Family trip to Grenadines with children. Ideas on where to go with your child

Saint Vincent is a perfect place for children who actually enjoy beauty of unspoiled nature. Here you can find literally everything: clean magnificent volcanic beaches, tropical forests, and lava wastelands. However, you have to remember that there is not much entertainment for kids, even in Kingstown. Nevertheless, there are still some small theme parks, playgrounds, shopping centres providing gaming machines, cinemas, and open-air master classes where both kids and grownups could try themselves in traditional crafts in the capital. The majority of big hotels provide tourists with various entertainment programs, children clubs and rooms. All in all, these are the only «special-for-children» sorts of fun.

But the island is ideal for an active timeshare. If your kid, for instance, is physically strong enough for an eight-kilometers-long walk uphill, then you definitely should try to climb La Soufrière volcano. As you’re climbing up, your child would be able to see how whole groves of bamboo, tropical forests, bushes, and empty lava fields change the landscape. Besides, every kid would be super excited to reach the top of a real volcano! Right? What is more, there is a banana plantation at the foot of La Soufrière, so children can see with their own eyes how one of their favorite snacks grows. You can swim in the sea near local fishing villages together after such climbing. Children would surely remember black volcano sand forever.

Young naturalists would really like the island as well. There is St. Vincent Botanical Garden in the capital. It was founded in 1762 and is eight hectares. You can see not only diverse plants but also several kinds of birds there. Moreover, visit the St, Vincent Montreal Gardens at the Montreal Estate which are open in the period from December to August. The gardens on the small private Young Island are extremely gorgeous too. The island is located right opposite the largest beach of Saint Vincent – Village Beach. Villa Beach – that’s how the most popular local island is called among tourists – is rather good for a holiday with kids, as it’s provided with a gentle descent into the water, a shark tower, and sunshades. Your child can also try snorkeling here. You can rent all the equipment you need at the beach rental. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

If you take your child to the little beach Buccament Bay or deserted and remoted Wallilabou Bay, you could watch local sea inhabitants. In addition, there are Wallilabou waterfalls near Wallilabou Bay which are 4.5 meters high. If your kid can do scuba diving, you can go and discover underwater caves in Ovia Bay. Besides, even beginners can try it, they just have to take some diving lessons and then they’ll get an international divers' license. But remember: scuba diving is forbidden for kids under the age of eight. Anyway, every kid could find something fascinating to do here on the island, like jet ski, deep-sea fishing together with parents, hiking to Falls of Baleine (the falls are more than 18 meters high), or playing with other kids on sports grounds.

You can take your children to the Buccament Valley and show them the stone (about 3,000 years old) with Celtic inscriptions on it. Moreover, you can take a look at petroglyphs and the depiction of one of the Indian Gods (according to a legend, he taught island residents how to grow cassava) near Layou. Little boys and girls would probably like to visit a real military outpost. Or you can also visit Fort Duvernette which was built in the 18th century. You can see not only walls, barracks, and utility rooms but also actual cannons of the past centuries.

In addition, you can take your kids to Fort Charlotte. It was built in 1806 as a protection of the capital from sea attacks. You can also enjoy a marvelous view from its walls and then visit the museum where an exhibition dedicated to the Black Caribs is shown. Kids can learn about how Indian tribes used to live, who they worshiped, and what craft they did. And in Kingstown, children would have a chance to see the architecture of British and French colonies of the beginning of the 18th century. Lovers of everything beautiful should pay their attention to the stained-glass window «Angel in the Red Dress» (you can find it in St. George's Cathedral), stained-glass windows in the local Methodist Church, and St Mary's Catholic Cathedral.