3.5 Hour - Half Day Tour

Tour begins at 9:30am (Antigua Time) and Returns to cruise ship pier by 1:00pm

 Description: This 3 hour half-day tour takes you to the Nelson Dockyard National Park where you’ll visit Nelson Dockyard, Dowhill Interpretation Centre, the Block House Fort and Shirley Heights

We will then return to the cruise ship pier so you can explore Antigua’s capital city St. John’s and do a little shopping

** A beach stop can be included if you so desire **

Cost (Rates apply to a group of 1 to 4 persons)

13 years old and over: USD$35.00 each

9 to 12 years old: USD$25.00 each

5 to 8 years old: USD$20.00

Under 5 years old: no charge

If you have a group that is less than 4 persons, please contact Gordon for rates

  Itinerary

     - Pick up at cruise ship pier at 9am (Antigua Time)

-    Drive through St. John’s Public Market

-  On the way to the Nelson Dockyard National Park we drive through villages such as Clarke Hill, All Siants, Tyrells and Liberta

-  While driving through the village of Liberta, you’ll view the St. Barnabas Anglican Church which is over 250 years old

-  We’ll take a brief stop on Horseford Hill so you can take photos of the beautiful Falmouth Harbour

-  The first stop in the Nelson Dockyard National Park will be the Dowhill Interpretation Centre (At the Dowhill Interpretation Centre you’ll be given a visual presentation of the history of Antigua and Barbuda from the first people to inhabit the islands right up to the present day)

-  The second stop in the Nelson Dockyard National Park will be the Block House Fort. The Blockhouse, overlooks the coast and harbor. Most of the ruins date from the late eighteenth century. The panoramic view from windswept Cape Shirley, four hundred feet above the sea, is memorable. The ruins are as romantic and melancholy as any I have seen, and I was quite moved by them. The property of the famous guitar player and songwriter Eric Clapton can be view for this location

-   The third stop in the Nelson Dockyard National Park will be Shirley Heights. The view from this point is absolutely breathtaking. From Shirley Heights one can look far out over Falmouth and English Harbour, and on Sunday afternoons the view is accompanied by barbecue, rum punch, and the plangent strains of steel band and reggae music. The site is named for General Shirley, Governor of the Leeward Islands when the area was fortified in the late eighteenth century. Close by is the cemetery, in which stands an obelisk erected in honour of the soldiers of the 54th regiment.

-  The fourth stop in the Nelson Dockyard National Park will be the Nelson Dockyard. southeast of St. John's is Nelson's Dockyard National Park one of the eastern Caribbean's biggest attractions. English ships took refuge from the hurricanes in this harbor as early as 1671. The park's centerpiece is the restored Georgian naval dockyard, which was used by admirals Nelson, Rodney, and Hood, and was the home of the British fleet during the Napoleonic Wars. From 1784 to 1787, Nelson commanded the British navy in the Leeward Islands and made his headquarters at English Harbour.