ANTIGUA: The antidote to everyday stress

Apr 12 2008 by Gilly Pickup, Liverpool Daily Post

Nelson's dockyard, Antigua. Picture: Antigua & Barbuda Tourist Office _320

Due to hostile attitudes, Horatio spent almost all of his three years in Antigua on board ship. He declared sulkily in correspondence that the harbour was "a vile spot" and that the island was an "infernal hole".

High above English Harbour and the dockyard stand the ruins of garrison buildings and fortifications of Shirley Heights with Guadeloupe and Montserrat visible in the distance.

On Sunday afternoons, the bar at this former British lookout station, with its gasp-inducing drop to the churning waters of English Harbour, pulses with harmonious rhythms. Steel bands pump out old Bob Marley songs and the whole area becomes an impromptu open-air club where tourists and locals enjoy boogying and sizzling barbecues.

While most leisure pursuits for visitors to Antigua involve the sea or golf, cricket is the national passion.

The island's most famous son is cricketer Sir Vivien Richards who has a home here.

St Johns, the island's capital, a mass of wooden houses brightly painted in bold poppy reds, rich saffrons and giddy neon pinks, has renamed the rickety street where he was born in his honour.

There isn't really much to see in St Johns, though some may feel it is worth a visit for the duty free shopping.

For seekers of a chilled-out holiday, the slice of paradise that is Antigua is one big stress buster... the perfect antidote to the strains of everyday living.

Virgin Holidays (www.virginholidays.com; tel 0871 222 0304) offer seven nights at all-inclusive Galley Bay Resort from £1399 including return flights from Gatwick and transfers. Prices based on two adults sharing. Seven nights at the Verandah Resort on an all inclusive basis including flights from Gatwick from £1,159 per person. (Child prices from £529.) 10 and 14 night packages available from £1,499 and £1,849 respectively.

Virgin Holidays offer seven nights at all-inclusive Galley Bay Resort from £1,399 including return flights from Gatwick and transfers. The price is based on two adults sharing.

Seven nights at the Verandah Resort on an all inclusive basis including flights from Gatwick start from £1,159 per person. (Child prices from £529.) Ten and 14 night packages are available from £1,499 and £1,849 respectively.

To book a holiday, visit www.virginholidays.com or call 0871 222 0304.

Would you take the kids?

AS WELL as the beautiful beaches, there are plenty of attractions that would make a family holiday to Antigua something really special.

Antigua's popular Nelson's Dockyard National Park yachting harbour lies southeast of the capital and features modern facilities for those boats on an Atlantic voyage plus a naval museum and even a small historic hotel.

Take a trip to the Barbuda Frigate Bird Sanctuary. Accessible by boat only, the tour lasts about 40 minutes, through the waterways of this salty lagoon.

The Museum of Antigua and Barbuda building was built as a courthouse in 1750. This is Antigua's leading museum of history and heritage, run by the island's historical and archaeological society. Exhibits start with items relating to the birth of Antigua and include a bat belonging to the world's greatest batsman, Antiguan Sir Viv Richards.