Must-see attractions in Montego Bay & Northwest Coast

This splendid 1770s mansion is the most famous great house in Jamaica. John Palmer, a wealthy plantation owner, and his wife, Rose (after whom the house…

This marvelous estate, sitting high on a hill, is not as famous as Jamaica's most famous great house, but offers a far more intimate and interesting…

A lane lined with palm trees leads you to the landscaped grounds of Hampden Great House estate, dotted with strutting peacocks. Tours assemble beneath a…

This well-curated, revamped museum, peppered with period objects, takes you through the history of western Jamaica, from the Cohaba ceremonies of the…

Established in the early 19th century, Falmouth's Jewish cemetery lay abandoned in recent decades before being restored, and contains the graves of the…

This cave may be off the beaten track to most people, but it's one of Jamaica's most important bat habitats, home to 12 species of around 100,000 bats. It…

It may sound like a rocky hole inhabited by lab-coated troglodytes, but this is actually Montego Bay’s most famous beach and the one with the most…

This bird sanctuary is run by Fritz Beckford, a passionate champion of birds who will pour birdseed into your hand or provide you with a sugar-water…

Glistening Waters, also known as ‘Luminous Lagoon,’ actually lives up to the hype. Located in an estuary near Rock, 1.6km east of Falmouth, the water here…

If you want to learn about the Rastafarian movement, come out to this…hmmm...‘theme park’ is definitely not the right description. How about ‘living…

The waters of Montego Bay are gorgeous to behold both above and below the surface, but they have long been compromised by the effects of fishing, water…

Regarded as the finest church on the island, it was originally built between 1775 and 1782, but was so damaged by the earthquake of March 1, 1957, that it…

While disappointingly light on revolutionary pigs corrupted by the acquisition of power (if you haven’t read your Orwell, never mind), this Animal Farm…

The best place to orient yourself is Water Sq, at the east end of Duke St. Named for an old circular stone reservoir dating from 1798, the square …

Built in 1735, the restored Bellefield showcases 18th-century colonial living and Jamaican culinary history. You get to see the local gardens with…

The former home of John Tharp, Jamaica's largest land and slave owner in the late 18th century, sits on a hill overlooking the estate. A Good Hope Estate…

Located 34km south of Montego Bay, off the potholed B6 road, this plantation can feel more like an Indian or Balinese rural community than Jamaica, with…

This is the sort of wonderful old place eccentrics dream of owning. In this case, said eccentric is Mr Joe James, father of former England and Liverpool…

This bustling, cobbled square is named for Samuel Sharpe (1801–32), national hero and leader of the 1831 Christmas Rebellion; it is also where he was…

At the southwest corner of Sam Sharpe Sq you’ll find the copper-domed Civic Centre, an elegant colonial-style, cut-stone building on the site of a ruined…