Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Kingstown

The capital greets you with a noisy market and the oldest botanical garden in the region. It is worth a full day here to see St Mary's Cathedral and climb up to Fort Charlotte for the panorama. The city is also the logistics hub for reaching the rest of the archipelago.

Port Elizabeth

This easygoing town on Bequia is the unofficial yachting capital of the Grenadines. The waterfront holds the best dive shops, cafes doing homemade ice cream and a run of souvenir stalls. Lower Bay and Princess Margaret beach are both an easy walk away.

Clifton

A tiny town on Union Island that acts as the country's southern gateway. Travellers use it as a base before heading out to the uninhabited Tobago Cays. The marina is always busy and the surrounding water has excellent kitesurfing conditions.

Hamilton

A small settlement on Bequia known for its brightly painted houses and its historic fort. The climb up to the battery rewards you with a sweeping view over Admiralty Bay and the Moonhole peninsula. It is a quiet spot, ideal for an unhurried evening walk.

Charlestown

The main settlement on Canouan, where modern infrastructure sits alongside a traditional way of life. The island gets called a billionaires' bolthole, but the town itself still has affordable local character. It has an important regional airport and a ferry dock.

Tobago Cays: If you only see one thing here, make it this marine park of five small islands. The water is glass-clear and the snorkelling with turtles and rays is as good as it gets in the Caribbean.
La Soufriere volcano: Head north on the main island for the trek up to the crater of the active volcano. The climb takes around four hours, demands decent fitness, and you register with the guides before setting off.
Dark View Falls: Where to go for a shot of adrenaline is this pair of waterfalls in the rainforest. You reach them across a photogenic suspension bridge made of bamboo.
Wallilabou Bay: Film fans can easily do this in a day, visiting the Pirates of the Caribbean shooting locations. Some of the set dressing is still standing and the pirate-harbour atmosphere survives.
Mount Pleasant: For walkers, the ridge route on Bequia is the best on the island, with a full 360-degree outlook. On a clear day you can pick out Grenada and every neighbouring island in the Grenadines.
Botanical Gardens: In Kingstown, make time for the garden founded back in 1765. Its pride is a descendant of the very breadfruit tree brought here by Captain Bligh.

Currency: The East Caribbean dollar (XCD) is pegged to the US dollar at 2.7 to 1, which makes doing the arithmetic in your head very easy. Prices in tourist places are sometimes quoted in either, so always establish which one.
Cash: US dollars are taken almost everywhere, but change comes back in local money. You need small notes for the vans and the markets, where nothing else works.
Cards: Visa and Mastercard work in hotels, marinas and dive centres, with Amex much less useful. For local eateries and boat rides you need paper money, and the ATM network outside Kingstown and Port Elizabeth is thin.
Withdrawals: Bank ATMs dispense XCD and charge a fee per transaction, so take out larger sums less often. A Wise or Revolut card keeps the conversion cost down, and it is worth arriving with some USD cash as backup for the smaller islands.
Tipping: Ten per cent is standard in restaurants. Boat captains and volcano guides are usually given 10 to 20 dollars as thanks for a good day.

Item	Price (USD)
Lunch at a cafe	8
Hairoun beer	2
Street roti	4
Bottle of water	1
Minibus ride	2
Ferry to Bequia	7
Tobago Cays entry	15
Sunset rum, 0.7l	12
Coffee at the port	3
Snorkel mask hire	10
Taxi within town	8
Day trip to Mustique	65
Dinner for two	50
Kilo of mangoes	3

Minibuses: These vans are the cheapest way to move around the main island. There is no timetable at all, they simply work the roads and set off once they are packed solid.
Ferries: The Bequia Express runs between Kingstown and Bequia several times a day. The crossing takes an hour and costs almost nothing by Caribbean standards.
Water taxis: For short hops between beaches or between the Grenadines, hire a private motorboat. Agree the price on shore before you climb in, and haggle, because the first number is never the real one.
Inter-island flights: SVG Air connects the islands with scheduled services on very small aircraft. It is expensive but saves an enormous amount of time getting to the southern Grenadines.
Car hire: Only experienced drivers should take a car here, given the narrow mountain switchbacks. Driving is on the left and you must buy a local permit before you are allowed on the road.
Taxis: Official cars have no meters and work to fixed rates between districts. Always check which dollar the driver is quoting, US or East Caribbean, before you agree.

Guesthouses: St Vincent and Bequia are full of comfortable family-run guesthouses. This is the best option for an independent traveller, cheap and with hosts who actually talk to you.
Staying in Kingstown: In the capital, look for colonial-style hotels in the centre. They are handy for the ferry terminal and the market, though nights can be noisy.
Apartments: On Bequia, self-catering flats are widely available through the usual international platforms. This works out well if you plan to buy seafood off the fishermen and cook it yourself.
Private-island resorts: The Grenadines are famous for hotels that occupy entire islands, like Palm Island. The rates are astronomical, but you can sometimes buy a day pass and use the beach.
Union Island: Accommodation in Clifton is simpler and aimed at kitesurfers and budget-minded sailors. It makes an excellent last stop before a run out to the uninhabited reefs.
Booking ahead: From December to April, rooms in the popular guesthouses disappear quickly. Deal directly with owners or book online a couple of months before you travel.

