A colonial plantation house, a large rum distillery, extensive meadows and pastures, and a historic steam railway once used to transport sugar cane and now a tourist attraction.

You'll find it all at the St. Nicholas Abbey estate in the peaceful, gently rolling hinterland of northern Barbados.

A Jacobin jewel

While the name may evoke a connection to the church, in reality St. Nicholas Abbey was never a real abbey. From its inception in 1658, it was a palatial home on a sugar cane plantation, with a rum distillery added later.

The main building of the estate, The Great House, is built in a typically Anglican Jacobin architectural style and is now one of only 4 such buildings in the Western Hemisphere outside Britain.

Be transported back in time to the colonial past

The entire St. Nicholas estate is open to tourists. As part of the tour The Great House you will also get to visit the rum factory and sugar cane plantations.

Take a ride on the historic steam railway, which used to be used exclusively for freight. During the 20th century, it was converted into a roughly 2 km long circuit, the freight cars were converted to passenger cars and the line became a popular tourist attraction.