St. Nicholas Abbey in Barbados Small Group
Badge of Excellence
Diamond Valley, Barbados
- 4 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Travel back in time to the 17th century with a visit to St. Nicholas Abbey on this half-day, guided tour. The Plantation House was built around 1658 and is now home to an award-winning rum distillery. Sip on samples of rum and tour the grounds on a guided tour. You can also add a visit to the Heritage Railway where you board a restored steam engine and take a round-trip ride to Cherry Tree Hill.
- Rum tasting and plantation visit with optional Heritage Railway tour
- Explore the grounds and preserved brick and limestone abbey
- Driver, guide, entrance fees, and transportation included
- A small group means more attention from your guide
What's Included
- Friendly, knowledgeable & licensed tour guide
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Bottled water
- Air-conditioned vehicle
- Entrance fees to St Nicholas Abbey Included. Sugar Plantation House & Rum Distillery.
- Visit Cherry Tree Hill and enjoy its fabulous sweeping views of the east coast
- Operates Tuesday, Thursday & Sunday
- Gratuities
- Lunch
Meeting and Pickup
Pickup points
Select a pickup point
Pickup details
PLEASE READ ALLL OF THE BELLOW INFORMATION AS IT GREATLY IMPACTS YOUR EXCURSION. We offer pick-ups at close to 300 locations across Barbados, a combination of Hotels, condominiums and villas. Please note that we only pick up from Hotels and Villas along the south and west coast. If your tour is NOT a private tour, you may have up to 4 other pick-up points beside your own pick up at your accommodation. Most of the time these pick-ups are done within a 5k distance of but occasionally they are within 8km. Some tours the picks ups are along the route to the first attraction so they may be more spread out across a wider section of the island. Pick-ups are arranged in such manner, so they do not take up a lot of your day. Because we are unaware of where these pick-ups will be at the time of your booking, we will give you a wide window of time for your pick-up. On the afternoon before your tour, we will contact you by email to provide you with a more accurate pick-up time within the window provided to you at this time. YOUR PICK-UP WINDOW IS: 8:30am-10:40am PLEASE NOTE !! If you do not enter or select a pick up location your tour will be cancelled as without this information we can not collect you for the tour. PLEASE submit the name of your hotel or accommodation at the time of booking!
Itinerary
1
St. Nicholas Abbey
1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking, unless booked within 1 day of travel. In this case confirmation will be received as soon as possible, subject to availability
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- Infant seats available
- Most travelers can participate
- Tours cancelled by the customer more that 72 hours ahead of tour time will be refunded
- We require a minimum of 2 persons to run this tour if the minimum has not been met you will be contacted at least 36 hours before to cancel the tours and you will be given an alternate date or refunded
- Please ensure that you choose the option you wish at the time of booking. At St Nicholas Abbey there is the choice of doing the House tour or doing both the House and Heritage Railway but this option must be selected at the time of booking.
- The stop at St Nicholas Abbey will involve customers that will be doing different options at St Nicholas Abbey. Some will be doing the house tour, some the trail tour and some the combo tour. If you are only doing the house there will be some wait time involved until all guest return. It is a very beautiful area and you are welcome to enjoy the surroundings as you wait. PLEASE NOTE You can not change your selection of which tour at St Nicholas you wish to take once the booking has been made.
- PLEASE NOTE !! If you do not enter or select a pick up location your tour will be cancelled as without this information we can not collect you for the tour. PLEASE submit the name of your hotel or accommodation at the time of booking. If your accommodation is not listed please select the closest hotel to your accommodation. Once your booking is made please then contact us through the message center to advise us of the location you are staying. Please be mindful we only pick up from coastal areas along the South and West Coast unless you are booked on a private tour or your booking is 10 or more persons. In such cases we can make exceptions.
- If you suffer from motion sickness, we recommend taking precautions before the start of the tour. Please also advise your tour guide. Whilst we can sympathize and will try to make you as comfortable as possible our island roads can be bumpy at windy. We must also ensure we take care of all our customers and ensure the cleanliness of the vehicle. If you are ill on board, you will be required to reimburse the driver before the end of the tour for the cleaning fee of between US seventy five and one hundred and fifty dollars. Thank you for your kind understanding.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 14 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.5
based on 49 reviews
Daniel_M, Apr 2026
The tour started out brilliantly, with our fantastic driver who detailed all of the history of Barbados. The train journey was next and this was brilliant & the staff were superb. We then moved to the house, where I felt it was a little underwhelming. We couldn't go upstairs due to "insurance", which unfortunately left a dining room, living room to see. From there we went to the rum tasting, this all felt rushed & it wasn't like a usual tasting experience.
Overall a good experience with our driver and the train ride (highlight), but felt it could be so much more.
Irene_S, Mar 2026
From where we were staying at sugar bay, it was quite a trek, but we'll worth it. Our driver was so knowledgeable and imparted so much information that the trip didn't seem half a long. The train ride and view at cherry tree Hill was breath taking. The history of the house was delivered very professionally and the rum tasting just rounded off the tour. All in all a grand day out.
Jean_A, Feb 2026
We were disappointed with this tour. The train ride was fine and the view from Cherry Tree Hill is stunning! The house tour was brief but interesting. The big disappointment was there was no activity in the sugar cane processing area or distillery, so there is really not much to engage with. We were told that those activities only take place on Wed, Thurs, Fri. That would have been helpful to know before we booked a Sunday tour. The cafe was closed as well so we couldn't get a snack or coffee, etc.