National dish: Try roasted breadfruit with jackfish, the combination the country treats as its culinary emblem. It is filling, cheap and sold everywhere from market stalls to sit-down restaurants.
Callaloo soup: Made from dasheen leaves, coconut milk and okra, this is one of the more distinctive things you will eat. The flavour is rich and unusual, and a bowl easily replaces a full lunch in the tropical heat.
Seafood: The lobster here is superb, but there is a closed season from May to August when it cannot legally be caught or served. The rest of the year, look for the day's catch at the jetties.
Roti: The standard street food is a thin flatbread wrapped around curried chicken, goat or shrimp. It is the fastest and cheapest way to eat while walking around town.
Drinks: Hairoun is the island beer, light and genuinely refreshing. For something stronger there is Sunset rum, but treat it carefully because it often runs well over 80 proof.
Markets: For fruit and spices, go to the central market in Kingstown. Mangoes, papaya and homemade hot pepper sauces sell there for absurdly little.

Crime: Levels are low, but watch your pockets in Kingstown. Opportunists work the market and the port area, so do not leave anything sitting unattended.
The volcano: La Soufriere erupted as recently as 2021 and remains active. Before heading to the north of St Vincent, always check the current status published by NEMO.
Swimming: The Atlantic side of the islands has strong currents and heavy surf. The safest swimming is on the west coast, where the water is calm and clear.
Medical care: The islands have only basic hospitals, and serious cases mean transfer to another country. Make sure your insurance covers that in full before you travel.
Wildlife: Centipedes and snakes turn up in the forest and on the volcano trail. Watch where you step and stay on the marked routes unless you have a guide with you.
Sun: The tropical sun is vicious even under cloud. Use high-factor cream and drink plenty of water to avoid heatstroke and dehydration.
Advisories: Check your own government's travel advisory before booking, particularly for hurricane guidance between June and November.

Carnival: The event of the year is Vincy Mas in early July. It means weeks of soca, extravagant costumed parades and dancing in the streets until sunrise.
Easter regatta: Bequia holds races in traditional wooden boats over the Easter weekend. The whole island turns out for it, and sailors come from across the world.
Dress: People are fairly conservative about clothing away from the beach. Swimwear in town is not on, and wearing camouflage as a civilian is flatly illegal.
Liming: This is the cornerstone of local culture, the art of doing nothing in good company. Sitting in a bar, drinking rum and talking for hours is liming in its purest form.
Religion: Most Vincentians are devout Christians. On Sundays the towns go quiet, shops close and whole families head to church.
History: The islands are proud of a past bound up with the sea and with Carib resistance. The small museum on Bequia covers the whaling and boatbuilding traditions in detail.

Operators: Two providers dominate, Digicel and Flow. You can buy a SIM in any branded shop in Kingstown, and registration requires your passport.
Coverage: 4G is solid in the capital, on Bequia and in the larger Grenadine settlements. Out on open water or on the volcano trail, the signal disappears entirely.
eSIM: This is the easiest route if you would rather not deal with plastic. Airalo, Yesim and similar providers sell data bundles that activate the moment you land.
Wi-Fi: Almost every guesthouse offers free Wi-Fi, though the speed can be glacial. For work or video calls, mobile data is generally the better bet.
Offline maps: If you are heading out to the Tobago Cays, download your maps first. There is effectively no mobile coverage on the uninhabited islands and you will want navigation.
English: English is the official language and everyone speaks it, so there is no barrier at all. Signs and menus are in English, and locals switch from Vincentian Creole to standard English the moment they talk to a visitor.

English	Vincentian Creole	Pronunciation
Hello, what's up?	Wha' gwan?	wah GWAHN
Thanks	Thanks	tanks
Yes	Yeah	yeh
No	Nah	nah
How much is that?	How much dat?	how much DAT
Where is it?	Weh deh?	weh DEH
Everything's great	Irie	eye-REE
Friend, mate	Bredren	BRED-ren
Understood	Seen	seen
Food	Chow	chow
Really nice	Real nice	reel NICE
Too expensive	It dear	it DEER
Hanging out	Liming	LYE-ming
Boat	Boat	boht
Beach	Beach	beech
Water	Wata	WAH-ta
Foreigner, white person	Yo-lou	yoh-LOO
Later	Lata	LAH-ta
Take care	Walk good	wawk GOOD
Beer	Beer	beer
Help	Help	help
Let's go	Le' we go	leh wee GOH

Getting there: Argyle International on St Vincent takes flights from Miami, New York, Toronto and London, and the cheapest routing is often into Barbados followed by a regional hop or a fast ferry. Antigua, St Lucia and Trinidad also feed the island with short connections. Check the airport's own site for the current regional schedule.
Ferries: Sailings to Bequia are listed on the Bequia Express portal. Get to the dock half an hour early, since tickets are only sold on the spot.
Emergencies: Dial 999 or 911 for police, and 913 for the coastguard, which matters if you are going out on the water. Operators speak English and answer quickly.
Plugs: Hotels usually have British type G sockets, though American ones show up too. Bring a universal adapter rather than hunt for one in the shops.
NEMO: Bookmark the national emergency management page before you go. It carries weather updates, storm warnings and the current volcano status.
Sun and water: Tropical UV is severe even on grey days, so use strong sunscreen and keep drinking. Bottled water is cheap and available everywhere.