Rapid Travel Chai

My planned 2-night Antigua stay turned into a 2-hour dash to Nelson’s Dockyard.

A tropical storm shut down Antigua that Sunday night and I did not arrive until Tuesday late morning. I spent the day trying to rebook and got myself to Montserrat for the night, and back to Antigua Wednesday morning. Out went my leisurely stay at Ellen Bay Cottages. I had two hours before my scheduled LIAT flight to Barbados and chartered a taxi bound for Nelson’s Dockyard.

In this series:

• Caribbean Lesser Antilles Island Hopping Itinerary
• US Bank FlexPerks Flight Booking Battle Tales
• Grenada: Everyman of the Caribbean
• Dominica: Pirate’s Cove of the Caribbean
• Montserrat: Volcano Island
• Antigua: Nelson’s Resorts
• Barbados: Flying Fish, Grounded Concorde
• St Vincent
• St Lucia
• Caribbean Island Hopping in the Tropical Storms
• Is LIAT the Worst Airline in the World?
• British Airways Caribbean Hopper Routes on Avios
• Caribbean Tip – Don’t Let Your Phone Auto-Adjust the Time

Antigua is flat and densely populated. The tourists who flock to the resorts on the beaches, claimed to be one (beach) for every day of the year, are probably right to not focus on exploration.

The lone big non-beach draw is Nelson’s Dockyard, a historic, upscale area that is both national park and a cluster of classy boutique hotels in restored buildings. Choices include the Copper & Lumber Store Hotel, The Admiral’s Inn, and the Inn at English Harbour. The surrounding town is a lively port and the hills have ruins of forts. With a budget of US$200+/night this is the area to go to escape the resorts and have a colonial-era West Indies experience.