A holiday in Barbados promises refined luxury, amazing food, and plentiful choice of gorgeous beaches, lush tropical scenery and clear blue waters. From refined English history, stately plantations and amazing all-inclusive resorts to West Indian street feasts, buttery beaches and championship surfing and golfing - you will leave Barbados planning your next trip back. 

Barbados is numerous islands wrapped into one: soft beaches with calm water, rustic beaches with powerful surf, refined sophistication and white-glove afternoon tea, or the up-tempo, festive feel of a Caribbean street party; it can all be found and enjoyed on a Barbados holiday. 

When understanding the offerings, particularly beaches that Barbados has to offer, consider the geography of the island; as the easternmost of the Lesser Antilles islands Barbados enjoys the graces of two oceans. The island has calm Caribbean Sea on its west side - home to many of the destination's resorts and best swimming beaches, including Mullins Beach and Paynes Bay. The rougher Atlantic Ocean abuts its eastern end, with prime surfing spots, including Bathsheba/Cattlewash. 

Unlike some other of the Caribbean islands, Barbados is mostly flat, but hills and gullies provide a scenic home to many colourful and interesting plants and wildlife. The constant breeze of the trade winds means Barbados weather is a mild and pleasant tropical climate, with average temperatures between 75 and 85 degrees. 

Exploring the island can be done aboard historic ships, submarines, private sailboats or chartered yachts. Or, you may want to spend more time seeing the island's treasures through a dive mask and enjoying the coral reefs that fringe the shoreline to provide excellent snorkelling and scuba diving amid colourful, undulating sea gardens and bright tropical fish. 

Touring on land can be done by rental car, taxi, motor scooter or even on horseback. Although the island's stunning beaches are captivating, there is much to see inland too. Andromeda Gardens in St. Joseph Parish, for example, with its winding paths, ponds and abundance of orchid varieties, trees and other plants is a perfect way to spend an afternoon. 

You won't be short of things to do in the evening either; visit a performing opera or theatre, or attend the annual jazz festival returns every January- amongst many other places to eat, drink or party. Accommodation ranges from luxurious hotels and villas, to pirates' castles, to apartments with kitchenettes, to modest seaside cottages.