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Port of Spain

Spreading back from the Gulf of Paria and cradled by the Northern Range foothills, Port of Spain is a mishmash of the pretty and the gritty, with the green expanse of uptown Queen's Park Savannah and a host of gorgeous fretworked buildings alongside a frenetic, gridlocked downtown area, its waterfront mostly hidden behind grimy industrial sprawl. But the city's explosive development has created a savvy, metropolitan verve that sets it apart from the average Caribbean capital. This isn’t a place that kowtows to the tourist dollar, and it’s all the richer for it. There may not be many designated ‘sights’, but there’s plenty of atmosphere downtown, with its market stalls and shady squares, while outlying Woodbrook harbors a host of eternally busy restaurants, bars and clubs. And during Carnival season, huge outdoor 'fetes' rock all corners, steel-pan music fills the air and the atmosphere is electric.

Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Port of Spain.

Park
Woodford Square
This grassy square with its central Eros and Aphrodite fountain and ornate bandstand is the symbolic center of downtown Port of Spain. Dr Eric Williams, Trinidad and Tobago's first prime minister, gave stirring speeches here, which eventually led to independence from Britain; the 1970s Black Power demonstrations also took place here. Known as the 'University of Woodford Square,' it remains a ‘speakers corner’ where people can express opinions via soapbox discussions; daily topics are posted on a blackboard.
Park
Queen’s Park Savannah
Once part of a sugar plantation, formerly home to a racecourse and now the epicenter of the annual Carnival, this public park is encircled by a 3.7km perimeter road that locals call the world’s largest roundabout. In the early evening when the scorching heat subsides, the grassy center is taken up with games of cricket or football, while joggers crowd the perimeter path and vendors sell cold coconut water.
Museum
Central Bank Money Museum
Newly refurbished and with ferocious air-con that provides a welcome break from the downtown heat, the Money Museum is a surprisingly absorbing affair, with a solid history of currency from cowrie shells to hard cash, and all sorts of fascinating ephemera. You can feel the weight of a replica gold bar, check your banknotes are legit in an infrared reader, and hear the calls of the birds that appear on T&T's notes via a cute push-button display.
Fort
Fort George
Get a truly spectacular bird's-eye view of the Port of Spain cityscape and the Gulf of Paria from this colonial-era fort, with stone-built defensive walls pierced by a row of ancient cannon. There's a wooden signal station with a diorama of the fort and a board detailing its construction by Ashanti prince Kofi Nte in 1883. Benches and picnic tables dot the manicured lawns (bring your own refreshments), and there are telescopes to zoom in on the panorama below.
Notable Building
Stollmeyer's Castle
With its battlemented turrets, this fabulous Scottish Baronial pile really does have the feel of a castle. Loosely modeled on the British Queen's home at Balmoral (and properly called Killarney, though it's universally referred to as Stollmeyer's Castle), it was built for entrepreneur Charles Stollmeyer in 1904, and is now government-owned. Extensive refurbishment of the interior and exterior, completed in 2018, has returned the building to its former glory.
Plaza
Waterfront Park
Nudging the Gulf of Paria opposite the western end of Independence Sq, and linked to it by a new raised pedestrian walkway over Wrightson Rd, the paved Waterfront Park is overlooked by high-rise offices of the International Waterfront Centre and the Hyatt Regency hotel. Though a bit sterile, with its could-be-anywhere fountains and overdose of concrete, the waterside promenade does allow you to get close to the Gulf, and is a popular breeze-cooled liming spot come evening.
Museum
National Museum & Art Gallery
Housed in a classic colonial building, the rather dry historical exhibits range from the oil industry to Amerindian settlers, the colonial era and indentured Indians. There are also geological and natural-history displays – check out the tarantulas and fearsome-looking giant centipede. The rotating collection of artwork on the top floor is the highlight, and gives an excellent introduction to the Trinbago art scene. And don't miss the classic T&T films screened on a loop in the audio-visual room.
Gardens
Botanical Gardens
Resplendent with exotic trees and plants, and networked by paved paths, the Botanical Gardens date from 1818. Take a stroll or relax in one of the handsome wooden gazebos; at Christmas time, trees along the Savannah-facing walkway are lit up with thousands of colorful fairy lights. A graceful mansion built in 1875, the adjacent President’s House is undergoing major repairs and sits shrouded under a protective roof, its west wing having collapsed in early 2010.
Area
Independence Square
The hustle and bustle of downtown culminates along Independence Sq, two parallel streets that flank the central Brian Lara Promenade, named for Trinidad's cricketing hero. The commanding 1836 Roman Catholic Cathedral caps the promenade’s eastern end; at its western end, past the high-rise blocks of the Nicholas and Central Bank towers, and a statue of Brian Lara, the square feeds onto the coastal highway, Wrightson Rd. A raised walkway over Wrightson Rd connects the promenade to the waterfront.