MelanieM_M, Nov 2025
Driver Chris was most informative as we traveled towards/from our destination. The guide doing the train portion was humorous, well-versed on the railway's history and interacted with all the passengers. The house tour guide presented information in a concise manner.
TimandKay_B, May 2025
Very informative and friendly staff . The whole experience from being picked up on time to the cleanliness of the train was a very pleasant
Christine_C, May 2025
Nice location, 20 min train journey is pleasant and informative on the history. We were then shown around part of the house and the distillery and shown an 18 mins video again covering the history. You have the opportunity to have a small sample of 3 rums at the end and there is a gift shop on site to purchase rum and other items
Kate_B, May 2025
This was an enjoyable experience. Our tour guide also included going to see Rhianna's house and there was sufficient time at each place to enjoy the experience.
Gerrit_V, Apr 2025
Very bad. Booked a rum distillery tour and only got a stupid train ride. Even though I booked the tour and the train as an extra.
£230 gone…. BEWARE! Crooks
Julie_A, Mar 2025
Brilliant, friendly tour guide. Rum tasting was great. The rum processing tour was informative without being boring.
Betty_C, Feb 2025
Being train fans as well as history buffs, we loved our trip to the Abbey! Would have been tricky to get there on our own (hard to know that though til you’re there). Direct pick up and return to hotel was perfect. Our guide/driver was #1. Thanks Ryan! He was personable and fun, imparting lots of local knowledge along the way and engaged we tourists just as much as we wanted to be (and I sure did!) He even taught us a fun Bajan song and got us all singing on the ride “home”. Small group-size was an absolute bonus. Ryan helped us both fall in love with Barbados; we both hope to return.
I was glad to have arranged the tours before we travelled; meant no need to give up vacation time to make bookings. And Viator was diligent about keeping in touch about timing, etc. while we were there.
Would highly recommend.
David_G, Dec 2024
Ryan our driver was very knowledgeable and told us about the places we were going through. At Nicholas Abbey was delightful and the rum tour was also excellent. We also rode the steam train. I can thoroughly recommend this tour.
Regina_F, Nov 2024
Our guide was amazing. Told us all kinds of history about all kinds of things from the 95 day McDonalds to how Barbados sheep have no furry coat. The Abbey was beautiful and so well maintained. A piece of history stopped in time. The rum was good. but tasting was less than expected.
NICHOLAS_B, Nov 2024
Great trip for a half day with a good mix of interest for adults and children, the train was really enjoyable and staff amazing
Norma_B, Jul 2024
Megan our tour guide was very informative and amusing. The house is stunning , great distillery and the video is worth watching.
Brilliant day out, highly recommend x
Sharon_T, Mar 2024
Great fun trip with driver Charles! Pick up at hotel was on time and Charles was very personable and knew the Island's history well. The Abbey was beautiful inside and our guide extremely knowledgeable and friendly. The disillery and Rum tasting superb😋 What an experience the train trip is! Real steam locomotive and fabulous views. Again guide was wonderful. Great facilities at St Nicholas Abbey, including modern toilets, gift shops and lovely restaurant/cafe. Would 100% recommend this tour and this tour company 👌
Barbara_H, Mar 2024
The abbey is beautiful and the working rum distillery was very interesting. Our tour guide, Virginia, was a wealth of knowledge.
Martha_N, Mar 2024
Our driver, Ryan was amazing! We enjoyed the tour immensely.
I would skip very short train ride if you have a driver as great as Ryan. He covered information provided on train.
Tour guide , Virginia at Abbey was fantastic!!
Perry_B, Jan 2024
The Abbey and Distillery were a wonderful place to get off the resort property to. Beautiful grounds, historic site, a working distillery and fun tasting. Very friendly staff!
Susan_G, Jan 2024
The house tour was very interesting and the distillery excent, including tasting!
The little cafe on the terrace superb. The best thing was that you were given time afterwards to wander around on your own.
Highly recommended.
Dennice_S, Dec 2023
1. Our wonderful driver Naren who went above and beyond telling us about Barbados.
2. The tour of St. Nicholas Abbey was first rate….a very classy presentation about the Abbey and the Distillery
Geraldine_M, Nov 2023
The house was very interesting. We had a good guide. Would not recommend the train ride.You go maybe half mile and there is nothing to see or do.
Mark_C, Oct 2023
The driver was very attentive. We could understand him very well.
One person lost reading glasses in the vehicle. The next day he brought it to hotel.
Stephen_O, May 2023
Winston, our driver was prompt and very knowledgeable.
The abbey was lovely and Asha was a very good guide.
Shame the samples weren’t larger or the 25 year one wasn’t available 🤣
Estefana_N, Jun 2024
El lugar es muy bonito y el viaje en tren es muy increíble. El personal es muy amable y te permiten tomarte fotos en el tren.
Durante la cata el propietario tiene un humor de doble sentido que no me agrado mucho sin embargo el ron es muy delicioso
Finn_N, Jan 2024
Spændende at se historien i smukke omgivelser.
God café i flot skovområde.
Romsmagning også inkluderet
From $100.00
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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