This small free-range zoo, about 25km (16mi) north of Bridgetown, has meandering paths through mahogany woods filled with scurrying green monkeys, sluggish red-footed turtles and a caiman pond. There's also a small aviary with macaws and cockatoos, as well as uncaged peacocks and pelicans. About a kilometer farther north are the 17th-century St Nicholas Abbey, one of the oldest plantation houses in the Caribbean, and Francia Plantation, which has formal gardens and is surrounded by fields of vegetables.

About 20km (12mi) northeast of the capital sits the Flower Forest, 20ha (50 acres) of tropical flora and meandering paths on a former sugar estate where you can learn the name of virtually every plant on Barbados. The garden has sweeping views of the Chalky Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean. A few kilometers south of the Flower Forest is Welchman's Hall Gully, where a trail winds through the island's only remaining rainforest. Nearby Harrison's Cave is a fascinating network of limestone caverns with stalactites and stalagmites, subterranean streams, pools and waterfalls. A battery-powered tram enters the cave, stopping en route to let passengers examine the more impressive sites, such as the huge domed cavern known as the Great Hall.

This atmospheric 17th-century plantation house is the only one on Barbados that can be explored in its entirety. The house has thick stone walls built of local coral blocks and ballast stones from the English sailing ships that picked up shipments of Barbadian sugar. The interior retains its colonial ambiance and is furnished with antiques, many made from Barbadian mahogany. The articulate guides are well-versed in local history, making this the finest plantation tour on the island. Buses from Oistins stop at the house gates.