life, is early August, when the island parties like mad during the carnival.
Know before you go . . .
Flight time: Around nine and a half to 10 and a half hours from/back to London. Flights stop off en route both ways at another Caribbean island (usually St Lucia), which adds an hour or so to the journey time.
Currency: The official currency on Grenada is the Eastern Caribbean dollar – written EC$ – which is pegged to the US dollar at US$1 to EC$2.70. You can pay for many items with US dollars as well as EC dollars, though you'll usually be given change in EC dollars. Some things, such as hotel rates, and sometimes food and drink in hotels, are quoted in US dollars. Cashpoints issue EC dollars.
Costs: If booking direct with a hotel, note that advertised rates normally exclude a 10 per cent service charge and 10 per cent local sales tax. Prices on restaurant menus sometimes do not include a 10 per cent service charge or 15 per cent sales tax.
Safety: Grenada is one of the safer Caribbean islands. However, you should still take care when out and about, particularly on isolated beaches and after dark, when it's not a good idea to visit beaches.
Foreign Office Advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/grenada
Emergency numbers: Police and fire – 911
Tourist information: puregrenada.com
Plugs and adaptors: In most hotels, electrical sockets take three-pin, square UK-standard plugs, though some hotels have American or European two-pin sockets. Check in advance what's on offer at your accommodation, or take an adaptor.
Topless sunbathing: A complete no-no.
Author bio
Caribbean expert Fred Mawer has visited Grenada many times. He loves going for an early-morning jog along fabulous Grand Anse beach and having a beer or two in the bars near St George's University.
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