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Waterfront drive, busy with traffic and lined with bars, restaurants, shops
and markets selling clothes and souvenirs to tourists fresh
off the ferries, is the modern face of Road Town. A few
steps west, picturesque Main Street is lined with
brightly painted wooden and stone buildings, some more than
200 years old, and has a more laid-back, local feel. The
many shops and restaurants here cater mostly to locals and
it's a great place to look for crafts, jewelry, clothing and
spices, or sit down to an inexpensive West Indian meal.
Along Main Street you'll find most of Road Town's tourist
sights. A good place to start is the I Folk Museum
(officially Mon-Fri 8.30am-4.30pm but hours are erratic),
though the old building itself is probably of as much
interest as the contents - a small collection of Amerindian,
plantation-era and RMS Rhone artifacts.
The white
building at the heart of the street is the
eighteenth-century colonial prison - today HMS Prison
and still operational so not open to the law-abiding public.
The prison is flanked by the reforming influences of two of
the island's main religions, to the south St George's
Anglican Church, featuring a copy of the 1834
Emancipation Proclamation that freed the islands' slaves,
and to the north the Methodist Church.
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Walk north on
Main Street for fifteen minutes to reach the four-acre oasis
of the Joseph Reynold O'Neal Botanic Gardens
(Mon-Sat; closes at dusk; free), named for a local
dignitary. Its jasmine-scented pathways are a delight to
stroll down and you can learn all about the wealth of
tropical flora on display - orchids, banana trees and cactus
among others - through self-guided walks.
Finish off your
exploration of Road Town with a visit to Fort Burt,
set on a hillside above Waterfront drive at the southern end
of town, which offers wonderful views of the harbor. Only
the foundation and mezzanine remain of this
seventeenth-century fort built by the Dutch to guard Road
Harbor, so once you've glanced at the ruins, drop in at the
Pusser's Fort Burt Hotel, grab a drink and watch the
sun set over the bay.
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British Virgin
Islands
travel guide
British Virgin Islands
Best of British Virgin Islands
Getting around
Virgin Islands restaurants
& bars
Anegada
Anegada
diving, fishing, windsurfing
Jost an Dyke
Jost an Dyke
Taxis
Jost an Dyke food & parties
Islands accessible from
Tortola that are
worth a visit:
Peter Island, Cooper Island,
Marina Cay, Norman Island
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